how to create an awesome sketchbook!

I finished fixing the photos. Thanks for your patience!

Hi friends! I don’t know why I keep forgetting when I’m supposed to post. But I still remembered 😁 Today I’m going to show you to make a sketchbook. I love making sketchbooks because 1) I save money 2) it’s more customizable and 3) the sketchbook lays flat.. It’s super easy, but a little bit tedious. I adapted the sewing technique from Layers of Learning (I made a book for Medieval History once. I don’t even know if the sewing technique is the same…).

You will need:

• Paper (I’m using watercolor paper)
• A pen or pencil (a light color would be ideal. I used an erasable pen.)
• A ruler
• A paper cutter (you can use scissors but this way more efficient.)
• Needle and thread
• Large needle
• Foam sheets or thin cardboard for a cover
• Scissors
• Sewing machine (optional; you will still need needle and thread)

I recently bought Canson watercolor paper! Check out my review post here!

Start by drawing lines on your paper where you want cuts/folds. I like small sketchbooks, so I split my 9 by 12 paper into fourths.

Then, cut your paper. If you only want to get two pages from your piece of paper, then DO NOT CUT your paper. Note: for the sewing to work, you need to have two pages on each piece of paper. Make sure you cut on the same edge for each piece of paper.

Here are my pages. I wanted to have a wide sketchbook, so I cut the paper along the long edge.

Next, fold each piece of paper in half. Make sure to line up edges; it’s fine if you don’t fold right on your drawn line.

Then, sew along the fold/line. I used a machine since it’s quicker (I am borrowing my grandmothers), but you can sew it by hand. I sewed each piece of paper separately, but if you are using drawing paper or printer paper then you can sew up to four sheets together.

Then sew back and forth, by hand, through all the stitches together to connect the papers together.

I wrapped a cloth around the end of the paper and fixed it with a large binder clip.

Next, cut a piece of cardboard or foam out as a cover. Make sure to take into account how thick the spine is.

We’re almost done! Draw dots on the spine where you want the stitches to be.

Then poke all the dots you drew earlier with a large needle.

Finally, thread a large needle with thick thread or quadrupled thread. Sew together the loops on the spine to the cover through the holes. I made X’s on the top and bottom because I put two too many rows of holes, but I didn’t want them to be empty.

Aaaaand you’re done! Here is my sketchbook. I’m planning to buy some stickers from my shop and Sunshine Stickers to decorate my sketchbook. You can also paint/draw on the cover with non-water soluble paint/pens/markers.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions on the instructions, leave them in the comments. I’d love to know how your sketchbook turned out if you made one. Also, I recently updated the stickers on my shop, so they are all kiss cut now instead of a square. Plus, I added a new gallery collection of some succulents that I drew with watercolor pencils. Have a great day!