I am getting this journal put together and thought I would bring you along during the whole binding process so you can see a little of what I do to bind a journal. The cover of this one is made from (you will never believe this......) one of those squishy blue and white envelopes you get from Amazon. Yep, this one is squishy and crinkly and I love it! The fabric is faux quilted (sorry, can't give up all of my secrets....š) with several labels, a stenciled page and a cross stitched bee. The inside is a single piece of fabric that I put on while the journal was flat so that there wouldn't be any issues with the spine.
I always leave the inside of the cover plain until after I bind in the signature so that there isn't anything that I have to dodge when putting through the awl.
The stack of things that you see behind my hand are all of the tags, journal cards, envelopes, etc. that I will add back into the signature after binding. I clip my signature together to make sure that nothing moves after making sure that everything is where I want it
After everything is clipped and I make sure that all of my short pages are where they need to be, I put the signature into the cover and press it into the spine to make sure that it is all together well. I then put in three holes (normally 3 unless it is a large journal, I put 5 in those....) with my awl going through my signature and the cover. When i get to the last hole, I leave the awl in it to hold everything together while I start to bind the signature in.
After getting everything bound, I tie the two tails into a knot then a bow
All done! Sometimes, I will leave the tails of the bow long and put charms onto them but since this journal has another little add-on, I didn't do it this time. After getting the signature bound in, I put in the pockets on the inside of the front cover. I will put in a "letter from the maker" in the front and will make a special journal card to go into the back.
I always leave some room between the spine and the edges of my cover pockets to prevent them rubbing and the pocket lifting. Once I get this one completely done, I will do a flip through so you can see the finished product. And, you will get to meet the add-on that comes with this journal! šJust in case you were wondering, the pink mat under the journal is a silicone mat that I use to protect my glass craft mat when I am gluing. The glue would come off of the glass but it is just a pain in the touchy to get it off.
Hope you guys enjoyed seeing the work that goes into putting a journal together! If you are interested in seeing this journal and more, visit my Etsy shop, the button is in the sidebar and don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter below.
Happy crafting sweeties!
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