This project is also an easy one you can whip up in under 10 minutes. I love those type of projects and I can never have enough notebooks to sketch, doodle and write in. Can you?
I used the ribbon for the binding, as an alternative to the linen thread or embroidery floss I normally use for binding and as an added bonus, the ends of the ribbon also provide a nifty closure for the notebook.
If you are interested in making this sweet and simple notebook, then keep on reading for the supply, video how to and step-by-step instructions. Enjoy!
Tools & Supply
- Plain white paper (I used 10 papers for a 40 pages notebook)
- Cardstock (8½” by 5½”)
- Bone Folder
- Craft Knife
- Paper Trimmer
- Grid ruler
- Paper piercer
- Needle
- Satin or silk ribbon (1/8″ wide)
- Scissors
- Embellishments – buttons, Basic Grey “Indian Summer” paper, 5/8″ circle Punch, Diamond Glaze.
How To
[Watch on YouTube. While you’re there, please comment, rate & subscribe]
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Cut your papers 8″ wide and 5½” tall. Fold in half to 5½” by 4″.
- Straighten the edges of the paper stack with a grid ruler, aligned with the edge of the paper and a craft knife.
- Cut your cardstock 8½” wide and 5½” tall and wrap around the paper stack to adjust the spine.
- Lay the paper stack over the cardstock cover and mark the piercing holes: one at the center and one to each side – 1″ apart.
- Pierce the papers and cardstock following the marks you created before.
- Thread the ribbon through the needle so both ends would meet and start the binding stitching from the inside out, through one of the outer holes.
- Then go in through the opposite hole.
- Tie the ends together in a double knot and thread the needle out through the center hole and in again through the same hole.
- Thread the needle through the loop the tied ends create and then underneath the first stitch.
- Thread the needle out through the center hole again.
- Cut the ribbon off the needle and use the ends to close the notebook.
- To embellish the notebook I adhered 3 buttons with a dab of Diamond Glaze to the center of the notebook’s cover and adhered three punched out circles of patterned paper to the button. I then secured the patterned paper with another layer of Diamond Glaze.
Share
If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr Group!!!
I would also be very happy to see your own creations, so don’t be shy and share 🙂
“Capture Your Dream” workshop is relaunching as a self-paced workshop. Isn’t this the perfect time for you to capture your dream and make it happen?
Tags: binding, creativity prompt, journal, notebook, stitched notebook, Tutorial, Video
Hi There!
Thank You Avital for yet another great video and project!
You’re absolutely right one can never have too many notebooks 😉
Cheers!
Thanks 🙂 I really use all of these notebooks. You may find one in almost all my pockets…
It’s beautiful! I love the simplicity of this. I’ll be linking.
Thank you!
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Thanks for sharing your ideas. Simplicity is truly beauty. You can actually embellish something else on your layout though.
I love notebooks. I have notebooks from five or six years ago that I haven’t got round to using yet, I just saw them and loved them and couldn’t bear to leave them there. The one I’m using at the moment is one my mum got me, it has “I’m going to change the world and this is my plan” on the cover, it’s one of my favourites.
But I’ve never made my own, always thought they’d be too fiddly. I know there’s thermal binding machine (My sister has one actually) but they do make things look so formal. And I’m not particularly crafty anyway and I was put off the entire idea by a nasty incident with hot glue a while back. But maybe I’ll give this a go. If you make your own notebooks, they’ll reflect your personality immediately, but if you buy them, it always takes a while for them to feel like they’re yours.
Hi
May I know if I can use felt for the notebook covers? Will it be too soft?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Stacey, you may use felt and it will be soft… You can either adhere the felt to a cardstock and enjoy the texture of the felt and sturdiness of the cardstock. Or you can cut the felt a bit longer and wrap it around the pages and tie with a ribbon or an elastic band.
I’m making 150 of these – though I’ll be folding 8 1/2 x 11 sheets and those will be my books. What was the length of your ribbon?
Good luck on your impressive endeavor. I don’t remember exactly, but about 20″-25″ long.