How to: Make an iPod Notebook

Making notebooks is something I've only recently got into, and I can't believe I haven't tried it before. Once you know how, it's surprisingly easy and cheap to do. For someone with a slight obsession with notebooks, it's the ideal way to get unique, fun and personalised notebooks that would otherwise cost you a small fortune. Today, I'm going to show you a super simple way to make a small notebook that won't take longer than 30 minutes, promise.

I'm making a notebook out of this cardboard iPod touch, which came with an iPod cover I bought last week. It just seemed too good to throw away. You could use anything you like, provided it's folded in half like a card. To make one like this you could print out a picture of an iPod touch on some card, with the front on the right hand side, and the back on the left hand side.

You will need:

You can choose any type of paper you like, provided you can fold it. I'm using white for simplicity, but you can have some fun with patterned paper if you like.

Step 1:

 

Fold your paper in half. To get a nice, sharp fold, run a flat object (try a pencil or comb) along the fold.

Step 2:

 Place your the cover of your notepad onto the paper, so that the folds match up, and draw around your cover with a pencil.


Step 3:


 

Using scissors, cut out your pages following the pencil line. Repeat this for as many pages as you want. I made four of these - you could make a couple more but just make sure that when they are all placed inside each other, they lie flat when folded.

Step 4:

 

 

Place your pages inside each other, forming a signature. At this stage you might see that some of your pages don't match up size wise, but no probs! Just trim with scissors where needed.


Step 5:

 

Mark a dot on the inside of your signature 2cm away from the top edge. Repeat for the bottom edge.

 

Place your signature inside the notebook cover and pierce through the dots using a needle. If you've used thick paper or more pages, you might need to use something larger like an awl to do this.


Step 6:

OK, now you're ready to sew!

 

 

Tie a knot at the end of your cotton and thread through the needle. Starting with the top hole in the inside of your signature, push your needle through to the outside of the notebook. The knot should be on the inside of your notebook (shown below).

 Now push the needle though the other hole, from the outside of the notebook through to the inside. Pull this nice and tight - it's going to be holding your notebook together.

Now all you have to do is a tie a knot at the end of your thread, as close to the notebook as you can actually get. Then cut off the remainder of the thread.


And you're finished! Phew!

Enjoy using your new notebook. If you've enjoyed making this notebook there are plenty of types of binding you can look into - there are some particularly good tutorials on YouTube. Try looking up coptic stitch - this looks great on books with more pages.

 

 

A little someone interrupted helped me with this project

 

Let me know if you try this - I'd love to see any variations on this that anybody comes up with.