Making My Yedda Journal with Old Stuff
Bookbinding Peg and Awl
Hello! I am Margaux, co-founder of Peg and Awl, rambler behind our newsletters and here on Substack at Resounding Little Voices . We have a website and a blog, but the blog is so tricky and takes team effort and we are already a small team, so we rarely share there. Thus, we decided to start a Peg and Awl Substack for endless adventures behind the scenes at Peg and Awl, from personal projects to flea market finds, ungardening stories and more. That felt like a lot, so I am now making a Peg and Awl section here on RLV. I’ll find my way… (suggestions and thoughts welcome!)
For now, here is our tutorial for making this unconventional journal:
I love making journals and all kinds of books to fill up. To be clear, I make them to fill them. I am not a blank book collector. My books get dirty and bent and filled to the brim. They are meant for ideas, drawings, journaling, and more.
To start, we decided to share some unconventional journal making processes. Here, I filmed myself making my most recent journal from old book covers, antique textiles, an old painty escutcheon, a tetra pak print, and other treasures. This is the second book* that I made like this with no plans. You can hear my wheels turning in this video from start to finish — enthusiastic, doubtful, and joyous throughout the process
My sister-in-law Ashley, one of the Peg and Awl crew, edited it — bloopers and all! We hope you enjoy it!
Do let us know what you think. Please ask questions and share your books made with our instructions. We’d love to see them and share some here!
Things you will need:
Paper (we love this for its versatility - but get your favourite!)
Scissors
Ruler
Fabric (we will soon have bundles of our scraps available on our webiste!)
Pencil
Vintage Book or Something for your cover
Doodads if you’d like
Heavy books for a press
If you’ve just discovered us and our tutorials, go to Bookbinding at Home, Part 2: How to Stitch a Coverless Journal to learn how to stitch the inside of the book. If you have a cover you want to use, prepare your pages to fit! But don’t take your first one (or any) so seriously. You must play to learn:)
Find the rest of our tutorials here
I’ve also shared this on You Tube! I appreciate conversation wherever you watch!
Love this....I also love to create my own journals/sketchbooks from old books. I keep all the "shaggy" spine bits for mixed-media collage pieces...the texture is fantastic. No parts are wasted!
There's nothing more inviting than a sketchbook you have created from scratch