3 easy ways to make notebooks in 5 minutes

3 easy ways to make notebooks in 5 minutes

I'm going to show you 3 simple ways to make pocket notebooks at home in less than 5 minutes. Plus, I’m quite sure you already everything you need at home!

After reading this post you might never want to buy pocket notebooks anymore !

This blog post is also a YouTube video : watch it here

Method 1 : Stitches

The first technique I want to show you is the most classic one : stitching.

For this technique you will need :

  • Paper for the inside, it can be regular printing paper or water colour paper, coloured paper or whatever you want. For this one I chose regular paper that I printed with a dotted grid.
  • A thick-ish paper for the cover. Here I chose a black paper and just for fun I foiled a design on it. I you want to know how I did that, I made a video about foiling prints so check it out.
  • A thread
  • A needle
  • A ruler - it is better to use a metal one.
  • An exacto knife

And this is optional but you can also use

  • Something to poke holes
  • A paper guillotine
  • A round corner puncher

Alright, let’s begin.

First, we are going to start by cutting our cover to the right size.

If you want you can simply cut your cover paper in half. In my case I want my notebook to be the exact same size as my moleskin so it can fit perfectly in my Traveler’s notebook cover which is the whole point so I cut it to the same size. And then fold it in half.

Now, take the paper you chose for the inside and cut it in half. Here I took 4 sheet of paper which, cut in half will makes 8, so 32 pages. If you use regular printing paper I’d say you could go up to 6 sheets which makes 48 pages.

When they’re all cut, fold them in half.

Once this is done take your cover, open it and place all your pieces of paper open one on top of the other inside then close everything together. Make sure everything is aligned by taping the bottom and the spine on a flat surface. If the inside hangs form the side and top it is normal, we are going to cut it after.

Carefully open it again. If you want to make sure everything stays in place you can secure it with a paper clip. If you want you can also place something soft in witch you can poke holes. Here I’m using fallouts form my traveler’s notebook project.

Now take your ruler and something to make holes. You can also use your needle.

Poke a first hole at one centimetre form the bottom. Then a second one 1 centimetre from the top. If like me your doing a slightly smaller final size don’t forget to take that into account. In my case i’m going to cut 1 centimetre from the top so I added that to the centimetre. Then mesure how much you have left in between the first two holes and divide that by 3. -Remember, these numbers are for pockets notebooks. In my case I had 12 centimetres. Divided by 3 makes 4 so I poked a 3rd hole 4 centimetres form the top hole and then a fourth one 4 centimetres form the bottom one and I had 4 centimetres lefts in between those two also.

Now it is time to stitch. So take your needle and thread. Here I’m using embroidery thread. You can use regular sewing thread but i’d suggest to double it if you do.

Pass your thread through the bottom hole from the inside to the outside, the through the second, third and fourth one. Then go back through the third one the opposite way and same for the second one. Make sure it is tight and tight a knot with the other end of the thread and voila !

The last step is to cut the excess off. The reason i kept this step for the end is to guarantee to have the cleanest edges possible. So take your ruler and cut the top and the side. Take your time for this, it is better to use less pressure but go over multiple times.

If you really want to take it a step further you can round the corners like I do but it really is not necessary.

And there you go! A lovely pocket notebook made yourself.

Method 2 : Staples

The second technique I want to show you is my personal favourite as it is easier, faster and as sturdy.

For this technique you will need :

  • Paper for the inside, for this one I wanted to make a sketchbook in witch I could paint so I chose water colour paper.
  • A thick-ish paper for the cover.
  • A stapler
  • Staples
  • Something soft in witch you can poke holes. Here I’m using fallouts form my traveler’s notebook project again.
  • A ruler - it is better to use a metal one.
  • An exacto knife

And this is optional but you can also use

  • A paper guillotine
  • A round corner puncher

All the first steps are actually the same so your going to go through them a bit faster this time :

Cut and fold you cover paper.

Cut and fold the paper you chose for the inside. As this one is thicker than regular paper I took less pages. So this time I used 2 sheets of paper which will make 16 pages.

Stack all your cut and folded sheets of paper with the cover over all of them.

Here is where it changes a bit. Open the pages and lay them flat inside down. So you should have your cover on top. Mark one centimetre from the top and the bottom.

Then place something soft you don’t mind poking holes into under the crease and take your stapler. Don’t worry if it can’t reach the middle. Simply open it and place it on your mark and press down. Now flip the notebook over and, using something flat, close the staple.

Repeat for the second mark and that is it ! All that is left to do is to cut the excess paper. Then round the corners if you want and voila ! In less that 2 minutes you made a pocket notebook !

Method 3 : Elastic band

This last technique is the easiest and most practical in my opinion and i can almost bet you’ve never seen it before !

For this technique you will need :

  • Paper for the inside, here I used regular blank paper.
  • A thick-ish paper for the cover.
  • A elastic band
  • A ruler - it is better to use a metal one.
  • An exacto knife

And this is optional but you can also use

  • A paper guillotine
  • A round corner puncher

Again, all the first steps are actually the same. So :

Cut and fold you cover paper.

Cut and fold the paper you chose for the inside. For this one there is real limits as to how many pages you an make.

Stack all your cut and folded sheets of paper with the cover over all of them.

And for this one we are actually going to cut the side and top now. So I highly suggest you tu secure everything with a paper clip and then simply cut. I repeat once again : to avoid slips, it is better to pass multiple times softly rather than once with force.

Then open the notebook, take an elastic band and go around the crease with it. Keep it rather tight and tight a knot. Then cut the ends and that is it.

Yes, that’s done. Of course you can round the corners like for the other ones but other that that it is done !

What I love about that one is that you can remove and add pages as you need.

Traveler’s notebook set up

And voila ! 3 easy ways to make notebooks at home in no times! As I told you, I made those to place into my Traveler’s notebook. Here is how I attached them together and into the cover.

I took the sketchbook I wanted in the middle and slid it into the cover with the elastic. Then a took the two other and attached them together. What is great is that with the last technique I already have the elastic to attach then together. Then I passed one under the sketchbook already in the cover and voila !

Now I have a super practical Traveler’s notebook with a dotted notebook with a super cute cover, a sketchbook I can paint into and a notebook I can take my notes from and place back in or just remove and add pages super easily.

I’m actually in love with it !

Outro

Ok, that’s it for this video ! I hoped you like it. Thank you for watching all the way until now ! As always I’d love to talk into the comments with you and if you want me to know you made it to the end comment the turtle emoji!

I’ll see you in another video! Love you!

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