Daniel Whitfield
Why loose sheets make the best notebooks
There is something quietly satisfying about turning a stack of loose A4 into a notebook that lies flat, opens softly, and holds exactly the paper you like. Shop-bought notebooks rarely offer that. Most are glued, which means they fight you at the spine, and the paper is usually chosen for the printer rather than the pen.
Binding your own takes an evening. You need a needle, some thread, a few clips and a steady hand. Start small — a slim, five-section notebook is the ideal first project, and once you have made one, you will never look at a ream of paper the same way again.
Gathering your materials
Nothing here is specialist. Most of it is already in a well-stocked craft drawer or can be picked up from a stationer or art shop for a few pounds.
- Paper: 25 sheets of A4. Choose 100–120gsm for a smooth, opaque page that takes fountain pen without bleeding. Textured cartridge paper is lovely if you mostly sketch or use pencil.
- Cover card: two A4 sheets of 270–300gsm card, or a piece of 1.5mm greyboard if you want something firmer.
- Thread: linen bookbinding thread (18/3 is the standard weight) or waxed cotton. Waxed thread tangles far less.
- Needle: a size 18 tapestry or embroidery needle with a large eye.
- Awl or a sturdy darning needle for piercing holes.
- Bone folder for creasing, plus a metal ruler and cutting mat.
- Binder clips or bulldog clips to hold the block square.
- Scrap card for a hole template and a folded newspaper or magazine to use as a piercing cradle.
- PVA glue and a small brush, plus a strip of fine cotton or mull for backing the spine.
Folding and nesting the sections
Fold each A4 sheet in half to make an A5 page, running the bone folder firmly along the crease. Fold five sheets at a time rather than the whole stack, and press down hard — a sharp crease now saves a lumpy spine later.
Paper has a grain, and it matters. On most A4 reams the grain runs parallel to the long edge. Tearing a sheet gently will tell you: it rips straight along the grain and wanders across it. Where you can, crease parallel to the grain for a crisper fold. If you cannot, don't worry — a slightly softer fold simply means a gentler opening.
Nest five folded sheets inside one another to make a section. That gives you twenty pages. Five sections will make a hundred-page notebook, which is a comfortable size for a first attempt. Tap each section on the table so the edges sit flush.
Punching the holes evenly
Accuracy here is everything, and a template does the work for you. Cut a strip of scrap card to the height of your sections — 210mm for A5 — and mark five points along it: 20mm in from each end, then three more spaced evenly between them, roughly 42mm apart.
Clip the first section together with a binder clip near the spine so nothing shifts. Lay it on the folded newspaper cradle, open it at the middle, and push the awl through each mark from the inside out. Keep the awl vertical.
Now the trick that keeps every section identical: use the first section as your template for the rest. Open each new section, lay it over the pierced one, and push the awl through the existing holes. Repeat for all five, then punch the cover card in the same way, using the outer sections as guides.
Sewing the sections together
Cut a length of thread about five times the height of the finished book — roughly 1.5 metres — and thread your needle. Wax the thread by drawing it across a candle stub or a block of beeswax if you have one.
Take the first section, open it at the middle, and push the needle through the centre hole from the inside to the outside. Leave a 5cm tail inside. Now work up the spine: go back in through the next hole, out through the one above it, and so on until you reach the head. Turn and sew back down, filling the gaps, so the thread runs along the spine between every pair of holes.
When you reach the tail, push the needle out, then loop it under the stitch linking the section to the one below before pulling tight. This is the kettle stitch, and it is the whole secret of a book that stays together. Pick up the second section, sew it in the same pattern, and link it to the first at both ends. Continue through all five sections, finishing with a double knot inside the last one.
Adding the cover and finishing
Cut your cover card to 214mm tall — the page height plus 4mm — and 301mm wide. That width is two page widths plus a 5mm spine, which suits five sections of 100gsm paper comfortably. Score the two spine folds lightly with the bone folder, then fold. Crease firmly and press under a heavy book for an hour so the cover holds its shape.
The simplest way to attach it is to sew it on. Treat the cover as an outer section, pierce it on the same template, and sew through it as you bind the first and last sections, linking with the same kettle stitch.
Finally, open the book flat and brush a thin line of PVA along the spine, pressing the strip of cotton or mull into the glue while it is wet. Leave it to dry under weight overnight. Trim any overlong edges with a sharp knife and steel ruler, and your notebook is done — flat-opening, repairable, and made from paper you actually chose.
