The most popular way to bind a chapbook is to use staples. There’s no need to go out and buy fancy equipment. Using this handy technique, you can bind even oddly sized chapbooks using a standard stapler.
Staple-binding a chapbook, step by step
Saddle-stapling is the classic chapbook binding: two or three staples down the center fold. Here is the way I do it.
Your printed pages, in order, plus a cover sheet.
A long-arm stapler, or a regular stapler and a bit of tape.
A bone folder or the back of a spoon for a crisp fold.
Stack the sheets in reading order with the cover on top, all edges lined up. Tap them square on a table.
Fold the whole stack in half together and run a bone folder along the crease so it sits flat.
Open the stack flat at the center. With a long-arm stapler, place two or three staples along the fold, one near the top, one near the bottom, one in the middle for taller booklets.
Press the staple legs down flat on the inside so nothing catches a finger.
No long-arm stapler? Open the flat stack, mark where each staple goes, and staple through from the outside into a soft surface like a stack of cardboard or an eraser, so the legs punch through. Then fold the legs down by hand. It sounds fiddly, but after two or three booklets it’s quick.
Keep your page count on a multiple of four so the fold works, which the format guide explains. For the whole process from manuscript to finished booklet, see how to make a chapbook. Prefer a stitched spine? Try hand-sewing instead.
A beautiful and instructive video from the good folks at Poets and Writers Magazine!
How Coptic binding works
Coptic binding is one of the oldest stitched bindings, and it has a trick the others don’t: the book opens completely flat, so a page never fights you. It’s a good choice when your booklet runs longer than a simple pamphlet stitch handles well.
Instead of one folded stack, you sew several small folded groups of pages, called signatures, to each other with a chain stitch along the spine. Because the signatures link directly rather than nesting inside a single cover, the spine flexes open all the way.
Several folded signatures of a few sheets each.
Two cover boards, if you want a hardcover.
Waxed thread, a needle, and an awl for the sewing holes.
In short: mark and punch matching holes along the fold of every signature, then sew them one after another, looping each new signature to the one before with a chain stitch that runs up the spine. The video from Poets & Writers walks through the stitch itself, which is far easier to follow watching than reading.
Sewn bindings can be done by hand, but a good old-fashioned sewing machine works too. You should know that there are high-end binders that sew pages quickly. Those are very expensive and not used much anymore.
If you want to sew binding using a sewing machine, be sure to use a sturdy needle and have a few extras handy. It’s suggested that you use eye protection. In this video, the artist moves very slowly. If you have fewer pages, you can sew faster.
Embroidery thread is really best for this. Also, consider thread that contrasts with your page color, or even choose shiny thread for a more custom look.
Machine-sewing a chapbook spine
A sewing machine gives you a stitched spine in seconds instead of minutes, and the row of stitches looks clean and deliberate. It takes a little setup, but for a run of booklets it saves real time over hand-sewing.
A sturdy needle, ideally a denim or leather needle, plus a couple of spares.
Strong thread. Embroidery thread works well and shows off nicely.
Eye protection, since needles can snap on thick stacks.
Fold and nest your pages, then crease the spine well with a bone folder so the stack lies flat.
Set the machine to a long straight stitch and slow the speed right down.
Line the center fold up under the needle and sew straight down the crease, holding the stack square as it feeds.
Leave a few inches of thread at each end, pull them to the inside, and tie them off.
Keep the page count modest; a machine can only sew through so many sheets before the needle strains. Thread that contrasts with your cover, or a shiny thread, turns the binding into part of the design. As the video shows, going slowly is the whole trick.
Constructing Chapbooks in small numbers is very easy. One of the most popular binds uses hand-sewn construction.
This small video explains the technique. Be sure to use a heavy thread, and fold the paper well, using a bone folder or smooth object. Hand-sewn books aren’t good for more than a few pages.
Hand-sewing a chapbook: the pamphlet stitch
The pamphlet stitch is the simplest sewn binding, and it looks lovely. You sew through the center fold with a single length of thread and tie it off inside. Here is the three-hole version, which suits most chapbooks.
Your folded pages and cover, nested together.
A heavy thread: waxed linen, embroidery floss, or button thread.
A large needle and an awl or a pushpin to make the holes.
Open the booklet flat and mark three points along the center fold: one in the middle, and one an inch or so from the top and bottom.
Poke a hole at each mark with the awl.
Thread the needle and go in through the middle hole from the outside, leaving a tail to tie later.
Come out through the top hole, run down the outside, and go in through the bottom hole.
Come back out through the middle hole, on the opposite side of the long center thread from your tail.
Pull the stitches snug, tie the two ends in a double knot around the long center thread, and trim.
Fold each sheet well with a bone folder first; a crisp fold makes for a clean spine. Hand-sewing suits a few pages rather than a thick booklet. For a spine you can decorate, pick a thread that contrasts with the cover. The full process is in how to make a chapbook, and if you’d rather staple, see binding with staples.
