A reposting of my original Den of Angels thread. I swear I’m going to make a book with type someday…
Bookmaking for Dolls!
For this tutorial, I’m making a blank sketchbook for my doll. I’m planning another tutorial on how to ‘shrink’ and format the contents of a book down to doll size, but it involves a lot of computer skill and/or photocopying. So let’s first learn how the books are put together, anyway.
This method is pretty cheap to execute, and really simple once you know the steps. The only major investment is time & patience….lots of time spent waiting for the glue to dry…. Okay, let’s start with supplies:
1. Paper for the pages: this can be any type of paper. I like to use resume paper (available at stationary stores) but regular computer paper works great too.
2. Cardboard for the cover: any type of cardboard, any thickness, just no corrugated. I use pretty thin cardboard, and glue two sheets together. for thicker cardboard, one sheet is fine. (I like to steal cardboard from the back of sketchbooks)
3. Glue: this is the only item where there can be no substitutes. You’re going to need a type of glue called PVA (polyvinyl acetate) Sounds fancy, but any store that’s got scrapbooking supplies should carry it. It’s acid-free, and unlike elmer’s or craft glue it doesn’t dry hard, but remains flexible and is very strong. It’s key in the binding process, and it’s also great for everday projects.
4. Decorative paper and cloth for the cover: I like to use cloth for the spine of the book as it holds up much better than paper. Most cloth or fabric will work as long as it’s not too thick (denim or regular leather) or too sheer (silks and gauze). Nothing stretchy either. You can either cover the whole book in cloth, or do the spine in cloth and the covers in a decorative paper. A lot of stationary and craft store carry decorative paper, and you only need a teeny bit. Fancy wrapping paper, brown paper bags, nice packaging…paper’s everywhere. These cheap bars of soap I get in Chinatown have the nicest wrapper with cherry blossom print.
5. One index card or similar weight cardstock.
6. Wax paper. This project involves a lot of pressing, and the wax paper keeps the glue on your book from sticking to the weights.
7. Heavy books, bricks, etc, to act as your press….a lot of pressure needs to be put on the book as it dries, so have a stack of heavy items available.
8. Razor blade/Xacto knife, ruler, and scissors
Making the Book!
Section 1: Preparing the pages
1. Decide what size you want.
The book I’m making here is 2 inches by 2.75 (2 3/4) inches, but do whatever size you please! Bigger, smaller (not too small!) square, anything! Cut out different size pieces of paper and see what looks good with your doll.
2. Make your pages.
For this I’m using a nice cream-colored resume paper, but you can use anything! The easiest way to make pages is to just take a ruler and mark out the pages on the paper. I used just 5 sheets of paper, I got about about thirteen mini pages on one sheet of 8.5×11 (letter size) paper.
Then, cut them out using the ruler and razor blade. Don’t fret if they’re not all perfectly the same size, it won’t affect the binding process.
So now I’ve got about 60 loose pages. You could do more, but I probably wouldn’t reccommend doing less than 35 pages, just because you’re going to need a thick enough spine for the glue to hold on to.
Section 2: Glue-binding
1. Find a counter, table, box, etc. with a flat surface and nice, clean edge. You are going to get glue on the edge, so find a surface that’s easy to clean, like formica or plastic. The glue does come off, but make sure it’s not a surface that’s going to get easily damaged.
2. Line the stack of paper up with the edge of the counter (or box, table, whatever) so it is flush with the edge. For this step it is very important to get the sheets perfectly lined up, as this is going to be the bound edge of the pages.
3. Add weight to the top of the stack of pages. You can use heavy books, boxes, bricks, anything heavy, just keep in mind that it’s going to get glue on it. I usually put down a few scraps of cardboard first, then add the weights.
4. Now we’re going to score the edge so the glue has something to grab onto. I use the razor blade to score vertically and diagonally, just to rough up the edge of the paper a bit.
5. Apply the glue with a brush. You can give it a pretty thick coating as long as it’s not drippy. Don’t apply it lightly, try to smoosh the glue into all the nooks and crannies. Wait for the glue to be dry to the touch before applying another coat.
6. Add 4-5 more coats, letting the glue dry thoroughly between each coat.
7. After the last coat is dry, carefully remove the weights from the stack of papers. Use a butter knife or credit card (anything slim and sturdy) to separate the cardboard from the pages and to separate the stack of pages from the edge.
8. Now we’re going to make the thing that attaches the bound pages for the cover. Cut the index card into a long strip 2.75 inches high (or whatever the height of your pages is), the length doesn’t matter at this point.
9. Fold the cut index card around your pages like you’re making a makeshift cover for them. Take the index card off and go over the folds with your fingernail (or a bone folder, etc.) to get clean, sharp folds.
10. Apply a coat of glue to the spine of your bound pages, then stick them into the index card cover. Let the glue dry completely before going on to the next steps.
11. Cut the index card cover smaller than the pages themselves, they’re just going to be ‘tabs’ that hold the bound pages to the hard cover.
And voila! We’re now ready to make the cover!
Making the Cover!
1. Cut out two covers and a spine from the cardboard. If you’re using two sheets of thin cardboard glued together, make sure the pieces have different grains – one going vertically and the other horizontally, otherwise the cover will curl.
The cardboard spine is roughly the same width and height of the spine of the bound pages. The back and front covers I usually make just a tiny bit larger than the actual book.
2. Cut out the fabric or paper to cover the spine with. I used a piece of old cargo pants, cut to 2” x 4”, so I would have enough fabric to fold
over the edges.
Glue the spine and covers to the fabric, leaving a 1/8” gap between the spine and covers as shown. Place some heavy books on top and let it dry.
3. Fold the cloth over and glue it down, then put some heavy stuff on top and let dry.
4. Before we glue on the nice paper for the cover, glue down some index card paper to the parts of the cover not covered with cloth. This gives the decorative paper a flat surface. I’ll try to explain with this diagram:
5. Now we make it look pretty! For the decorative paper I’m using a brown paper bag that has some cute designs printed on it. Cut out area you want to use (leave a lot of overhang) making sure you’ve got a nice straight cut on the edge that’s on the front of the book. Apply a thin layer of glue with your finger or brush to the decorative paper, then carefully place it on the cover and smooth with your finger so there’s no air bubbles. Don’t worry if the paper the around edges buckle and crinkle, just make sure the paper glued to the front is nice and smooth. Do the same for the back cover, then press under some heavy books while it dries.
6. Trim off the excess paper around the edges, then trim the corners as shown.
7. Fold the paper edges over and glue in place. Place some heavy stuff on top and let dry.
Now the cover is complete!
8. Now we attach the bound pages to the cover. Place some wax paper between the index card ‘tabs’ and the pages. Apply glue to the tabs only, not the spine of the bound pages.
Place the tabs and pages inside the cover, close, and press until dry. When pressing, make sure the spine does not get pressed, like in the diagram below.
When it’s all dry the inside covers should look like this:
9. Yay! There’s only one more step, and that’s to add endpapers. They cover up the folded over paper and tabs on the inside cover. Cut a piece of paper the same height as your pages but twice as wide. Fold in half, then glue in place as shown. Close the book, weigh down with heavy stuff, let dry, then that’s it!
You’re done!
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cleosy