holes through the guide and
all pages of the signature. Do
this for the remaining signatures. Be careful to keep your
guide and pages lined up while punching holes.
Step 7: Punch the Holes
for Your Cover
On the cutting mat, lay a signature on top of one of your
covers. Move the signature in
2cm from the edge and, using
it as a guide, punch the holes
into the cover.
Using a signature as a guide
will ensure that your binding
will be straight. Do the same
for your second cover. It’s up
to you which cover you want
for the front and back of your
book.
Step 8: Sew a
Signature to the Back
Cover
Now that you have all your
holes punched, you’re ready
to sew it all together. Grab
your signatures, covers, paper
weight, needle, and thread.
Cut just over an arm’s length
of thread. This is a good length
when sewing because not
only is it the perfect length for
this book, it’s also a more comfortable length to work with. If
you make the thread longer,
it will become unwieldy, and
your sewing process will
take longer.
Place the back cover and
last signature of your book
on the table so that the
holes hang over the edge.
Open to the middle of your
signature and set the paperweight down. This is the
best way to stitch your book
so that you can keep everything as straight as possible.
If you move your book
around too much while sewing, it will end up crooked.
Place your paperweight.
Thread your needle and,
starting from the first hole
on the right, sew from the
inside out. Leave a tail of a
least 6cm of thread inside
the book. You’ll make a
knot with this later.
Sew through the first hole of
the cover starting from the
inside out. Do this twice so
that you get a loop around
the cover. Sew back into
the first hole of the si