My First Homemade Journal...

[Art]

 

That seemed to arrive pretty fast! Looks pretty decent...that wettest pen DOES show a bit of feathering, but wow, that's a *really* bold line, lol. I'd guess this paper could handle like 90% of pens out there...not too shabby!

 

The bold line pen is a Jinhao X750 with a Goulet 6 Broad nib installed. I tried to dial back the flow a bit but haven't been able to make anything work. I do like the pen and writing with it is a joy, just write slowly with larger letters. The ink flow is wonderfully smooth. I've decided to give this journal making thing a shot. Haven't decided everything yet but I'm in no hurry.

[TMLee]

Well done :-)

 

Keep it up !

[sirgilbert357]

Well done :-)

 

Keep it up !

 

Thanks! Haven't made a cover for this bookblock yet. This project has totally stalled. I haven't been able to get to Hobby Lobby for more red cardstock to use for the flyleaves...but that might be a good thing, because I just now procured a virtually unlimited supply of high grade chipboard! My job has these heavy duty 3 ring binders that they use for all sorts of things -- once. Then they throw them away. Well, I'll be snagging a few every now and then as I need them. I can chop them to size and use their chipboard and maybe even their heavy duty plastic shell...I dunno. Many ideas, no time to implement...

[Art]

Sounds like a nice source of materials. I've put my project off until after New Year. Just too much going on right now. Please keep us updated on your progress - it's a helpful inspiration.

[sirgilbert357]

Sounds like a nice source of materials. I've put my project off until after New Year. Just too much going on right now. Please keep us updated on your progress - it's a helpful inspiration.

 

I will. Going to TRY to get to Hobby Lobby today. Hopefully I can get it done over the weekend...but my wife and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I have a lot of things on the "Wifey To-Do list", LOL...

[GatzBcn]

Is there another method other than what is mentioned? If so, could you provide a link?

 

I usually sew with French stitch. I found this tutorial: http://pasticheknits.blogspot.mx/2010/02/french-link-binding-tutorial.html

Other usual methods are using cords or cotton ribbon. They are very similar to the French one, except they don't "cross" the stich every time and they have a cord or a ribbon that joins them. I couldn't find any tutorial.

[sirgilbert357]

Well, sorry its been so long since I updated this thread with pics of the completed journal, but yeah...I just finished it, so here are some pics....from the same book block as above:

 

With a Pelikan M205 for size:

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1986.jpg

 

Course rulers are really the best way to judge...

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1989.jpg

 

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1990.jpg

 

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1988.jpg

 

Red Flyleaves!

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1991.jpg

 

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1994.jpg

 

Lays flat...sort of.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1992.jpg

 

Went with lined for this one:

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1993.jpg

 

Made the decorative headbands out of the same material as the cover. Just wanted something simple to try the technique. Was an awful lot of trouble for something that's practically invisible.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1995.jpg

 

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1996.jpg

 

Left the bookblock untrimmed. I really like this look for some reason.

http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k446/sirgilbert357/IMG_1997.jpg

 

All in all, this is a massive improvement over #1. I used actual stiff bookboard, not cheap flimsy chipboard like my first one. I made it thinner so its easier to write in, the spine is MUCH more compliant and flexible and the paper is lined with a very light blue 3 lines per inch ruling so its easier to write in. The ribbon is glued as well as sewn in on this one and the corners of the fabric are cleaner (but there's still some room for improvement in my opinion). I will no longer use anything but high quality bookboard -- it made a huge difference in the feel of the journal. I want to just toss my first one in the trash...

 

Anyway, sorry there aren't any more "work in progress" pics for the making of the cover, etc, but I will try to do more on the next journal.

 

I think this one is worthy enough...so I'll throw it up in the classifieds -- even though I want to keep it for myself, LOL.

Edited December 8, 2014 by sirgilbert357

[Tessy Moon]

Wow! That is an awesome journal! Well done!!

[Art]

It's beautiful. You've done a marvelous job. I can't wait to try one myself.

[sirgilbert357]

Thanks Tessy & Art. Next up is either a reversal of the colors (red cover and blue stitching & blue bookmark ribbon) or a leather look soft touch vinyl cover and some fancy paper-backed linen fly leaves in an ivory color. If I'm honest, the red cover might be a bit too loud for my taste, but the difficulties of working with the cover for the other one are a bit off-putting. It's a very nice material and I don't want to screw it up, LOL. It'll be a surprise even to me what I do next.

Edited December 8, 2014 by sirgilbert357

[graystranger]

Wow, that looks great! I am inspired to try it. Where did you buy the book board? What kind of cement did you use for the cloth cover, and glueing the paper for the inner covers? Can you spray it on? This is so wonderful, and your photos show the full process in great detail. Thank you for sharing.

[TMLee]

Well done !

 

Nice !

[sirgilbert357]

Wow, that looks great! I am inspired to try it. Where did you buy the book board? What kind of cement did you use for the cloth cover, and glueing the paper for the inner covers? Can you spray it on? This is so wonderful, and your photos show the full process in great detail. Thank you for sharing.

 

Well, I harvested the book board from heavy duty 3 inch three-ring binders. Its very stout stuff and from what I can tell, its similar (or the same) to the stuff hard backed books are made of. So, you can do something similar (be forewarned, cutting it is a massive pain) or you can buy book board online.

 

For the cloth cover, Elmers Glue All, believe it or not. I lay it on with a paintbrush so there's a nice even coat across the board and then I wait just a bit until its tacky to join the cloth and the board. Not long though...maybe 20 seconds. The thinner the coat, the shorter this time becomes. You CAN get spray on glue, but I've not tried it as it seems there is zero margin for error; it dries super fast and I don't want to be rushed to glue things together.

 

Something that I must say is that there was a lot of trial and error in between the first and the second journals. I basically used all my leftover scrap material from the first journal to practice gluing down corners of the fabric, doing the red flyleaves just right, etc. I had to experiment with glue amounts and drying times, etc to prevent the paper from wrinkling or not sticking well enough. I even had to re-evaluate how I use the bone folder to smooth the red paper because it was leaving marks. I looked at my first journal and tried to work out all the kinks in the problem areas before finishing the second. I probably did enough work to make half of another journal cover, lol. So, if you want to attempt this, do it, but buy extra materials and be prepared to do a test run and throw stuff away. This heavy cloth is especially hard to work with because it doesn't like being cut by scissors -- I had to use a razor blade! I also fine tuned how I make the spine and can honestly say I see why this part is so hard to get right. The decorative headbands were a last minute add on...got bored waiting for the cover to dry and was done with the book block, so I was like meh, why not?

 

I'll be sure to post pics of the next one here. Maybe in more detail or show more steps. I've decided to attempt the faux leather covered one, but I'm still working out some details...

[sirgilbert357]

Well done !

 

Nice !

 

Thanks TMLee...means a lot coming from you! Maybe someday I can get to your level! I was toying with the idea of doing an open spine one, but I want to master the full cover style first and play with a variety of materials...soon though...

[TMLee]

 

Well, I harvested the book board from heavy duty 3 inch three-ring binders. Its very stout stuff and from what I can tell, its similar (or the same) to the stuff hard backed books are made of. So, you can do something similar (be forewarned, cutting it is a massive pain) or you can buy book board online.

 

For the cloth cover, Elmers Glue All, believe it or not. I lay it on with a paintbrush so there's a nice even coat across the board and then I wait just a bit until its tacky to join the cloth and the board. Not long though...maybe 20 seconds. The thinner the coat, the shorter this time becomes. You CAN get spray on glue, but I've not tried it as it seems there is zero margin for error; it dries super fast and I don't want to be rushed to glue things together.

 

Something that I must say is that there was a lot of trial and error in between the first and the second journals. I basically used all my leftover scrap material from the first journal to practice gluing down corners of the fabric, doing the red flyleaves just right, etc. I had to experiment with glue amounts and drying times, etc to prevent the paper from wrinkling or not sticking well enough. I even had to re-evaluate how I use the bone folder to smooth the red paper because it was leaving marks. I looked at my first journal and tried to work out all the kinks in the problem areas before finishing the second. I probably did enough work to make half of another journal cover, lol. So, if you want to attempt this, do it, but buy extra materials and be prepared to do a test run and throw stuff away. This heavy cloth is especially hard to work with because it doesn't like being cut by scissors -- I had to use a razor blade! I also fine tuned how I make the spine and can honestly say I see why this part is so hard to get right. The decorative headbands were a last minute add on...got bored waiting for the cover to dry and was done with the book block, so I was like meh, why not?

 

I'll be sure to post pics of the next one here. Maybe in more detail or show more steps. I've decided to attempt the faux leather covered one, but I'm still working out some details...

 

 

Glueing

Well done, you are making good progress on glueing techniques

You are learning how tacky the glue should be for various situations.

Apply the same concept to glueing corners.

Since they need to be folded in (almost ) one execution, the glue must be tacky enough to keep the folded surfaces down.

So just allow these corners to dry out a bit more , so it gets real tacky .

With that, and with a few seconds of pressure holding them down, you will have nice corners.

 

 

Fabric cutting

My advise is to buy a rotary cutter.

It will make light of your work.

Keep all your cutting tools extremely sharp, to get clean cuts.

(be careful too )

 

Enjoy !

 

[sirgilbert357]

 

 

Glueing

Well done, you are making good progress on glueing techniques

You are learning how tacky the glue should be for various situations.

Apply the same concept to glueing corners.

Since they need to be folded in (almost ) one execution, the glue must be tacky enough to keep the folded surfaces down.

So just allow these corners to dry out a bit more , so it gets real tacky .

With that, and with a few seconds of pressure holding them down, you will have nice corners.

 

 

Fabric cutting

My advise is to buy a rotary cutter.

It will make light of your work.

Keep all your cutting tools extremely sharp, to get clean cuts.

(be careful too )

 

Enjoy !

 

 

Duly noted. Rotary cutter...OK, thanks!!

 

On my corners, I think I have the glue part down, but I want to perfect the cutting of the fabric to lay even flatter still...that's one of the details I simply must resolve prior to the next journal. The material is just too thick to not get it right...

[TMLee]

Duly noted. Rotary cutter...OK, thanks!!

 

On my corners, I think I have the glue part down, but I want to perfect the cutting of the fabric to lay even flatter still...that's one of the details I simply must resolve prior to the next journal. The material is just too thick to not get it right...

 

Okay ,

Thick fabrics are more challenging.

 

I recommend you go thru one more additional stage of pressure clamping the corners down to get them flatter.

 

I do this additional step for my journals , especially those covered with fabric.

 

Requires more patience but the end results are well worth it.

 

Search my thread for posts about this.

 

:-)

[sirgilbert357]

Will do, TMLee, thanks. I also just need to work out how to cut it, which I've seen you do as well. So I'll probably be lifting some of your techniques (cutting the corners into strips so they fold with less bulk). I just picked up an extra C-clamp so I can do a proper clamping instead of using every large book I own, LOL.

[TMLee]

Will do, TMLee, thanks. I also just need to work out how to cut it, which I've seen you do as well. So I'll probably be lifting some of your techniques (cutting the corners into strips so they fold with less bulk). I just picked up an extra C-clamp so I can do a proper clamping instead of using every large book I own, LOL.

 

 

Oh ....

 

Don't cut into strips.

Its not necessary.

 

I have since abandoned that method.

 

Not necessary.

What I do now for all my corners is to just fold them in , making pleats, in a radial fashion.

You can see in the pics showing my corners.

 

Then for excellent finish, clamp the corners for a few hours.

 

Wet only the fabric corners carefully before clamping.

Just use a small brush , dipped into your bowl of water that you rinse your glueing brushes.

The water wets the fabric and the glue underneath, compressing the entire thing.

By the time it dries, it sets into the flat mould shaped by the compressing.

 

I only clamp the corners , to avoid damage to other parts of the covers.

[sirgilbert357]

Ah, OK. I was hoping there would be an easier way. I'll go back through your thread and look for pics of your current corner technique.

 

And I got a rotary cutter and cutting mat today. HOLY COW, these things are expensive...this hobby will be my financial undoing. Luckily, my wife sews, so I got them for her for Christmas, but I totally plan to use them too, LOL. Picked up some more fabric too...this time in two GORGEOUS colorful prints...I'll get a pic up in a bit. Really excited to make these into something soon...

 

Edit:

Here's a pic. Not a very good one...does no justice to the depth of color, but its all I got!

Edited December 14, 2014 by sirgilbert357