Chantal Loves Vintage: How To Make A Notebook

I've had a little project up my sleeve that I wanted to do for awhile now and making this notebook is just the first part of it.

This is a very simple book to make, so grab your supplies and make loads.

Supplies

Card

Paper

Embroidery Silk

A Cutting Board

Scissors

A Needle

A Craft Knife

A Bradawl

A Pencil

A Ruler

And if you're anything like me at all A Cup of Tea

For my notebook I used A4 card to make an A5 notebook but of course you can cut your card and paper to any size your heart desires.

1. You need to make a template for your holes so that all your pages will line up correctly. To do this you need a piece of paper the height of your notebook. Fold the paper length ways in half. Using a ruler mark out evenly, for mine I made spaces of 1cm.

2. Now you need to fold you card in half. Put it on your craft board and position your hole template along the crease. Now get your bradawl and holding your template in place push through to pierce the card.

3. Depending on how thick you want you notebook it may be wise to cut a small amount off the top of each page so that when you fold the notebook you don't end up with your pages overlapping your cover. For my notebook I took off 1/2 cm. For your information I used 19 sheets of paper folded over.....I wanted a fairly thick book.

4. Fold your pages in half. You want to arrange you pages in order and slot the altogether. This stage won't affect you if you are using all the same paper for the pages, but I like to use a mixture of paper so I arrange them in the order I like.

5. Now put all your folded pages on your craft board and put your template in the crease again. Using the bradawl (carefully!!!) push through all the pages to make your holes. You may have to wiggle it a bit to get it through all the pages or alternatively do them in batches.

6. We are now going to assemble our book. Put all the pages inside the cover. Taking your needle and embroidery thread insert the needle through the first hole and pull through leaving a tail long enough for a plait. Now just sew all the way to the top of the notebook. Then go over the top and sew all the way down so that the thread has completely cover the middle and spine of the book.

7. Plate your ends together to what ever length you want. Or alternatively tie a knot and have a frayed tail.

8. Decorate your notebook. This is the fun part. I love decorating books to match the recipients personality.

9. Ta da!!.....sit back and put your feet up......you just made a book.

High fives all round.

IMPORTANT TIPS

1. Don't poke your finger with the needle....not unless you want to wear a cool plaster.......I'm just joking, really don't poke you finger with a needle! It hurts.

2. Be very careful with the bradawl

3. Make sure you don't spill your cup of tea over your notebook......major fail!

4. Plan. If you think you are going to sew on your cover it's best to do it before you assemble the notebook.

5. Enjoy and make lots for presents. Have a notebook frenzy.

These are fantastic as presents and the world is your oyster when it comes to decoration. You can really go to town and add all sorts into it. The following is one that I made my lovely mum and I included a small pocket at the back. You could even glue in an envelope to the inside for secret messages, love notes or keepsakes. PS go check out said lovely mother's blog 8 La Commune, she's finding all sorts of fantastic vintage finds over there in France and I can tell you I am highly jealous!