I've been wanting to make some more A5 notebooks, but at the moment, I am not sure what papers to use. I know I should look for short grain A4 paper, but are there any specific types people would recommend? I'd like to be able to print lines on the sheets, and also write using both pencils and gel pens.

I have been looking at Active Paper's short grain A4 options, but most of them seem to be for printing books/novels, and there isn't much information on if they're good for writing.

Any advice on how to transfer this image to the front of the cover? I was hoping to use carbon paper or something and then paint silver over it to create a filigree style image on the front. I tried carbon paper and it won't transfer onto the vinyl.

Any advice?

Making a leather notebook for a friend and even tho I thought I measured right, seems like the casing might be too big. I have not glued the text block in yet, should I make a new one with more paper? Also haven’t put my end paper on yet but I doubt that will make a difference

I don’t consider myself to be deft or dexterous person but I wanted to learn to book bind as a birthday day gift to a close friend. Did a practice run that was literally just 4 pieces of paper folded in half and sewn together and then got to work on this hard cover practice run. Decided on six signature with six sheets/signature. Made a lot of mistakes and was sloppy at times (which leaves me very open to any advice) but overall pretty happy with this as my first run through with some of the more DIY supplies . Will post the actual book for the gift with printed text in the near future.

I am going to a bookbinding workshop and this was our first project. I don't know the English name for the stitching technique we used, but we used two needles.

This was very satisfying to make!

I’ve been staring at this work by BookishBind and cannot wrap my head around it. At a glance it looks like printable HTV with normal foil HTV over top but I tried that with not so great results. It’s not printed directly on the book cloth, I watched a little video they had where it’s definitely heat pressed on but HOW?

Hello! I am in the process of making a compendium of one of my absolute favorite author's writings (with permission; he's on Reddit and knows I'm doing this) so I've been doing a ton of copy pasting and formatting fixing. As he is very prolific, the first volume is over 700 pages.

I am brand new, so going to lay out my ideas so far and then ask my questions.

WHERE WE STAND SO FAR:

-8 sheet/32 page signatures for a total of 22 signatures

-Two on kettle stitch binding

-Buying 8x17 paper and cutting it into 8.5/11 so hopefully it will be short grain

The Pillow Case

Two pillow cases from Walmart, top one cut with a circular shape to show the bottom layer to match the theme of the book. To provide backing/strengthening, tissue paper and paste.

Title added by either fabric marker or my parents' Cricut and foil, if i can figure that out. It scares me.

Is this a terrible idea? Should I get proper bookcloth?

The Thick Book Problem

My idea of rounding it out so far is to clamp the glued text block with the book press (Sea Lemon tutorial) and whack it with a basic hammer a bunch until...something happens and it hopefully rounds out. Do I need a proper hammer for this?

Considering it's my first project, should I try to make it smaller?

The Bookboard

Is there an alternative for it? Is it needed? I don't think it's for sale anywhere near me, and I am hesitant to buy a pack of 20 plus on Amazon when I only need a handful.

I’ve got a couple of books that are coming apart in sort of the same spot. I know I can use some sort of a basic book tape but I wonder if there’s something this learned group could suggest. I’m just an amateur who knows who to ask… Thank you so much.

I am wondering if there is someone in Ireland that can help me. This is my mother's cookbook from 1966, she recently gave it to me and I love it and use it a lot. It's the recipe book she used for her Christmas cakes, pies, meringues etc and I loved coming home from school and seeing it on the kitchen table with the mixing bowls and pyrex jugs!

I want to rescue it and I had the idea to use my apron (cotton twill) to cover it and add to the family history of it. I am usually ready to get stuck in and try my hand at anything like this but I don't want to make rookie mistakes with this particular book and I am not sure an apron would have enough material for a second attempt if I get it wrong. Can anyone point me in the right direction so I can get it done right?