This is a simple way to make a book with pockets, zig-zag style.
Some thoughts on grain direction before we start:
It is normal to aim to get the grain direction of all materials running head to tail of the book but in this case I had to go the wrong way with the pages. The A3 paper I was using had the grain direction running parallel to the pocket fold and not the spine fold. This made it easier to make the long (horizontal) fold and, as the paper was not too heavy, did not impact too much on the spine (vertical) folds. The joining tab did cockle a bit though, when I used wet PVA glue, but I tried to use the minimum of glue and, as it dried it settled down a bit. Sometimes, you cannot avoid the wrong grain direction!
Start with a long sheet of paper. The paper should be about 50 per cent extra in height than your page size – so if you want your page size to be 20cm , cut the paper 30cm tall or thereabouts. The paper can be as long as you can make it for now.
Measure, score and fold, one third of the sheet lengthways to make the pocket.Decide how wide the page is to be and score a vertical fold at that point. Then work along the paper strip dividing it into pages the same width until you run out of paper. If you want more pages, fold another piece of paper in the same way and make a joining tab about 2cm wide at the end of one of the strips.Two zig-zag folds, one with joining tab.
How to join two strips together with a joining tab and a fold up pocket:
On the tab on one end of one of the strips of paper, cut a dart out of the paper along the fold line.With the dart you should be able to join the two paper strips so that the pocket is continuous. You could use double sided tape instead of PVA to make the join if it is easier for you.At each end of the zig-zag fold you will need to seal the ends of the pocket fold. The grey area in the photo above shows where to glue – or use double-sided tape if easier.Measure the book closed and draw a plan. The hard cover is made from three boards slightly bigger than the book – see calculation for board measurements below.To measure the depth or thickness of the book, make a rough estimate based on what you want to put inside the book. (If you are pocketing bulky items make a more measured guess.)
The height of the boards = height of pages + 6mm
The width of the boards = width of pages + 6mm
The spine piece is the same height as above and the width is the estimate you made.
When you stick the boards down to your covering material, make the gap between the board 3mm unless you are using a bulky fabric in which case allow a little more space in the gap.Cover the boards in the usual way then add a lining piece on the inside. I have used a scrap of bookcloth but any thin fabric or strong paper would be ok. Push the lining into the gaps on the inside of the boards as you stick it in place. I have made the height of this lining the same as the pages for neatness. The lining does not have to cover the whole boards as the pages will be stuck down on to them.Glue up one of the endpapers and stick in the middle of one board. Check which way up it is first so you get everything the right way round. (That is a paperweight on top)
This video from the regular version of the zig-zag will show you how to glue up the endpaper and stick it down to a hard cover, but the difference with the pocket book demonstrated here is that we have a border of 3mm on all sides of the pages. (This project could also be designed to have covers the same size as the pages):
Stick the second endpaper down in the same way.
On this project I experimented with a different way to add a title to the cover. I cut a strip of paper to wrap around the cover and stuck it only on the inside of the cover board, before I stuck the pages in. The separate card slips underneath it and is held more firmly in place by the lift-up tabs cut into it.
