Hi Everyone. It's Nancy Wethington with you, coming to you today from Nancy-land with a super simple tutorial using loose leaf rings. My inspiration came from an antique photo album I purchased years ago. The binding was reinforced and I thought I'd try that today.
When I'm working with a ring binding, after time the rings start wearing on the paper. I didn't want that to happen again so I created this binding:
Step 1: The Inside Pages:
- Cut 6 pieces of cardstock 9.75" wide X 6.5" tall.
- With the 9.75" side up against the top of your scoreboard, score at 1.5". Repeat until all 6 pages are scored.
- The 1.5" area is going to be used for the reinforced binding pages.
- Cut 6 pieces of cardstock 6.5" tall X 2" wide.
- With the 2" wide side up against the top of your scoreboard, score at 1". Repeat with all 6 pieces.
- Fold all 6 pieces on the score line.
- Using either wet glue or scor-tape, fold the 2" wide piece over the 1.5" wide piece of each page - with 1" of the binding strip on each side of the page.
You will end up with 1" binding strip on each side of the page. This binding strip will not touch the score mark on the page. You will have a bit of a margin on the page which will make turning the pages easier once it's bound.
Don't punch holes quite yet (I got ahead of myself).
Step 2: Covers: I used a heavy chipboard for the covers.
- Cut 2 pieces of chipboard 9" wide X 6.75" tall.
- Cut 2 pieces of chipboard 1.5" wide X 6.75" tall.
For this next step I use reinforced packing tape. Some people use Tyvek but I find the cross-hatched reinforced packing tape to be more affordable and readily available.
Both the front and back covers are assembled exactly the same.
- Lay the 9" wide piece on your work table in front of you.
- Lay the 1.5" wide piece to the left of the 9" piece, leaving 3/8" of an inch in between the two pieces. That 3/8" gusset will insure that your paper will not tear when opening and closing your book.
- Using a piece of packing tape that is 6.75" tall, add wet glue to the packing tape and tape the 1.5" piece to the 9" piece, making sure to leave the 3/8" gusset in place. You will see a bit of tape in that gusset and that's good.
- Take a second piece of packing tape. Add wet glue to the tape and place it on the top side of the covers. Press your finger (not finger nail) in the gusset to glue the tape one to another. Make sure the tape is glued firmly to the chipboard covers. Repeat for the back cover.
Step 3: Covering the Covers:
Inside Covers:
- Cut 2 pieces of cardstock (I used black) 10.75" wide X 6.75" tall.
- Adhere to the inside of both the front & back chipboard covers.
- Gently press your finger in the gusset to ensure the book will open & close properly.
Outside Covers:
- Cut 2 pieces of cardstock (I used black) 9" wide X 6.75" tall.
- Adhere to the outside of both the front & back chipboard covers, avoiding both the gusset and the 1.5" margins.
Next, choose a piece of fabric that will blend with the decorative papers you want to use.
- Using pinking shears, cut a piece of fabric 3.75" wide X 6.75" tall.
- Place scor-tape on the 1.5 margin up to but not over the gusset.
- Remove the top of the scor-tape and add the fabric over the tape, avoiding placing any fabric in the gusset. You've completed the inside cover.
Turn the cover and fabric over and we'll work on the outside cover.
- Add 2 inches of scor-tape to the front cover, over the binding area and over the gusset.
- Remove the white of the scor-tape and press the fabric onto the scor-tape, making sure to avoid any creases.
- Cut a piece of cardstock 9" wide X 6.75" tall.
- Adhere to the front & back covers (outside only), avoiding the gusset and fabric binding. (This will cover the pinked edge of the fabric that overlays on the cover.)
Step 4: The Holes:
- For the covers: I punched the holes 1.5" in from the top & bottom and 3/4" in from the side.
- For the pages: Punch the holes 1.25" in from the top & bottom and 1/2" in from the side.
- Once the holes in the cover were punched, I used a bit of FrayCheck on the holes, just as a reinforcement from fraying.
Now it's time to decorate.
Flips, folds & magnets on each page.
Flowers, prills & a frame all from Prima Marketing.
