Esther K. Smith

Provides instructions on creating handmade books with information on binding and folding methods, decorations, and tools and materials.

How to Make Books

From zines you can fold in a minute to luxurious leather journals and sumptuous sketchbooks, How to Make Books will walk you through the easy basics of bookmaking. Whether you’re a writer, a scrapbooker, a political activist, or a postcard collector, let book artist Esther K. Smith be your guide as you discover your inner bookbinder. Using foolproof illustrations and step-by-step instructions, Smith reveals her time-tested techniques in a fun, easy-to-understand way.

Fold, Cut & Stitch Your Way to a One-of-a-Kind Book

rumbledethumps

This book is good for beginners, but only for folded books. I was quickly able to follow the diagram for the Basic Instant Book, and my daughter and I were able to work on some of the variations.

However, when we got to the sewn bindings, the diagrams were nearly impossible to follow. Because of the the illustrated arrows they chose in some, and the stylized pictures used in others, we found the projects difficult to complete without going to YouTube to watch someone else create a similar binding.

Might be worth it for the folded books, but we're still looking for an overall reference for all basic bindings.

How to Make Books

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