It’s December. *GASP!

Dang, 2016. That was fast.

With Christmas approaching and the New Year just ahead, its time to make a new planner. YAY to the new year for that 😀

There are many ways to handcraft your own bookbinding Weekly Planner. This tutorial shows you how I do it. Let’s go!

2017 Weekly Planner Template

Truth is, the reason I chose to make a weekly planner rather than a daily one is merely because there will be less pages. Too many pages = procrastination (in my case).

This planner will be a simple project without any extra book covers. The idea is to make a functional planner fast.

So, first up! We create the pages for our 2017 weekly planner.

These are the weekly pages that I made:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can download the template here: Craft Addicts 2017 Weekly Planner Template (.zip file; 21MB). No email required. Just right-click and save.

You will find 3 PDF files in the template. Simply print them out in the following quantity:

• 1 X 1.2017_Weekly_Planner_cover.pdf
• 7 X 2. Weekly_Planner.pdf
• 1 X 3.Weekly_Planner_final.pdf

They have been arranged to make up an A5 weekly planner, so all you’d have to do is to print them out in order. You should have 52 set of the weekly pages as well a 1 cover page and 1 additional ‘Notes’ page.

Feel free to customise the template. Drop us an email at contactus@bookbindingworkshopsg.com if you want to Adobe Illustrator files 🙂

Side note, I was taking this chance to learn to use Adobe Illustrator. Here’s a great tutorial that I can’t resist sharing: Beginner’s Guide to Adobe Illustrator Kudos to the creator!

What we will need

You will need these materials and equipment for to make your 2017 weekly planner:

• 2017 Weekly Planner Pages printed (use thicker paper if possible. 100-150 gsm paper would be good)
• Cutting Mat (Optional – if you are not worried about damaging your table surfaces)
• Pen Knife
• Bone Scorer (you can use the ruler as a substitute for the bone scorer)
• Ruler
• Awl (or you can use any of these alternatives)
• Needles
• Wax
• Thread
• Scissors
• Glue
• Brushes

Preparing the signatures of the 2017 Weekly Planner

To get started, we have to prep the signatures of our 2017 weekly planner.

We are using 6 pages (3 pieces of paper) in each signature for this project. Each pdf file provided in the template (Craft Addicts 2017 Weekly Planner Template) gives you 1 planner signature. In total, you would have 9 signatures.

Line the pages up to get your signatures.

Once you have arranged your signatures in the right order, fold each signature into half. Use your bone scorer to tighten the folds. (This will make it easier for you to punch holes along the spine of each signature later)

Here’s a quick video that demonstrates that (watch till 2:16 only):

Punching holes on the spine

Now that we have our 2017 weekly planner signatures out, its time to prepare for the actual bookbinding processes.

First up, we have to create holes alone the spines of the signatures to facilitate the binding.

Creating a Template

I use unwanted paper to create a template on which the locations of the holes are marked out.

Get hold of a piece of paper that preferably have the same height as your planner. Width doesn’t matter in this case, we use something of a narrower width for easy control.

For the weekly planner, 6 holes of equal distance were marked out on the template.

Holes were created on the template using an awl. (Alternatively, you can use a needle)

Punching holes on the signatures

Once the template is done, use it as a guide to punching holes on each of your signatures.

Align the template with the inner spine of your signature.

Punch holes using an awl, with the template as a guide.

Repeat this for all your signatures.

The holes on all your signatures should be aligned when you stack them up.

Here’s a video that demonstrates that:

Binding Your Planner

With your signatures prepared and holes punched along the spine, its time to bind them together to create your 2017 weekly planner.

Prepare your thread

I use the thicker linen thread for this planner. Cut a length that is about 5 times the length of the height of your planner. Wax the thread.

Binding

Start sewing from the inside of the first signature so that the loose end is hidden inside the planner.

Sew along the spine, weaving in and out of the holes prepared in the previous step. At the last hole, make a knot and bring the needle out from the same hole.

Bind the 2nd signature, sewing from the outer spine towards the inner spine.

Continue this process until you reach the end of the 3rd signature.

Here, bring your needle between and around the thread that holds the 1st and 2nd signatures. This will bind the 3rd signature with the 1st and 2nd. Move back to the 2nd last hole of the 3rd signature and repeat.

Repeat this process until all signatures are bounded via each hole. [View video below for a clearer demonstration]

Add more signatures

Once this is done, continue on to the next signature. Each time your needle is on the outer spine, bring it between and around the thread that binds the corresponding holes.

Repeat this until all the signatures are added.

Final signature

At the end of the last signature, make a knot and bring the needle back out the same hole, and into the adjacent hole. Make sure that every signature is bound to each other at each of the holes.

Once done, thread along the spine of the signature until you reach the end. Make a triple knot using the thread along the spine.

Cut off loose ends to finish your weekly planner!

The sewing process is shown in this video (16 mins), you can speed the video up using Youtube’s settings:

Final Touches (optional)

Once you are done with the binding, spread 2-3 layers of glue over the spine of your 2017 weekly planner. Make sure that the threads and the holes are in contact with the glue.

With that, we are done 😀