Hello friends and DIY community, I hope you are having a lovely day. It's been a while since I last visited. Today, I'm bringing you my latest craft, but first, let me give you a bit of context.
In my country, finding office supplies is extremely difficult and, above all, far beyond my budget as a teacher. For this reason, I have always opted for recycling. If you know me a little, you know that I love to draw, and since I couldn't afford new paper or a new sketchbook (my old sketchbook is about to run out), I decided to create my own using the sheets discarded at my work that had one side written on.
I had some ideas for my sketchbook and some parameters to meet: first, it had to be small enough to carry with me everywhere, look rustic and very personal, and be durable. Additionally, it needed to have around 100 or more sheets and be in a horizontal format, my favorite format. With this in mind, let's get to work!
Materials and Tools:
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Fishing line or string
- Scissors
- A nail
- Electrical tape
- Glue
- Decorating materials
Steps:
- Make the Templates:
- I made two templates, one from a hard material for the covers and one for the sheets. The measurements were: for the covers, 3x4.1 inches, and for the sheets, 2.8x3.9 inches. This makes it small enough to carry everywhere but the right size for drawing.
- Cut the Sheets and Covers:
- I cut all the sheets and covers, which were made from recycled materials and used on one side. It was boring, but I trusted the process. I didn’t worry too much about uniformity, and if you have a paper cutter, it will be easy, but in my case, I used scissors. A tip: cut several covers (3 for each side) because they can get damaged when binding.
- Bind the Sheets and Covers:
- I placed the 3 covers, the sheets in the middle, and the 3 covers at the end. It’s a good idea to place them little by little and gently tap them on the table to align them. Finally, I simply used two binder clips to hold them together.
- Binding:
- I chose a traditional Japanese stab binding, which will give it a lot of strength and prevent the sheets from falling out. First, I marked the same distance where I would make the holes, advised 0.4 inches from the edge and with 0.4 inches of separation between each hole.
- Make the Holes:
- This was the hardest part. I used a hammer and a nail because I didn’t have the right tools. It was difficult due to the thickness, but with a lot of work, I managed it.
- Sew the Sheets:
- Sewing the sheets is very simple. Just start from the center and work one hole at a time, both around the spine and from hole to hole. If you search on YouTube, you’ll find several videos that explain this type of binding.
- Reinforce the Spine:
- To reinforce the spine, even though it wasn’t necessary, I used a bit of electrical tape.
- Make the Cover:
- I didn’t want the stitches to be visible, so I made a cover with the same material as the covers and glued it with silicone.
- Reinforce Edges and Spines:
- The next step was to reinforce the edges and spines to make it durable. I chose electrical tape because I wanted it to be black and it’s a very resistant material.
- Decorate:
- With everything ready and happy with the result so far, I went on to decorate my new sketchbook. Since the style will be between rustic and natural, I decided to decorate it with a small mushroom and some sparkles.
- Create a Bookmark:
- Feeling inspired, I also wanted to create a small floral-themed bookmark and make the first little drawing, which I share with you and hope you like.
It has been a pleasure to share this little project with you. I hope you enjoyed the process as much as I enjoyed creating it and are encouraged to create your own cozy sketchbooks. As I fill it, I will share the pages with you. Warm regards and, as always, my best wishes for success and luck.
I sincerely want to thank you for taking the time to read this article. Your support means a lot to me and motivates me to continue sharing content that can be useful and interesting for you. If you found this article helpful or enjoyed reading it, I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Best wishes.
