Five-stitch Bookbinding - Preparing to Stitch

Mark locations for five holes along the fold line from the previous step. One hole should be in the middle of that fold line, one each 3/8 from the top and bottom, and the others evenly spaced in between. ere!s what it looks like" #tack the book together with the pages between the covers $naturally% and clip it all together with spring clothespins, bulldog clips, or paper clips. &et the binding'side edges of the papers lined up neatly. (ith the bodkin, awl, needle, or metal hole punch, punch holes where you have marked. )f your thread is on a spool, use the spool to support the book and poke through the book into the hole in the spool.

Five-stitch Bookbinding - Stitching

*ut a length of thread at least four times the height of your book and thread a needle singly with it $that is, do not double the thread%. #tart by stitching up through the middle hole. +eave a couple of inches of thread at the back of the book to tie a knot with later. #titch down through the ne,t hole towards the top of the book and then around the spine and back down through the same hole. #titch up through the hole nearest the top of the book and then around the spine and back up through the same hole. #titch around the top of the book and back up through the same hole. #titch down through the ne,t hole towards the center. ere!s the only tricky part" Skip the center hole and stitch up through the second hole from the bottom, then around the spine and back up through that same hole. -s you go past
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the middle hole, keep the loose end $coming through the middle hole% towards the open side of the book. .y now you have the idea" down through the hole closest to the bottom, around the spine and back down, around the bottom and back down, up through the hole closer to the center, down through the middle hole, and finally around the spine and back down through the middle hole. -s you go through the middle hole this last time, keep the needle on the spine side of the thread that skipped the middle hole. /ie the ends together over the thread that skipped the middle hole, and trim the knot. /hat!s it0

Five-stitch Bookbinding - Finished Project

1aturally ) followed along as ) wrote these directions. ere2s one of seven books ) made as ) was working on these directions.

/his one went to my net friend *arol in (ashington state. ) sent the other si, to the first si, people who got this far in the directions and e'mailed me with comments about the site and said they2d like one. #ome of the others had the real wasps2 nest paper like this one, and some had a slip of birch bark from a tree that fell in the storm we had on -pril 3ools2 4ay 256. -nu, of +ake (orth 3+, sent me this picture of some books she made using cereal bo, cardboard for the covers, and the tip about using an eyelet punch to make holes. #he says,
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One thing ) did to make making the holes easier is to use a metal hole punch $7/78 inch tip si9e%. )t2s the kind that you hold and hit with a hammer that people use to make holes before they put eyelets in. ... :sing food bo,es is great. )t makes you like a kid again, e,cept that instead of buying the cereal for the toy, you!re buying it for the graphics on the outside "'%

/hanks to my son who learned this way of making a book at ;hode )sland #chool of 4esign. ;ead more about bookbinding, including instructions for several bindings similar to this, in Cover To Coverby #hereen +a<lant9, from +ark .ooks. +ark .ooks => *ollege #treet -sheville, 1* ?88>7