Because you asked for it… The DIY Journal.
This was surprisingly a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. Not significantly but enough for me to mention it. Don’t be discouraged; the process was a fun one!
Things You Will Need:
Ruler
Scissors
White glue
Cardboard
Paper of your choice
Thread and thick needle
Fabric and/or scrapbook paper
Clips (office clips work just as well)
Step 1:
We need to assemble our paper blocks. So, once you’ve decided how big you want your journal/sketchbook to be start measuring your paper. Get about 10 pieces of paper together and fold them in half. Continue to do this with as many groups of paper as you would like your journal to have.
Step 2:
Using your thread and needle, sew together each group (separately) about 1/4 of the way down on each end.
Step 3:
Once you have a text block that looks something like the above, begin to glue them. You will want to apply the glue along the edge that you have sewn. Once you have completed the glueing process use two clips to hold the paper in place and set it aside to dry.
Step 4:
Lay out your fabric, or scrapbook paper. I did iron my fabric after I took this picture. Cut the fabric to be about an inch and a half larger than your paper is when opened up.
Step 5:
Measure your cardboard. The pieces that are going to serve as the front and back of your journal should be just slightly larger than your paper. The strip going down the center should be exactly the width of the spine of your paper but should be the height of the front and back cover (the other two cardboard pieces). For this step you can also lay out your cover like the above. You want to make sure there is some between the covers and the spine but not much. You want to be able to open and close the book when you are finished.
Step 6:
Glue each cardboard piece in place on the fabric.
Step 7:
Once your pieces are in place, glue a small portion of the bottom of each part. Fold the fabric up. Repeat for the top and sides. Once you have completed the edges glue the spine of the paper to the spine of the cover. Let this dry propped against something for a bit.
Step 8:
Once your text block has dried, measure a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the area between the front cover and the first piece of paper in your text block. make sure you will be able to close and open your journal with the paper in place. Go ahead and glue it in place when you are confident. Repeat for the back cover.
You should have something that looks like this.
Happy sketching, journaling!
I think I’m going to become a journal maker.
At least I’m going to give it a try. Thanks
Haha best of luck to you! Let me know if you find other working methods. 🙂
🙂 I will be making a smaller one soon for just sketches pretty soon. Luckily I have all of the supplies, but instead of sketch paper I will use newspaper sketch paper. Will more than likely post it when I’m done.
Can you elaborate a bit on step three? I’m really not sure how much I should be gluing here. I want to give this a shot but I hope you will have a chance to get back to me before I begin (tomorrow most likely).
Sure, no problem. Add a line of glue (from top to bottom) inside each section of paper. Don’t go overboard. Just a small amount is fine. You are just trying to keep the sections together. The clip will help to do this.
THe picture show’s a bottle of Mod Podge. Is it used to glue the papers and fabric? If so, what kind should you use?
Yes I used it to adhere the fabric to the cardboard. It works well. You could use any kind for this project.
im using card stock and am having to do the paper block in two sections. im confused about the gluing… are we gluing between pages or on the spine? very confused!
Oh, sorry Lisa! Glue the spine, not between the pages. Good luck!