It's just after midnight and I finished my first ever handmade sketchbook following your wonderful tutorial! It's an A5 landscape. I want to start plein air and urban sketching and currently I don't have the money for expensive art materials. I used what I already had around the house. Some 300gsm A3 watercolour paper from Aldi (AUD$4), some cotton ribbon and cord from my odds and ends stash, PVA glue, a soft pleather fabric remnant I bought from Savers for $2, some cotton sewing thread and the backing board from the Aldi sketchbook. It turned out so amazing. I am sitting here saying "holy crap I made a book!" It looks way more expensive than the cost of materials involved in my case! I will definately make one using more premium materials in the future. But for now practicing making these with cheaper paper and substitute materials is a nice way to perfect my skills before I make such an investment. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. :)
i’m sitting here following the video with random bits from round the house too! and i’m into urban sketching as well; so i had to comment. did you get started in the end?
This is the best tutorial I've ever come across regarding bookbinding. I have made a couple books by now but I have to say, if I had come across this in my initial search phase, I wouldn't have to refer to any other bookbinding videos for my purposes. And despite having watched countless videos on the topic, I still managed to learn something new.
This is wonderful! So whenever you need a change from painting or your usual artwork practice, you can enjoy making your own custom sketchbooks, or make them for others. Very satisfying! Thank you.
This was a fantastic tutorial. I did this little project with my daughter and the result was really wonderful! The details of the instructions were so helpful.
Nice to see you are using REAL bookbinding techniques! Many online don’t even mention grain, and that can certainly result in an inferior result. Why take the time to make your own book if it isn’t right? Thank you!
Having watched your film sooooo many times I’ve produced a lot of books and I have started making them for friends and family. My suggestion is why use a black cover when there is a world of colour to be had using African Waxed fabric. African Waxed fabric is hard wearing and colourful with a world of fabulous patterns. I obtain mine from Abrakan Rugs which is a fabric store in Liverpool and around the north of England. But I’m sure it’s available elsewhere as I’ve seen it in markets around London. Just a suggestion. Thanks for such a detailed and well presented film.
For what this is, it is definitive and expertly presented. As a professional bookbinder, I appreciate the quality of materials and attention to details for this simple book. Max Marbles in New Orleans
Without this video on youtube, you can’t understand the « grain direction » of a paper in sketchbook. After understood this fact which is crucial to make a good sketchbook you understand this is a good and right video! Thank you for sharing.
This was the best bookmaking tutorial I've seen. It's precisely what I needed. I'm getting ready to travel to Mexico and have been looking for an Urban Sketching Notebook with 140 lb cotton paper and it's nowhere to be found! So I decided to make one but have had no luck with Coptic binding. You make it look easy. I hope it is! Thank you for this. It's truly outstanding.
Great tutorial! Always helpful to have a refresher a few years after binding your last sketchbook, haha. Although removing dried EVA glue is possible, AFAIK you need substantially heavier solvents to do so - naphtha, xylene, toluene, etc (all which can effect the fabric/materials around it and are quite toxic). Wheat/rice paste (with gluten removed) *is* reversible with water and archival and is probably what you're thinking of!
I would love to see what this book looks like when it is opened up and laid flat in order to paint on. It was very in-depth tutorial and definitely has to be a labor of love. I have really struggled to find the good watercolor sketchbook, so if this worked out, I suppose I would be up to the challenge.
This is wonderful. Thank you! Nice to see such high-end conventional bookbinding, instead of the many more craft-oriented and less archival versions out there. And so well explained and demonstrated. 😊 I've taken some basic bookbinding courses, but it was a few years ago. This has inspired me to dive back in - particularly given recent disappointments with some of the more expensive store-bought watercolour journals. (Why, for example, does the pricey Fabriano Venezia not lie completely flat, no matter how much I torture the spine? 😄)
After watching I realised there's no way I'd ever get round to making my own (all that precision and measuring ha ha) so I've ordered one from you. At least this way I know it's going to be a brilliantly solid, quality book! How many hours in total does one book take?
@@jacintacesp Hi Caroline. You can buy them on my site willjbaileyshop.com. Small books are £65, big books £75, plus shipping. I also sell on Etsy at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WillJBailey, though they're slightly more expensive there due to the fees.☺
@@WillJBailey yes I tried your shop link and it wasn't working. But no particular rush, probably be on my Christmas list as a luxury art item. Loved your sketchbook. Ultimately when you have such a quality item I think it motivates you not to waste paper and to make every piece count.
This is by far the best, clearest, straightforward and easily reproducible book binding video I have ever come across. Thank you for making this in the way that you did. I wish I had come across this right when I first got interested in bookbinding (with the sole intent of making my own sketchbook). Because RUclips failed me when I first started looking (well over a decade ago) I ended up scouring the internet for an easy way to bookbind and I ended up with something easy to do for a softcover leather bound book but it wasn't doable for hardcover (which is what I've always wanted to make). Then bue to illness and life, I had to push aside the idea of making my own hardcover sketchbook. Until now!! Watching this, especially how easy (from the way it was shown and walked through) it is to make a text block, I've already set aside the materials and have reached the point where the signatures need to be sown together. So excited!! If this turns out well then I'll never have to buy another sketchbook again because I'll always be able to make my own sketchbook just the way I want it and have it look just the way I want it to look!!!!!!
I've been doing bookbinding for 8 years and I've never had someone who explained the instructions that clearly, if you did more bookbinding videos I'd watch them. Keep up the good work 👍
Your video caught my attention this morning as I was wandering down the ""You Tube Rabbit Hole". This is the best video to date that I have viewed the on making a sketch book. I was happy to see you use Fabriano Artistico HP paper. In my studio I have leftover sheets (140) purchased for monotype printing days long ago. Thank you for the inspiration and I will be following your instructions pausing video along the way with your specific instructions. Thank you, and I appreciate this video very much!
Thank you for this. It’s probably the clearest instruction for making your own sketchbook, that I have seen. So, I have old spiral bound sketchbooks that have separated from the cover. Some I have replied by using the first and last pages, but it would be great to somehow rebuild them. Those first sketchbooks, have that plein air patina of a well used book. Sad that they are falling apart.
Have a look for instructions on how to do a “perfect binding”. Basically it’s how a paperback is put together, gluing single sheets, not signatures as here. It’s not as strong, but would bind your loose leaves for you. You’ll need to cut off the holes. Assemble the pages, clamp, glue the spine edge to stick them all together. The spine can be reinforced by cutting grooves across the spine, criss cross and gluing thread into the edge, not far in. Gives you several layers of glue. And some thread. Same principle as the threads in Amazon parcel tape! Press to dry. Then glue on the cover. Or you could do a Coptic binding, stitch through the pages, but they won’t open flat. Or, sacrifice the old holes and get a new spiral binding done at a printers.
@@bella-bee is their any videos u can recommend would like to upcycle a few old nook covers and pocket vegan leather calander outer covers I dont need to bind them I'd just like to sew them together than lay front back piece WC into the clear plastic holder areas on front back cover
This is my favorite book binding tutorial, thank you so much!!! I made two and I enjoyed it! I just want to add that some materials can be replaced by alternatives for us without budget. I glued a normal cotton fabric over a piece of paper, let it dry and ironed it, and it was good to go!
After watching some amatuerish dross on this subject, finally a proper tutorial that took me right back to art school in the 70s where I made my own sketchbook in exactly this way! That book has been lost in the mists of time, much to my regret. I cannot wait make a new one. I have many sketchbooks but never with quite the paper and binding combination I would like. Thank you so much for sharing this. Subscribed!
I loves this! All the instructions were very precise. Just now I made my 3 sketchbook following your video and I hope it is good haha (the glue is drying)
Fantastic - thank you!! Gathering materials going forward. I’m So excited. I’ve really had enough of commercial sketchbooks! These will be my staple from now on 🎉
I love how thorough and professional this video was! I have been binding my own art journals for a while now and never thought to use sewing tape! I also really appreciate the explanation about paper grain and folding. Just marvelous! Thank you so much for this tutorial!
Excellent, thank you. I now have my first Arches sketchbook by following along. Also saw part 2, which is also excellent. My wife now also wants one and I know there are many more to come…
Amazing video. Thank you so much for the great explanations from both videos. Thanks to them, I was able to make my perfect sketchbook. Greetings from Russia, Saint-Petersburg ;)
Your instructions are as articulate and helpful as can be. Now, the deeper the snow gets here in Kankakee, IL, USA, the happier I'll be in order to follow your inspiring plans. Thank you and please be well.
Absolutely amazing work! After watching the video I decided this seemed far too complicated especially considering I have none of the materials (except the paper) on hand. So when I learned (learnt for my cousins across the pond) I could buy one from you I thought "this is probably going to cost like $200 but I'll check his website anyway." Imagine my shock at the low price! The Winsor and Newton professional watercolor journal has only 15 (smaller) pages and sells for $30! I think you could probably double your asking price, not that I'm complaining. I plan on putting in an order ASAP, if you can ship to the states and make me one in a cold press (I do only watercolor so the heavily textured is preferred).
Yeah Will, i agree with Gabrielle that this is the clearest DIY bookbinding explanation, specific and detailed without being overwhelming. Having made educational “how to” videos myself, I can’t even imagine the effort and production hours that went into the video. Thank you. I’ll share it with my students who, because of stupid COVID-19, never got beyond stitching together one signature for a “warm-up” project. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Ah, thanks! Yes it was a heavy edit that one - nowhere near as time consuming as my photography ones (which no-one watched, lol!), but it was fun to make. Really lovely to hear that, thank you ☺️🙏
Excellent instructions! It takes so much time in producing a video of this quality (let alone binding a book). I believe the sewing and the knots are the most complex part of this process. Thank you for sharing!
It look a few days, but I finally finished making my own sketchbook today, following your excellent directions. It's 6" x 6" with a burgundy cover and, I hope, will be perfect for my upcoming Urban Sketching class in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico! Thanks for the great instructions. They were wonderful and made everything simple, if not easy.
Excellent!!! I took 3.5 pages of notes and plan to do this!! I have a house full of string, fabric and other odds and ends so I will be ad libbing the tape, bookcloth, ends, and mull. I really appreciate the care, precision and clarity of these instructions! I'm subscribed because I know whatever your other videos are on, they will be high quality. Thanks Will! Diane
What a great tutorial, thank you for sharing! I made a sketchbook out of Arches 300 gsm cold press/not/fine 14x19cm and 4 signatures thick. It turned out to be a wonderful every-day-carry Urban Sketch book, and I’m super pleased with this! Finding all the right materials in my hometown was a bit of a hassle, but once started, it took me three hours to complete the whole process.
Wow. This is really helpful. I have been looking for right watercolor journal book for me but I couldn't find one. I think making one that I would like is the way to go. Thank you so much for the good information.
This is very very detailed, thank you for going so in depth about the process. The instructions are easy to follow and everything is explained. As an aspiring artist, I appreciate that this information is out there, as knowing how to make your own good quality sketchbooks in a pinch is always necessary, and you can never have too many of them. Keep doing what you do.
The numbering of corners - at 6:06 it looks as if you’re numbering corners clockwise from the upper left. The diagram at 7:10, however, shows the upper corners as 1 & 2, left & right respectively, but with 3 as lower left and 4 as lower right. Have I botched it?
Hi! Don't worry, it doesn't matter how you number them as long as it's consistent. Personally I lay the paper flat on the table with the watermark facing down on the left hand side, and mark the pages from top left going clockwise 😊
Such an excellent tutorial. I have made some sketchbooks but not to the precision and detail this one was done. I will be trying your method soon. Thank you for sharing this.
Incredible detail and instruction. I've made books before so I had an idea what I would see, but you have done and EXCELLENT job of explaining how this is done. Love it!!
Thank you so much for your wonderful lessons. I’m just completing (filling it up) my first journal. Your video is amazing. I used sketching and watercolour paper in the same book and it’s been the best sketchbook ever. It’s as you say: it lays flat and closes nicely even with Arches cotton paper…. I’m about to make my second one. Cannot thank you enough.
I loved this tutorial and will definitely try to make one myself. I have the same problem trying to find journals that allow gouache and watercolour without the paper rubbing. Your sketchbook looks so professional, great job!!! Cheers! Gin
Wow what a brilliant video! I’ve searched and watched several videos but yours leaves all the others way behind. Very professional result, and extremely well presented. Thank you so much 🙏
These are awesome instructions. Thank you so much for them. I was able to make a large and a small sketch book of the paper I prefer. I am sure I will be using these instructions again to make more books. 😀 So glad I found your video. 😄
The most instructive bookbinding video that I have seen and I finally am getting the hang of it. I love having the 14 x 10 cp size. And I started making mini's for gifts since vinyl was on sale. Thank you. I have made coptics but just wanted that clean and covered stitching.🤗
Thank you. I was able to make one. It helped to also see the techniques that youtuber sealemon uses. Im still fixing issues to better my end product. Some of the steps for some reason I can’t do exactly like you. They just dont work for my hands
i am obsessed with watercolor period! sketch books too i serious need this video!!!!!!!!! i am going to do single folded pages so i can always do 2 page layouts and my first attempt with no instruction is a mess used stonehenge glad i didn't use my arches or fabriano stonehenge is awesome too so i feel like i'm going to use it , i also attempted this with no sleep dumb move lol
Thanks Deborah! I work over two pages most of the time with this design and it works fine. If you arrange the pages correctly the fronts and backs of each spread will match, and the book opens flat.
Great tutorial. It’s a while since I did any bookbinding and this was a wonderful refresher, with the added plus of giving the measurements for watercolour paper. Thank you.
Creating the sketchbook with extra signatures. I asked Will about this. His reply: Yes you can add signatures, you just need to adjust measurements accordingly, but personally I reckon it’s good as it is, it’s a nice size.
what a wonderful video! thank you, I love the Fabriano HP and sadly they don't make sketchbooks. I checked out your site and after watching the video I think that the money to buy one of your handmade sketchbooks is well spent.
That was extremely well laid out, easy to understand and follow, and so far the best instruction I’ve seen on making a sketchbook! Thank you very much for such clear instructions, I will be procuring the suppliesAnd attempting this shortly! I great job!
Fabulous! Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your knowledge and skills. I really appreciate it. I'm planning to make a few watercolour journals - the commercial ones just don't cut it.
Thanks Clare! I’m releasing a second part to this soon, going into depth with everything I’ve learned making books for my shop over the last year - watch out for it! 😊
Hi, I feel great finding your channel. I have drawing books produced by myself since 2019 when I started my course in Arts. They're not good, they don't look so well finished, I'm quite an ogre actually, and without many tools, but I managed to work miracles, thanks to the waxed thread, I do it like moleskine sewing (I suffered a lot with the fine thread in the seam, bursting, I make a shape that looks more brutal. But it's durable and doesn't tear, amazing your channel. I'm going to apply some aspects of the way you work in what I do. I make fabric covers, and I usually use 180g A4 folded canson blocks turning A5.
I found your video extremely helpful! I’ve been wanting to make a specialized journal, preprinted with illuminated pages. I’ve made case bound books and post bound but I wanted these pages to lie flat for ease of writing. I didn’t want to use a Coptic stitch though. Thanks for this!!!
Thankyou so much for this, really great instructions! I was in exactly your position of not being able to quite find the right thing, and it's really empowering to just make my own! I've made a few books now, and they're looking really sharp. :) My only tiny gripe with your method is that folding the corners when gluing the cover flaps down could do with a bit of tuning - I found that your method left slight gaps of uncovered greyboard in the corners. I got round it by not cutting the corners as tight to the greyboard, and that works fine. Hard to explain in just text!
Thanks! Funny you say that, my next video is going to be a follow-up video. I’ve been making and selling these on my website and Etsy for over a year since this came out - I’ve got lots of refinements and tips, including how to do the corners perfectly.
Wow! I love how detailed your process on bookbinding is on the video. You have it down to a science. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. I am definitely buying a sketchbook from you; this is definitely a high quality product. I am also going to give a try on making my own sketchbook … surely it will be a slow process for me but worthwhile in the end. 🥰
It's just after midnight and I finished my first ever handmade sketchbook following your wonderful tutorial! It's an A5 landscape. I want to start plein air and urban sketching and currently I don't have the money for expensive art materials.
I used what I already had around the house. Some 300gsm A3 watercolour paper from Aldi (AUD$4), some cotton ribbon and cord from my odds and ends stash, PVA glue, a soft pleather fabric remnant I bought from Savers for $2, some cotton sewing thread and the backing board from the Aldi sketchbook.
It turned out so amazing. I am sitting here saying "holy crap I made a book!" It looks way more expensive than the cost of materials involved in my case!
I will definately make one using more premium materials in the future. But for now practicing making these with cheaper paper and substitute materials is a nice way to perfect my skills before I make such an investment.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. :)
Thanks 🙏 Well done! 😊👍
i’m sitting here following the video with random bits from round the house too! and i’m into urban sketching as well; so i had to comment. did you get started in the end?
This video was so well made that I now want to make a sketchbook just to gift it to an artist friend of mine.
This is the best tutorial I've ever come across regarding bookbinding. I have made a couple books by now but I have to say, if I had come across this in my initial search phase, I wouldn't have to refer to any other bookbinding videos for my purposes. And despite having watched countless videos on the topic, I still managed to learn something new.
Thank you! Make sure the check out Part II 😊
Clear precise instructions all the way from the why, materials, paper grain to construction. Thank you for all the information. Well done.
Thanks you!
This is wonderful! So whenever you need a change from painting or your usual artwork practice, you can enjoy making your own custom sketchbooks, or make them for others. Very satisfying! Thank you.
This was a fantastic tutorial. I did this little project with my daughter and the result was really wonderful! The details of the instructions were so helpful.
Clearest instructions I have ever seen with explanations about every product used.
Thank you! 😊🙏👍
One and only best video on book binding on youtube. professional level. Thank you
Thanks! 🙏😊
Nice to see you are using REAL bookbinding techniques! Many online don’t even mention grain, and that can certainly result in an inferior result. Why take the time to make your own book if it isn’t right? Thank you!
Having watched your film sooooo many times I’ve produced a lot of books and I have started making them for friends and family.
My suggestion is why use a black cover when there is a world of colour to be had using African Waxed fabric.
African Waxed fabric is hard wearing and colourful with a world of fabulous patterns.
I obtain mine from Abrakan Rugs which is a fabric store in Liverpool and around the north of England.
But I’m sure it’s available elsewhere as I’ve seen it in markets around London.
Just a suggestion.
Thanks for such a detailed and well presented film.
Time to make my BOS. Thank you so much for the clear instructions.
Best book binding video i have seen so far.Thanks Will.
Thanks! Glad it was of use.
This is giving me the bookbinding bug again! Super clear and concise. Thank you!
Thanks!
Brilliant. Thank you for making this tutorial.
For what this is, it is definitive and expertly presented. As a professional bookbinder, I appreciate the quality of materials and attention to details for this simple book. Max Marbles in New Orleans
Great instructions and result. Thank you, it’s a work of art.
Idky I keep watching these videos even though I never make them. wait....
Its the creativeness
Wow!!! What an excellent tutorial- thank you so much!
Without this video on youtube, you can’t understand the « grain direction » of a paper in sketchbook. After understood this fact which is crucial to make a good sketchbook you understand this is a good and right video! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! 😊🙏
Best bookbinding video I’ve seen!
This was the best bookmaking tutorial I've seen. It's precisely what I needed. I'm getting ready to travel to Mexico and have been looking for an Urban Sketching Notebook with 140 lb cotton paper and it's nowhere to be found! So I decided to make one but have had no luck with Coptic binding. You make it look easy. I hope it is! Thank you for this. It's truly outstanding.
Thanks Susan, I really appreciate that! 🙏 Make sure to check out Part II 😊
Great tutorial! Always helpful to have a refresher a few years after binding your last sketchbook, haha.
Although removing dried EVA glue is possible, AFAIK you need substantially heavier solvents to do so - naphtha, xylene, toluene, etc (all which can effect the fabric/materials around it and are quite toxic). Wheat/rice paste (with gluten removed) *is* reversible with water and archival and is probably what you're thinking of!
Best tutorial I've ever seen! Thank you so much!!!
I would love to see what this book looks like when it is opened up and laid flat in order to paint on. It was very in-depth tutorial and definitely has to be a labor of love. I have really struggled to find the good watercolor sketchbook, so if this worked out, I suppose I would be up to the challenge.
This is wonderful. Thank you! Nice to see such high-end conventional bookbinding, instead of the many more craft-oriented and less archival versions out there. And so well explained and demonstrated. 😊
I've taken some basic bookbinding courses, but it was a few years ago. This has inspired me to dive back in - particularly given recent disappointments with some of the more expensive store-bought watercolour journals. (Why, for example, does the pricey Fabriano Venezia not lie completely flat, no matter how much I torture the spine? 😄)
After watching I realised there's no way I'd ever get round to making my own (all that precision and measuring ha ha) so I've ordered one from you. At least this way I know it's going to be a brilliantly solid, quality book! How many hours in total does one book take?
Sorry just saw this. Thanks! I'm well-practiced now and they take 5 hours each, all in. Hope you liked your book!
I bought a roll of arches paper to learn how to do this but it seems like I bit off more than I can chew...lol
@@WillJBailey where do you sell them? How much is each one?
@@jacintacesp Hi Caroline. You can buy them on my site willjbaileyshop.com. Small books are £65, big books £75, plus shipping. I also sell on Etsy at www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WillJBailey, though they're slightly more expensive there due to the fees.☺
@@WillJBailey yes I tried your shop link and it wasn't working. But no particular rush, probably be on my Christmas list as a luxury art item. Loved your sketchbook. Ultimately when you have such a quality item I think it motivates you not to waste paper and to make every piece count.
This is by far the best, clearest, straightforward and easily reproducible book binding video I have ever come across. Thank you for making this in the way that you did.
I wish I had come across this right when I first got interested in bookbinding (with the sole intent of making my own sketchbook). Because RUclips failed me when I first started looking (well over a decade ago) I ended up scouring the internet for an easy way to bookbind and I ended up with something easy to do for a softcover leather bound book but it wasn't doable for hardcover (which is what I've always wanted to make).
Then bue to illness and life, I had to push aside the idea of making my own hardcover sketchbook.
Until now!!
Watching this, especially how easy (from the way it was shown and walked through) it is to make a text block, I've already set aside the materials and have reached the point where the signatures need to be sown together.
So excited!! If this turns out well then I'll never have to buy another sketchbook again because I'll always be able to make my own sketchbook just the way I want it and have it look just the way I want it to look!!!!!!
Wow that is amazing! Very Professional! Thanks!
Best book making tutorial I've seen. Thank you for doing it. Have a successful 2024 🎉🎉😊
I've been doing bookbinding for 8 years and I've never had someone who explained the instructions that clearly, if you did more bookbinding videos I'd watch them. Keep up the good work 👍
Thanks! I have some more out since this one
Your video caught my attention this morning as I was wandering down the ""You Tube Rabbit Hole". This is the best video to date that I have viewed the on making a sketch book. I was happy to see you use Fabriano Artistico HP paper. In my studio I have leftover sheets (140) purchased for monotype printing days long ago. Thank you for the inspiration and I will be following your instructions pausing video along the way with your specific instructions. Thank you, and I appreciate this video very much!
Thank you for this. It’s probably the clearest instruction for making your own sketchbook, that I have seen. So, I have old spiral bound sketchbooks that have separated from the cover. Some I have replied by using the first and last pages, but it would be great to somehow rebuild them. Those first sketchbooks, have that plein air patina of a well used book. Sad that they are falling apart.
Thanks Gabriele. It was painstaking to make, so I’m happy it works! 😊
Have a look for instructions on how to do a “perfect binding”. Basically it’s how a paperback is put together, gluing single sheets, not signatures as here. It’s not as strong, but would bind your loose leaves for you. You’ll need to cut off the holes. Assemble the pages, clamp, glue the spine edge to stick them all together. The spine can be reinforced by cutting grooves across the spine, criss cross and gluing thread into the edge, not far in. Gives you several layers of glue. And some thread. Same principle as the threads in Amazon parcel tape! Press to dry. Then glue on the cover.
Or you could do a Coptic binding, stitch through the pages, but they won’t open flat.
Or, sacrifice the old holes and get a new spiral binding done at a printers.
@@bella-bee is their any videos u can recommend would like to upcycle a few old nook covers and pocket vegan leather calander outer covers I dont need to bind them I'd just like to sew them together than lay front back piece WC into the clear plastic holder areas on front back cover
This is my favorite book binding tutorial, thank you so much!!! I made two and I enjoyed it! I just want to add that some materials can be replaced by alternatives for us without budget. I glued a normal cotton fabric over a piece of paper, let it dry and ironed it, and it was good to go!
After watching some amatuerish dross on this subject, finally a proper tutorial that took me right back to art school in the 70s where I made my own sketchbook in exactly this way! That book has been lost in the mists of time, much to my regret. I cannot wait make a new one. I have many sketchbooks but never with quite the paper and binding combination I would like. Thank you so much for sharing this. Subscribed!
This is one of the most helpful sketchbook videos I've ever seen. I can't believe I never considered the grain direction!
Thanks Tyler! 🙏Make sure to check out Part Two 😊
Oh wow, brand new video. Looks like I find you at the perfect time! :)
wow that is a very interesting video. I have been searching for a book for ages. Pause for thought if I can manage it.
Thanks! 🙏 Make sure to check out Part 2. If you decide not to make one yourself you can also buy one from my online shop 😊
This is so therapeutic to watch but also such clear, precise and to the point instructions. Thank you so much 🙌
Thanks!!
I love that you are making these! You are right, it is so hard to find a sketchbook with great hot press paper. Going to have to order one soon
I loves this! All the instructions were very precise.
Just now I made my 3 sketchbook following your video and I hope it is good haha (the glue is drying)
thank you that was so useful and detailed..hopefully I can make my own watercolour sketchbook
Fantastic - thank you!! Gathering materials going forward. I’m So excited. I’ve really had enough of commercial sketchbooks! These will be my staple from now on 🎉
Best Video on the subject on RUclips
Thanks! 😊🙏 Make sure to check out Part 2!
I love how thorough and professional this video was! I have been binding my own art journals for a while now and never thought to use sewing tape! I also really appreciate the explanation about paper grain and folding. Just marvelous! Thank you so much for this tutorial!
Thanks Joy! 😊🙏
Excellent, thank you. I now have my first Arches sketchbook by following along. Also saw part 2, which is also excellent. My wife now also wants one and I know there are many more to come…
Amazing video. Thank you so much for the great explanations from both videos. Thanks to them, I was able to make my perfect sketchbook. Greetings from Russia, Saint-Petersburg ;)
woah it was cool to see it with a regular paper. The regular one had a bluish tint to it :0
A really well planned and filmed easy to follow tutorial, Will. I have saved it for future reference, thank you . Paul
Your instructions are as articulate and helpful as can be. Now, the deeper the snow gets here in Kankakee, IL, USA, the happier I'll be in order to follow your inspiring plans. Thank you and please be well.
Ah, thanks very much! 🙏
Absolutely amazing work! After watching the video I decided this seemed far too complicated especially considering I have none of the materials (except the paper) on hand. So when I learned (learnt for my cousins across the pond) I could buy one from you I thought "this is probably going to cost like $200 but I'll check his website anyway." Imagine my shock at the low price! The Winsor and Newton professional watercolor journal has only 15 (smaller) pages and sells for $30! I think you could probably double your asking price, not that I'm complaining. I plan on putting in an order ASAP, if you can ship to the states and make me one in a cold press (I do only watercolor so the heavily textured is preferred).
Thanks Karen! 🙏 Yes I do custom orders - HP is no problem. Send me an email via my website and I'll set up a custom order for you 😊
The best instruction video for bookbinding I've seen.
Thanks!
Yeah Will, i agree with Gabrielle that this is the clearest DIY bookbinding explanation, specific and detailed without being overwhelming. Having made educational “how to” videos myself, I can’t even imagine the effort and production hours that went into the video. Thank you. I’ll share it with my students who, because of stupid COVID-19, never got beyond stitching together one signature for a “warm-up” project. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Ah, thanks! Yes it was a heavy edit that one - nowhere near as time consuming as my photography ones (which no-one watched, lol!), but it was fun to make. Really lovely to hear that, thank you ☺️🙏
Excellent instructions! It takes so much time in producing a video of this quality (let alone binding a book). I believe the sewing and the knots are the most complex part of this process. Thank you for sharing!
Ah, Thank you! It was a lot of work though not as much as my current one on ink and inking, which has taken nearly a month! 🤪
This is extra ordinary 🤩
Fantastic channel… so pleased I stumbled across it! Thank you Will !
It look a few days, but I finally finished making my own sketchbook today, following your excellent directions. It's 6" x 6" with a burgundy cover and, I hope, will be perfect for my upcoming Urban Sketching class in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico! Thanks for the great instructions. They were wonderful and made everything simple, if not easy.
Ah, thanks Susan. Well done! 😊
Awesome stuff. I know some knots from fishnet making and splicing that could make this easier! I might see if I can apply them.
Excellent!!! I took 3.5 pages of notes and plan to do this!! I have a house full of string, fabric and other odds and ends so I will be ad libbing the tape, bookcloth, ends, and mull. I really appreciate the care, precision and clarity of these instructions! I'm subscribed because I know whatever your other videos are on, they will be high quality.
Thanks Will!
Diane
Ah, thanks Diane! 😊🙏
What a great tutorial, thank you for sharing! I made a sketchbook out of Arches 300 gsm cold press/not/fine 14x19cm and 4 signatures thick. It turned out to be a wonderful every-day-carry Urban Sketch book, and I’m super pleased with this!
Finding all the right materials in my hometown was a bit of a hassle, but once started, it took me three hours to complete the whole process.
Thank you! 🙏Well done! 😊👍
Wow. This is really helpful. I have been looking for right watercolor journal book for me but I couldn't find one. I think making one that I would like is the way to go. Thank you so much for the good information.
I'm so thankful you'd take the time to make this tutorial, this will help me when I make my own sketchbook
😊🙏👍
This is very very detailed, thank you for going so in depth about the process. The instructions are easy to follow and everything is explained. As an aspiring artist, I appreciate that this information is out there, as knowing how to make your own good quality sketchbooks in a pinch is always necessary, and you can never have too many of them. Keep doing what you do.
Thanks!
Excellent tutorial, thank you
The numbering of corners - at 6:06 it looks as if you’re numbering corners clockwise from the upper left. The diagram at 7:10, however, shows the upper corners as 1 & 2, left & right respectively, but with 3 as lower left and 4 as lower right. Have I botched it?
Hi! Don't worry, it doesn't matter how you number them as long as it's consistent. Personally I lay the paper flat on the table with the watermark facing down on the left hand side, and mark the pages from top left going clockwise 😊
Such an excellent tutorial. I have made some sketchbooks but not to the precision and detail this one was done. I will be trying your method soon. Thank you for sharing this.
😊
The best instructional video ever! Thank you so much!
Ah, thanks! 😊🙏👍
Incredible detail and instruction. I've made books before so I had an idea what I would see, but you have done and EXCELLENT job of explaining how this is done. Love it!!
Ah, thanks Ramona, make sure to watch Part 2! 🙏 😊
Beautiful! It beats the best in the market.. thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for your wonderful lessons. I’m just completing (filling it up) my first journal. Your video is amazing. I used sketching and watercolour paper in the same book and it’s been the best sketchbook ever. It’s as you say: it lays flat and closes nicely even with Arches cotton paper…. I’m about to make my second one. Cannot thank you enough.
Ah, thanks Liana, it makes me really happy to hear that. Good luck with your artistic endeavours! 😊🙏
Wow beautiful work! Thanks for sharing this informations , really interesting!
Fantastic lesson! Thank you.
best video so far on book binding ! love from India
I loved this tutorial and will definitely try to make one myself. I have the same problem trying to find journals that allow gouache and watercolour without the paper rubbing. Your sketchbook looks so professional, great job!!! Cheers! Gin
Thank you! Good luck! 😊
Just wow! Thank you!
Thank you! 🙏 Make sure to watch Part 2 😊
Brilliant. Thank you
🙏😊
Wow what a brilliant video! I’ve searched and watched several videos but yours leaves all the others way behind. Very professional result, and extremely well presented. Thank you so much 🙏
Thank you!! ☺
These are awesome instructions. Thank you so much for them. I was able to make a large and a small sketch book of the paper I prefer. I am sure I will be using these instructions again to make more books. 😀 So glad I found your video. 😄
😊
This is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Thanks! 😊 Make sure to watch Part 2!
The most instructive bookbinding video that I have seen and I finally am getting the hang of it. I love having the 14 x 10 cp size. And I started making mini's for gifts since vinyl was on sale. Thank you. I have made coptics but just wanted that clean and covered stitching.🤗
Ah, thank you! 🙏😊
Thank you. I was able to make one. It helped to also see the techniques that youtuber sealemon uses. Im still fixing issues to better my end product. Some of the steps for some reason I can’t do exactly like you. They just dont work for my hands
Hi Alissa. Out of interest, which elements did you struggle with? Sea Lemon is a great resource, she's one of the people I learned from.
i am obsessed with watercolor period! sketch books too i serious need this video!!!!!!!!! i am going to do single folded pages so i can always do 2 page layouts and my first attempt with no instruction is a mess used stonehenge glad i didn't use my arches or fabriano stonehenge is awesome too so i feel like i'm going to use it , i also attempted this with no sleep dumb move lol
Thanks Deborah! I work over two pages most of the time with this design and it works fine. If you arrange the pages correctly the fronts and backs of each spread will match, and the book opens flat.
Simply superb: a must do. Many thanks Will.
Thanks! 🙏 Make sure to watch part two 😊
Very helpful . Thank you
Perfect. Great tutorial.
Great tutorial. It’s a while since I did any bookbinding and this was a wonderful refresher, with the added plus of giving the measurements for watercolour paper. Thank you.
Thanks Jill. I'm currently working on Part II to this video, make sure to stay tuned for that! 😊
Thank you for sharing. Very lovely
Thanks!
Creating the sketchbook with extra signatures. I asked Will about this. His reply: Yes you can add signatures, you just need to adjust measurements accordingly, but personally I reckon it’s good as it is, it’s a nice size.
what a wonderful video! thank you, I love the Fabriano HP and sadly they don't make sketchbooks. I checked out your site and after watching the video I think that the money to buy one of your handmade sketchbooks is well spent.
Thanks! I've just finished making a couple, so they're in stock on my site 😊
Thank you so much for making such a thorough and detailed video of how to make our own watercolor sketchbook!
Thanks Antonella! 😊 🙏
That was extremely well laid out, easy to understand and follow, and so far the best instruction I’ve seen on making a sketchbook! Thank you very much for such clear instructions, I will be procuring the suppliesAnd attempting this shortly! I great job!
Thank you! 🙏 Good luck with the project! 😊
Fabulous! Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your knowledge and skills. I really appreciate it. I'm planning to make a few watercolour journals - the commercial ones just don't cut it.
Thanks Clare! I’m releasing a second part to this soon, going into depth with everything I’ve learned making books for my shop over the last year - watch out for it! 😊
@@WillJBailey I'm looking forward to it! Thanks so much :)
Very informative and enjoyable. You gave me some insights on how to refine my process on making my sketchbooks.
Thanks! 🙏😊
Hi, I feel great finding your channel. I have drawing books produced by myself since 2019 when I started my course in Arts. They're not good, they don't look so well finished, I'm quite an ogre actually, and without many tools, but I managed to work miracles, thanks to the waxed thread, I do it like moleskine sewing (I suffered a lot with the fine thread in the seam, bursting, I make a shape that looks more brutal. But it's durable and doesn't tear, amazing your channel. I'm going to apply some aspects of the way you work in what I do. I make fabric covers, and I usually use 180g A4 folded canson blocks turning A5.
Thanks Mateus! 😊
Perfect! Your video was just what I was looking for.
😀🙏
Wow what a great video-so clear and concise thank you
Thank Sarah! 😊🙏👍
I've searched all over for
for this 😩
Thank you so much
Really clear and concise. Wonderful presentation and production. Will definitely be trying this!
Thank you! 😊🙏
I found your video extremely helpful! I’ve been wanting to make a specialized journal, preprinted with illuminated pages. I’ve made case bound books and post bound but I wanted these pages to lie flat for ease of writing. I didn’t want to use a Coptic stitch though. Thanks for this!!!
Thank you! Make sure to check out Part 2
Thankyou so much for this, really great instructions! I was in exactly your position of not being able to quite find the right thing, and it's really empowering to just make my own! I've made a few books now, and they're looking really sharp. :) My only tiny gripe with your method is that folding the corners when gluing the cover flaps down could do with a bit of tuning - I found that your method left slight gaps of uncovered greyboard in the corners. I got round it by not cutting the corners as tight to the greyboard, and that works fine. Hard to explain in just text!
Thanks! Funny you say that, my next video is going to be a follow-up video. I’ve been making and selling these on my website and Etsy for over a year since this came out - I’ve got lots of refinements and tips, including how to do the corners perfectly.
What a great book! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jayne! 😊🙏
Wow! I love how detailed your process on bookbinding is on the video. You have it down to a science. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. I am definitely buying a sketchbook from you; this is definitely a high quality product. I am also going to give a try on making my own sketchbook … surely it will be a slow process for me but worthwhile in the end. 🥰
Thank you!! ☺