first bind!
(I'm writing this up in June 2026 but backdating it to when I did the actual bind)
okay so! I've been wanting to get into bookbinding and decided I just needed to go the dumbest version of a book (shout out to John Rogers!), so I decided to make a pamphlet bind with whatever I could find in my house. I am indebted to Moonfeather Quill's tutorial on doing a pamphlet bind for this!
list of materials used:
literal trash, i.e., an old REI catalog
thin cardboard from something that came in the mail
printer test pages
list of tools/supplies:
embroidery floss
embroidery needle I had for cross stitch purposes
awl (I had one already, you could use a thumbtack)
Elmer's glue
bone folder (I had one already -- they're cheap and very useful, but you could use something else as long as it can smooth down paper)
duct tape
scissors
ruler
list of steps:
folded the printer test pages into signatures
punched the signatures
cut & folded the cardboard to the same size as the signatures -- this is the cover
punched the cover
sewed the signatures and cover together
cut the cover (the REI pages) a bit larger than the cardboard
glued the cover paper to the cardboard
turned in the corners and glued them down
glued the first and last pages of the signatures to the cover boards to serve as endpapers
reinforced the spine with duct tape
and that's it! the dumbest version of a book! I use it to make the worst art I can think of. it rules.