This is my very first tutorial, so if you spot any mistakes or if any of the instructions are unclear, please message me so I can make it better. Also, if you use my tutorial, leave a link in the comment section to your finished product, I would love to see it!

Materials:

Light weight cotton fabric
*Or book binding cloth*
Chip board (.5″ larger than your photo album)
Two pieces of card stock
Tracing paper
Iron-on adhesive
Iron
Glue (all purpose)
Small soft-cover photo album
Bone folder (not pictured)
Small squeegee or old credit card
Sharp utility knife
Cork-backed ruler

Step 1: Measure Twice, Cut Once
Start by measuring your soft cover photo album (you can find these at craft stores, dollar stores, or places like Target). Measure the length and width of the album’s covers and it’s spine. You’ll want to cut 2 pieces of chip board that are 1/2″ taller than the album covers and 1/4″ wider. You’ll also need 1 piece of chipboard that is 1/2″ taller than the spine of your album (should be the same measurement you got when you measured the length of the album’s covers) and twice the width (this leaves room for the album to expand once pictures are place inside it.

Cutting chip board requires a sharp knife, I like my Olfa knife, but you can also use something like an X-ACTO knife. Use a cork-backed ruler as a straight edge (the cork keeps the ruler from slipping) and press down on it firmly (you may want someone to help you if you are cutting a long piece). Run your knife along the ruler several times until you cut through the thickness of the board.

Once you have all three of your chipboard pieces cut to size, line them up as they appear in the photo below:

The space in between the covers and the spine should be twice the thickness of the chipboard. Stack two pieces of scrap chipboard on top of one another to determine this distance. Once you are sure everything is lined up perfectly and the covers are equally spaced, place a piece of tape across all three pieces of chipboard on each end to hold in place. We will now call this, “the cover”.

Measure the length and width of the cover. Cut 1 piece of fabric 2″ longer and wider than your cover and another about 1″ wider than the spine of your cover and about 1″ shorter.

Step 2: Prepare your fabric
If you are using book binding cloth you may skip this step, but if you are using regular cotton fabric you need to turn it into book binding cloth. To do this, cut your fabric to the size you want it with a corresponding piece of iron-on adhesive. Iron the adhesive to the backside of your fabric. Peel the paper backing off and iron it to your tracing paper. Now your fabric is ready to take on all that glue. If you skip this step, the glue will seep through the fabric and you will have a sticky, ugly, mess.

Step 3: Glue!
Start by glueing your smaller piece of fabric across the spine of your cover, on the side without tape. Use your squeegee to press the fabric to the boards and to remove any air bubbles.

Flip your cover over, remove the tape. Cover your cover in glue. I like to put a puddle of glue in the center of each board and brush it outwards, this helps prevent your boards from warping. Center the cover on your large piece of fabric and press down. Flip the cover over and smooth out air bubbles with the squeegee. Use the bone folder to press the fabric down in the gaps in between the spine and the covers.

Flip the cover over again. You should have flaps of fabric on all sides of your cover. Clip each corner on a diagonal, leaving a space about the thickness of the chip board.

Cover your flaps in glue, fold them over and press them down. Again, removing all air bubbles with the squeegee.

Step 4: Creating Pockets
Now, we’re going to cover up those ugly edges on the inside cover while simultaneously creating pockets for the covers of your soft-cover photo album to slip into.

Cut your two pieces of card stock to twice the width of your photo album and 1/2″ taller. Fold the paper in half the short way, aka “the hamburger way”, crease, and unfold. Cut to the crease 1/4″ on each side of one half of the paper, leaving a diagonal edge. Crease the other half with your bone folder to create tabs as shown in the image below:

Fold your paper in half as before and fold the tabs under, thus creating a pocket. Cover the underside of your pocket with glue and center onto one side of your cover with the opening towards the spine. Repeat with your 2nd piece card stock and the other side of the cover.

Step 5: Assemble
When your cover is dry, slip the covers of the album into the pockets. If the pockets have stuck together, slowly run a knife along the inside of the pocket to loosen it. Add your photos and your done!

Tags: bookmaking, fabric, hard cover, photo album, tutorial

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 at 4:58 pm and is filed under bookmaking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.