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.