Projects

Stitched Sketchbook

30 min. to an hour 5-7 8-10

WHAT WILL YOU MAKE?

A sewn together sketchbook to keep your drawings, notes, or anything you want.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

You will learn to measure carefully to create holes for a book binding. Then you will learn to stitch the book binding with twine or thread.

STEPS

STEP 1

Prepare your paper.

Trim your paper so that the thicker paper is 1/2" longer and wider than the 4-5 sheets.¬ªFold each piece of paper in half ham-burger style, one at a time ¬ªNest all of the folded papers together with the thick sheet on the outside to that they resemble a book.

STEP 2

Make some holes

Center the 4-5 sheets of paper on the thicker sheet so that they have a 1/4" border.¬ªUse your ruler and pencil to measure three evenly spaced dots along the fold so that the middle dot is in the middle of the fold and the side dots are at least 1" from the edg-es. ¬ªUse your awl to pierce each dot all the way through every paper in the stack.

STEP 3

Stitch!

Measure and cut enough string to span 3x the width of the cover paper and then thread your needle. ¬ªStarting from the outside of the sketch-book, run the needle through the center hole and then back out through the bot-tom hole without pulling the string all the way through. ¬ª From the bottom hole, run your needle along the outside binding and back through the top hole. ¬ª Now run your needle through the center once more.

STEP 4

Finish.

Pull the ends of the string so that they are approximately the same length and make sure that each one is on either side of the string that is running along the binding.¬ª Tie a bow with the ends and trim the excess. ¬ª Decorate your new sketchbook!

WHAT'S NEXT?

Now you have a handy, sewn sketchbook or notebook you can fill up with drawings, jokes, or whatever you feel like. Make some for your friends and family as well!

Materials:

4-5 Sheets of Paper
1 Piece of Thicker Paper or Light Cardboard
Awl
Large-eyed Needle
Thin Twine, Embroidery Floss, or Quilting Thread
Scissors
Ruler
Pen or Pencil

See More Projects in these topics:

Arts & Crafts Paper Crafts

See More Projects from these themes:

Art/Craft Studio

Maker Camp

Maker Camp is a do-it-yourself online resource to help leaders like you organize a summer camp that engages children in making. Our goal is to provide you and your campers with the inspiration and the helpful resources, along with many possible projects to fit a wide range of interests and abilities. The idea is to focus on making as a playful, social activity. Maker Camp provides enough support for anyone to get started. Making provides experiences that help children become self-directed learners and good problem-solvers.

PRINT THESE INSTRUCTIONS

BROWSE MORE MAKER CAMP PROJECTS FIND EVEN MORE PROJECTS AT Make:

Please Note

Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of equipment and safety gear, and determining whether you have adequate skill and experience. Power tools, electricity, and other resources used for these projects are dangerous, unless used properly and with adequate precautions, including safety gear and adult supervision. Some illustrative photos do not depict safety precautions or equipment, in order to show the project steps more clearly. Use of the instructions and suggestions found in Maker Camp is at your own risk. Make Community, LLC, disclaims all responsibility for any resulting damage, injury, or expense.

Maker Camp Project Standards

Based on NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)

National Core Arts Standards

The National Core Arts Standards are a process that guides educators in providing a unified quality arts education for students in Pre-K through high school. These standards provide goals for Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts with cross-cutting anchors in Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting through art. The Anchor Standards include:

Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Refine and complete artistic work.
Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

Please visit the website for specific details on how each anchor applies to each discipline.

National Core Arts Standards

The National Core Arts Standards are a process that guides educators in providing a unified quality arts education for students in Pre-K through high school. Also see Standards with cross-cutting anchors in Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting through art for Visual Arts.

NGSS K-2 Engineering Design

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.

K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

For additional information on using content standards with our projects please visit the Maker Camp Playbook.

NGSS 3-5.Engineering Design

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.

3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

For additional information on using content standards with our projects please visit the Maker Camp Playbook.

Stitched Sketchbook

WHAT WILL YOU MAKE?

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?