Have you ever constructed your own book?

[Ragebøx]

I thought this was quite an interesting craft, so I decided to share it with all of you.

This past year in my creative writing class, my teacher decided that it would be very interesting if we could somehow make our own books and bind them together professionally.  It would be a book of our own writings: 20 peoms, 5 short stories, and one longer story, to be exact.  Being our final project of the year, our entire class made our own books, and the results were wonderful.  I was amazed by how creatively everyone was able to put their own books together and was satisfied with the results of my own.

Sewing the pages together [5 at a time], gluing and binding them to the book cover with gauze, and covering the cardboard exterior with fabric; it did look very organized by the time it was completed.

Have any of you ever made your own book in such a way?  If not, these books may be useful if you are interested:

• Hand-Made Books: An Introduction to Bookbinding, by Rob Shepherd
• Cover to Cover : Creative Techniques for Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums, by Shereen Laplantz
• Creating Handmade Books, Alisa J. Golden
• The Essential Guide to Making Handmade Books, by Gabrielle Fox

[:: Natalie ::]

I've never done any books that professionally. I've done a few little booklets and such, but I've only stapled the pages together in the middle, then glued on a cover. In a way, I'd like to try it, since it sounds like it would be such a good keepsake! But it also sounds very time consuming. Maybe someday!

[arikylal]

I'm doing that right now actually, just something I want to do for myself. Slow process, but fufilling.