Creating Books

Now that you've hopefully gathered a whole bunch of these paper sheets together you can begin to make them into something else. First, arrange the papers exactly how you want them. Sometimes you can trim or tear the edges into exactly the shape of which you want them. At others you can shape them carefully during the drying process. Let's get back to that later, however. You have your sheets of paper by now, I hope. Then too you might notice how they're all sorts of different colors. You can add dye during the boiling process or even use something strong like bleach to lighten darker colors out. Just be careful that none of these accidently end up getting eaten.

Now

You

Have

Your

Stack

Like

This

Or perhaps it

Looks a little bit

More like this

And you'll find

That's okay too

When you really

Stop and think.

See how the edges all align on that one side? That's the side you will bind and gather. You can do this in several ways. First, you can take a needle and run through it just a little bit of thread. That will be just enough to get this project started. Don't forget to knot the thread though so it doesn't pull the knot all the way through the paper. Or for a neater look you can leave the end nice and loose, sew up the aligned end of the paper, and then when you're through you can tie it all up neatly with a bow. Now let's say you really don't want to see the edges of the paper or the thread. You can still sew it up inside or you can also add a binding to that side.

The binding will

Loo k a little bit

Like this.

You can even use a bit of cloth or even leather for the edge. If you want, you can leave the raw edge of the cloth exposed for a more rugged, ragged look. Then if you are aiming for something neat, you can tuck the unfinished edge under on both the front and on the back side. Then make sure you catch both of the edges and the extra up when in the middle of your sewing. It is always good though to take smaller stitches when binding the books as this will enable them to last much longer. Think of how a book opens up inside, sometimes all the way, pressed flat by lots of little and much bigger hands. That is how much wear and tear this book is going to get. Then that's how much sturdier you will need to make it. When you're making the papers, you can even make a really thick piece to be used for both the front and back. It can even be really wide to cover the front papers, side, and even the back side.