Handmade Book Tutorial

I had a little extra time today...because I got up so early because of the storm and we have workers in the flat. So, I began surfing my blog list and surfing their blog list, and so forth, and I stumbled upon - Etsy Ireland. This is a tutorial on how to make your own handmade book. What a lovely way to recycle paper and to personalize and design and make your own diary or art book, recipe book, scrap book, baby book, wedding book - you name it. It makes a great gift idea too! I would love to receive a handmade book. It would definitely be something I would treasure forever.   

I love that you can add your personal imprint to the book. Why not add a personal touch and glue leaves or other personal items onto the book, or even draw, paint or design your own cover? There's a gzillion ways to make this into a beautiful, but functional piece of art. 

So, not only did a find a great tutorial on how to make my own book, I am now a proud member of Etsy Ireland.  Check it out if you want further information on a step by step tutorial. 

If any of you try this, please let me know how it turns out!
Materials Needed:

*Paper for the pages

*Paper for the cover, you don't want anything too thick for this type of binding, it's not going to be a hard back book, maybe handmade paper, or watercolour paper. I've used an old proof of one of my etchings, it's about 300gsm.

*Linen thread, you want a good strong thread, one that wont break half way through sewing the binding. I've also been told dental floss works very well for this.

*A ruler

*An awl or a tool with a sharp point to make the holes. You can also use a mini hand drill if you have one.

*A book binding needle, or a darning needle works well too. Has to have a sharpish point.

*Chopping board or thick cardboard to protect your bench.

*A bulldog clip to hold the book together while sewing

*A bone paper folder