How to Create a DIY Sketchbook

I love sketchbooks. I mean who doesn’t right? They come in all shapes and sizes, with pretty colors and patterns, fun closures, and bindings and they just make you happy.

But they can be mildly expensive, and sometimes they aren’t exactly what you are looking for. Some look nice but are made with flimsy paper that won't hold up.

Maybe you want a sketchbook that can hold up to your alcohol markers but the ones made specifically for alcohol markers are too expensive for your budget.

You could be a painter and want to have a nice watercolor sketchbook that you can practice in or create smaller pieces with.

So I decided to make my own sketchbooks from my favorite papers, and I cover them with whatever designs I want to.

They feel much more personal and they have that special touch because you made it by hand.

I am here to show you how to make your own DIY sketchbook so that you can have one that fits every need you want, even if that’s filling it with three different kinds of paper.

Supplies

First, you will need to gather your supplies

• Paper. This can be any kind of paper. Cardstock, printer, watercolor, marker paper, mixed media. Whatever fits your fancy.

• Scissors. Or paper cutter of some sort.

• Binder clips. This is to hold together the pages while you add glue.

• Something heavy. To place on top of the book to keep the pages compressed while gluing.

• Scraper. Or something with a straight edge that you can use to help fold the paper better.

• Bookbinding glue. I use this one.

• Brush. This is just to use to spread the bookbinding glue along the spine.

• Adhesive. This is so you can adhere the cover pages to the first and last pages.

• Scrapbook paper. Or other decorative paper that you want to use to create your sketchbook cover.

• Chipboard. This is optional and not used in this tutorial. But it can be used as the cover to make a bit more sturdy.

Step One: Fold Paper

Now that you have chosen your paper. You will need to fold it (or cut it) depending on the size of the paper and the size of the sketchbook you want.

I used regular 8.5x11 cardstock for mine, so all I did was folded the paper in half.

I also used a scraper so that I could run it along the fold to make it as flat as possible.

Step Two: Gather Pages Together

Once you have all of the sheets of paper you want to be folded or cut, stack them together. You can use as many sheets as you want to make it as big or as small as you’d like.

I usually use around 10-20 sheets, so I have a 20-40 page sketchbook. I like mine to be fairly small so it's not as intimidating to fill up.

Once the pages are all stacked together nicely (make sure the folds are all facing the same way) you will take at least two binder clips and place them on either side of the spine, as close to the edge as possible, but far enough back that the clip doesn’t get in the way of gluing the spine.

Step Three: Bind Pages Together

After you have clipped the pages together, I recommend setting the book down on a table with the spine hanging over the side a little.

Then I usually place a candle or my large jar of paint water on top of the book in the middle to compress the pages down, so they bind together nicely.

Once everything is in place, you can take the bookbinding glue and start applying it straight to the spine, or onto the brush. Then gently brush the binding glue along the entire spine.

Use a generous amount but not so much that it's dripping. Make sure all the pages get covered and no cracks are left open within the spine.

After you finish applying the glue, let the book sit in place for a few hours. I usually let mine sit overnight just to be absolutely sure that all the glue has fully dried. But you can test it after a few hours to see if it's still tacky or not.

Step Four: Make Your Covers

Your binding should be fully dry at this point and the book should be useable.

You don’t have to do anything after this stage, but I tend to like to put a cover on my sketchbooks so that is what we will do next.

For this particular sketchbook, I decided to print out a new sunflower design I'm using as a sticker design. I printed the design on regular printer paper and then cut it in half.

You can use any paper you’d like though for your cover. You could collage it, draw your own design, paint it, use scrapbook paper that you like, or even cut out some chipboard and use that for a sturdier book.

After I cut the paper to the correct size, I used a glue roller and applied the pages to the front and back of the book.

And that’s it.

Now you have your very own sketchbook filled with the paper of your choice.

I've found that the bookbinding glue actually holds up really well and I haven’t had any issues thus far with my bindings coming undone. The glue is flexible once dry so it can withstand the opening and closing and even folding backward of the pages.

I hope you all enjoyed this little tutorial, and I would love to see what kinds of sketchbooks you guys all come up with!

Feel free to tag me on Instagram @marbelladesignshop or comment below with your creations!

Love ya!

Catherine