books creating OUTSIDER Patreon chapters poetry

Creating a hand-stitched pamphlet

September 14, 2019

Producing your own work can be a daunting prospect but it also allows the space to fully immerse in the words and creation. Sometimes a publisher (or record label) is the way forward with a piece, but occasionally (about every four years) I enjoy re-grounding in the practice of producing an entire pamphlet from scratch, including the hand-stitching. If you are also adept at design (which I’m not) then that’s great, otherwise you might want to approach a friend or pay a designer.
I’m using The Slow-Time Traveller poetry pamphlet here as my example, but you can use this method for anything from comics, to manifestos, to artwork. 
The design and artwork for all of my publications is created by Andy Garside

I used two separate printers – Blush Publishing for the letterpress cover made from 100% recycled cairn board (500 micron) printed on a Heidelberg Platen 1976 letterpress as I wanted a tactile and organic feel to the pamphlet, but of course you can use anything from a soft paper to a firm card. 

Above photos are the cover being printed at Blush Publishing in Holywell, north Wales on their Heidleberg Letterpress printer.

The insert is laser-printed on 100gsm premium FSC Mixed source paper. This is from a more traditional printers – they also folded and collated the pages. 

Once you have your cover and insert printed here’s a list of all the things you’ll need to make the pamphlet: see photo starting clockwise from top left:

  • Printed inserts. Don’t forget to put your name and website in these! I also wish I’d put the date in the first one I made Prophecy: conversations with my Self back in Jan 2010.
  • Bulldog clips x2.
  • Tracing paper – optional but it gives a more luxurious feel to the final publication.
  • Printed covers.
  • Steel ruler.
  • Cardboard measuring stick (I’ll explain this more in the next step).
  • Pen/pencil.
  • Waxed bookbinding thread.
  • Scissors.
  • Awl (pointed tool for making the small hole in the book).
  • Cutting mat.
  • Embroidery needle. 
  • Hammer (yes! For the awl).
  • Scalpel – Andy swears by Swann Morton 10A surgical blades. 

step 1

Cut a piece of card to the length of your pamphlet spine. Make a mark on it at half-way along the spine then at 2cm or 3cm (or 4cm depending upon the length of your pamphlet) above and below. This is where your binding thread is going to go so have a think about how you want it to look and maybe try a few options on a spare piece of paper.

You can now use this for every cover without having to measure out each time – it makes it so much easier to keep them all uniform when you’re making a lot of them. 

Line your card up with the cover then make three dots along the spine that match the measured marks on the card.

step 2

Fold the cover and the tracing paper and sit them around the insert making sure they’re fully aligned along the central spine. If they’re off then your pamphlet holes will be off. This is the biggest mistake I’ve made in the past. You can maybe get a v-shaped piece of wood to sit it on, I tend to bend all three together forwards and backwards for a bit to just make sure they all sit together neatly.

Step 3

Use the bulldog clips at the top and bottom to hold all sheets firmly in place.

Step 4

Push the pointed end of the awl into one of the dots making sure you have something underneath the pamphlet or you’ll make a mark in the surface of whatever you’re leaning on – I use an old magazine and the cutting mat. Use hammer to firmly tap the awl into the pages, making sure it goes right through and leaves a hole big enough for the embroidery needle to feed through. Do this will all three holes.

Step 5

Next you’re going to stitch the pages together. Keeping the bulldog clips fastened to the pages insert the needle from the inside of the centre hole through to the outside. Think of making a figure eight with the thread. Next thread the needle through the top hole from outside to inside. Go from here along to the bottom hole and thread inside to outside. Your final stitch is from the outside bottom hole back into the middle. You should finish with both threads in the centre hole on the inside of the pamphlet. 

Step 6

Make sure the two threads are on either side of the thread running the length of the pamphlet. Tie the thread in a double-knot and cut at about 1cm long.

Step 7

Use your steel ruler to guide the scalpel so that you can neaten off the edges of the book. If you have a guillotine (or access to one) then that is absolutely preferred. Otherwise use this method. You might also need to this along a top or bottom edge – see how it goes. 

Step 8

Sit back and admire your handiwork. 

You Might Also Like

No Comments

Leave a Reply