Make a pamphlet
Tons of people are realizing that you can make books at home, a fact that totally floored me two years ago when I found out about it. Is that you? You should make a pamphlet!
Sometimes, people show up to the bookbinding community and ask something like, âI would like to bind a 100,000-word fan fiction into an heirloom object/gift. Where do I start?â You should start by making a pamphlet.
I think some of them donât like hearing that, and I think I understand why. They are not approaching bookbinding as a hobby to learn and explore; they want a DIY project that will result in An Object. But this isnât like when I painted my shutters, and all I needed was a paint sprayer, some fasteners, a chisel, and YouTube to get me going. For most folks, itâs more like if you wanted to design and build a shed from scratch, and youâd never held a saw. Why not draw up and make a little firewood shelter out of cheap lumber first?
Why not make a pamphlet?
Now, if you are coming from a strong crafter background, and especially if you already do a lot of papercraft or chipboard box-making, you can admittedly skip the pamphlet phase. But should you?
Pamphlets are cheap! Quick! Fun! Pamphlets and other simple bindings let you play with tools, materials, and techniques without expending excessive time or precious materials. You probably have everything you need already. Bookbinding is a craft with dozens of best practices and rules of thumb and recommended materials, and each one is negotiable. If you truly understand the importance of a given recommendation or standard, you can decide how much itâs worth to you and your projects. If youâre a novice crafter, youâll quickly figure out if this fussy paper-bending nonsense is enjoyable for you at allâwithout buying a bunch of tools you may not use again. If youâre experienced, youâll have a quick win, get to play with new kinds of paper, and see how different materials work together.
And you can explore how to decorate books!Â
So please, if youâre even curious about bookbinding, make a pamphlet.
Iâll even tell you how. With pictures!
PAMPHLET-MAKING MATERIALS
Literally any paper, for filler
Cover paper, meaning a stiffer paper at least as large as your other paper. Or cardstock, or a cereal box, or anything you wanna play with. I've chosen linen-textured scrapbooking paper.*
A bone folder is best, but a butter knife or a thick ruler is fine
Thread, preferably thicker than hand-sewing thread, but honestly thatâll still work. Embroidery floss would also work. I like size 8 pearl cotton, which is cheap and comes in lots of colors.
A needle appropriate to your thread
An awl**
A ruler
Scissors or thread clippers. If you need to trim your cover paper, you can use those scissors or a paper cutter or a craft knife and self-healing cutting pad.
*A cover is actually optional. If all you want to do is elevate a zine or handout with a personal touch, you can skip the cover and just do the hand-stitching. **If you donât have one, Iâm sure you can get creative with your needle and do okay, but it really is easier with an awl.
Most bookbinding starter guides will tell you that you need a lot more and more specialized stuff than this, and they will also wax poetic about paper grain, but donât worry about that. Weâre making a pamphlet.
If you want to spend like $10, you can get a bookbinding starter kit with more than you even need right now. Hereâs the one I got a while back.
Get your filler paper. If itâs thin paper, your pamphlet can fit quite a few sheets without looking too bulky or refusing to lay right. What I have here is slightly thicker than cheap copy paper, and Iâm using 10 sheets. If you fold yours and donât like how it looks, just remove some outer sheets until you are happy. No harm done!
Now, take your paper and lightly fold it in half crosswise to make a book shape. If you want it to look extra nice, tap it on your work surface so itâs all square, then let it fan out juuuust a little bit when you lift the short edge before you grip it together.(A) When you fold a pile of paper this way, you get a little point that looks fancy.(C) If you keep one edge square, their other edges will have a more dramatic fall-off. But thatâs still fine and will work!
Use your bone folder or butter knife to set the fold. Press it into the middle of your fold and press outward from there, returning the center before pressing out the other direction.(B) This is less likely to cause drift in your fold. Look how crisp it is compared to hand-pressing! You can go over it again with your bone folder if you want.
Open your paper up and lay a ruler against the crease. Use it and the awl to punch a hole in the very center and a hole about a half inch from the top and bottom, making three total holes. You can pre-mark the hole locations in pencil or just go straight to the awl.(D) Do not stab the awl into your table, however. Place a cutting mat or some cardboard or a junk magazine underneath to protect it.
Next, fold your stiffer paper in half in a direction thatâs logical for making a cover, but donât crisp the fold with a bone folder. It has to wrap around the outermost sheet of filler paper, which is the least crisp one, and they wonât nest as well if the cover is so severe.
If you need to trim your cover paper, now is a good time. I recommend making it about 4mm taller than your filler and measuring out about 3mm from the fore-edge to trim that.(E)
Notes about cutting: First, I measured where I wanted my edges to be and punched in some marks with my knife. Then, I removed the filler paper, flipped the cover over, and used those holes as a set point to line up my ruler with the help of a square.(F) I could have also measured things and cut them with a paper cutter, or penciled in a line and used scissors. Do what makes you most comfortable; just be aware that cutting things square is, to some (me), the most maddening aspect of bookbinding. It's okay if it's not perfect!
Center the filler inside your cover, then put the awl through the holes you made earlier to pierce the cover.(G) For extra neatness points, put the awl through the cover holes (but not the filler paper holes) again, from the outside, to smooth out the spine.
Now thread your needle with thread that's about three times as long as your pamphlet is tall, just to be safe.
Starting from outside the spine, pass the needle through the top hole, then out the middle. Pass it into the bottom hole and out the middle again, being careful not to pierce the thread thatâs already there. (That will make tightening everything difficult). Tighten up your thread until itâs taut but not straining and tie the ends of your thread together.(H,I)
If your cover was the same size as your paper, and you donât like that the paper is sticking out at the fore-edge, you can use a ruler and a craft knife (and, ideally, a square) to cut that whole edge flush. Just push down hard with your ruler and cut along it, making several passes until youâre through all layers of paper.
Youâre done! You have made a pamphlet!
Now you can decorate it if you want! If you leave some extra thread, you can put beads on it or braid it all pretty. You can draw or paint on the cover. Or put a sticker on it, or use a foil quill. Have fun with it! For this one, I did beads and some Cricut-assisted papercraft. Cat silhouette courtesy of Mungang Kim of the Noun Project.
Did you make a mistake? You probably learned something, and without the stress of ruining a long, printed manuscript or a fancy covering material.
If you liked doing this, consider what other materials might be fun to experiment with.
If youâre eager to move to more complex bindings, may I suggest a criss-cross binding or Coptic binding? Or some other varieties of pamphlet! Do you want words printed into your pamphlet? Look up âimpositionâ in bookbinding or watch this space for another tutorial.
