Make a Professional Sketchbook
Sketchbooks are used by artists, designers and illustrators to perform studies, create incredible pieces of art on the move and to doodle down their ideas. Every sketchbook will have its own artistic style, flow and composition in-between the pages. Making your own sketchbook is a fantastic way of showing that same individuality outside of the pages, as well as in. It is also a good way to really make your sketchbook feel like your own and make it more personal to you.
Instructions
1. Create stacks of 8 sheets with your drawing paper. These are called signatures. Fold them in half and make a clean crease. The thicker you want your sketchbook, the more signatures you should have.
2. Measure the spine of your signatures with a ruler and multiply the measurement by the number of signatures you have. Cut a piece of thread to that length.
3. Open up each of your signatures, lay them flat on the table and poke four, evenly spaced holes down the spine with a thumbtack. Using a large needle, thread through the top hole of your first signature, going outside in. Now thread the needle through all the holes going down the spine, alternating in and out.
4. Add more signatures to your paper block. Thread the needle from your first signature through the adjacent hole on your second signature. Thread the needle through the next hole on the second signature and follow through to the adjacent hole on the first signature. Repeat with the next two holes and tie the string with a square knot. Repeat this process to bind any more signatures you wish to use to make your paper block.
5. Create your cover boards. Use a Xacto or Stanley knife and a ruler to cut off 1/8-inch off the edges of the signatures. With your Xacto or Stanley knife cut out two pieces of board that are exactly 1/4-inch larger than the original page size and a strip the same width of the spine of your paper block and 1 1/2 inches longer than your paper block.
6. Decorate your cover. Cut out two pieces of colored or patterned paper the same width as your cover board and 1 1/2-inch longer than your cover boards. Lay the boards on top of the paper so that there is a 3/4-inch border of decorational paper around three of the boards' sides. The edge without a paper border should be the side where the spine will be. Apply paper glue to the paper around the board and gently fold in the paper border.
7. Attach the spine. Cut out another strip of colored or patterned paper the same length as your spine board and 2" wider. Cover one side of the paper with glue and put your spine board exactly in the center of the paper, leaving 1-inch on either side. Place the two pieces of cover board on either side of the spine leaving 1/4-inch between the spine board and the cover board. Let the glue dry.
8. Finish up. On the inside of your cover, paint a 1/2-inch layer of glue onto the spine edge of each of your cover boards. Place paper block so that it aligns with this edge of a cover block, making sure to leave 3/4-inch on all but the spine sides. Carefully close the cover of your new sketchbook so that the opposite glue strip aligns properly and allow glue to dry.
