PAMPHLET-MAKING MATERIALS
Literally any paper, for filler
Cover paper, meaning a stiffer paper at least as large as your other paper. Or cardstock, or a cereal box, or anything you wanna play with. I've chosen linen-textured scrapbooking paper.*
A bone folder is best, but a butter knife or a thick ruler is fine
Thread, preferably thicker than hand-sewing thread, but honestly that’ll still work. Embroidery floss would also work. I like size 8 pearl cotton, which is cheap and comes in lots of colors.
A needle appropriate to your thread
Scissors or thread clippers. If you need to trim your cover paper, you can use those scissors or a paper cutter or a craft knife and self-healing cutting pad.
*A cover is actually optional. If all you want to do is elevate a zine or handout with a personal touch, you can skip the cover and just do the hand-stitching.
**If you don’t have one, I’m sure you can get creative with your needle and do okay, but it really is easier with an awl.
Most bookbinding starter guides will tell you that you need a lot more and more specialized stuff than this, and they will also wax poetic about paper grain, but don’t worry about that. We’re making a pamphlet.
If you want to spend like $10, you can get a bookbinding starter kit with more than you even need right now. Here’s the one I got a while back.
Get your filler paper. If it’s thin paper, your pamphlet can fit quite a few sheets without looking too bulky or refusing to lay right. What I have here is slightly thicker than cheap copy paper, and I’m using 10 sheets. If you fold yours and don’t like how it looks, just remove some outer sheets until you are happy. No harm done!
Now, take your paper and lightly fold it in half crosswise to make a book shape. If you want it to look extra nice, tap it on your work surface so it’s all square, then let it fan out juuuust a little bit when you lift the short edge before you grip it together.(A) When you fold a pile of paper this way, you get a little point that looks fancy.(C) If you keep one edge square, their other edges will have a more dramatic fall-off. But that’s still fine and will work!
Use your bone folder or butter knife to set the fold. Press it into the middle of your fold and press outward from there, returning the center before pressing out the other direction.(B) This is less likely to cause drift in your fold. Look how crisp it is compared to hand-pressing! You can go over it again with your bone folder if you want.
Open your paper up and lay a ruler against the crease. Use it and the awl to punch a hole in the very center and a hole about a half inch from the top and bottom, making three total holes. You can pre-mark the hole locations in pencil or just go straight to the awl.(D) Do not stab the awl into your table, however. Place a cutting mat or some cardboard or a junk magazine underneath to protect it.
Next, fold your stiffer paper in half in a direction that’s logical for making a cover, but don’t crisp the fold with a bone folder. It has to wrap around the outermost sheet of filler paper, which is the least crisp one, and they won’t nest as well if the cover is so severe.
If you need to trim your cover paper, now is a good time. I recommend making it about 4mm taller than your filler and measuring out about 3mm from the fore-edge to trim that.(E)
Notes about cutting: First, I measured where I wanted my edges to be and punched in some marks with my knife. Then, I removed the filler paper, flipped the cover over, and used those holes as a set point to line up my ruler with the help of a square.(F) I could have also measured things and cut them with a paper cutter, or penciled in a line and used scissors. Do what makes you most comfortable; just be aware that cutting things square is, to some (me), the most maddening aspect of bookbinding. It's okay if it's not perfect!
Center the filler inside your cover, then put the awl through the holes you made earlier to pierce the cover.(G) For extra neatness points, put the awl through the cover holes (but not the filler paper holes) again, from the outside, to smooth out the spine.
Now thread your needle with thread that's about three times as long as your pamphlet is tall, just to be safe.
Starting from outside the spine, pass the needle through the top hole, then out the middle. Pass it into the bottom hole and out the middle again, being careful not to pierce the thread that’s already there. (That will make tightening everything difficult). Tighten up your thread until it’s taut but not straining and tie the ends of your thread together.(H,I)
If your cover was the same size as your paper, and you don’t like that the paper is sticking out at the fore-edge, you can use a ruler and a craft knife (and, ideally, a square) to cut that whole edge flush. Just push down hard with your ruler and cut along it, making several passes until you’re through all layers of paper.
You’re done! You have made a pamphlet!
Now you can decorate it if you want! If you leave some extra thread, you can put beads on it or braid it all pretty. You can draw or paint on the cover. Or put a sticker on it, or use a foil quill. Have fun with it! For this one, I did beads and some Cricut-assisted papercraft. Cat silhouette courtesy of Mungang Kim of the Noun Project.
Did you make a mistake? You probably learned something, and without the stress of ruining a long, printed manuscript or a fancy covering material.
If you liked doing this, consider what other materials might be fun to experiment with.
If you’re eager to move to more complex bindings, may I suggest a criss-cross binding or Coptic binding? Or some other varieties of pamphlet! Do you want words printed into your pamphlet? Look up “imposition” in bookbinding or watch this space for another tutorial.
