Handmade Books at Home: A Beginner's Guide to Binding Journals, Sketchbooks, Photo Albums and More

This book is a gem for anyone wanting to dive into bookbinding! 📚✂️ The instructions are clear, beginner-friendly, and filled with helpful photos. I loved how it walks you through different styles of binding with step-by-step guidance. Whether you're making journals, sketchbooks, or memory albums, this guide makes it feel totally doable. It gave me so many creative ideas for my scrap projects!

I follow this creator on youtube and her work is so neat and so relaxing to watch. It's good to have a step-by-step guide for multiple projects and these ones are nicely laid out. Plus, the book is physically pretty to look at. I don't know why - it just is. Would recommend for beginners or even experienced bookbinders.

Great book! Clear directions, abundance of photographs, obviously a labor of love by Chanel Ly. Yes, she has given much of the information in her videos, but the book provides a ready reference without the pause button. Anyone using her videos should buy the book, if only to support her continued effort. Thank you, Chanel, for your willingness to share your knowledge and experience.

Great clear and beautiful book

If you want to learn about handmade books, Chanel Ly's book is for you. Her careful attention to detail will enable you to learn very professional bookbinding skills.

I was looking forward to receiving this book as I am learning bookbinding. However, the photos with sewing instructions were so hard to follow that I decided to return the book. In one case, for example, the author used white thread on white paper, and it was next to impossible to see it. Other sewing instruction photos were not close-ups so, again, it was hard to see what to do.

As a keen paper lover and bookbinding newbie, Chanel Ly's handbook is simply the best book I've come across. Its clear instructions and numerous photographs have helped me progress in my bookbinding learning and encouraged me to move onward. Possibly the only thing to make it "better" would be to have it hand-bound by Miss Ly herself, but that is not its purpose. And one can easily purchase her handmade works of art online and view her many beautifully done videos. Projects are described in detail, step-by-step, assuming no previous depth of knowledge. Softcover and hardcover books, flat-back, round-back books and case bindings, well-known and loved stitches are all described in easily understood instructions. There is also a good section about designing your own book which includes up cycling a paperback book, how to make closures, adding pockets to books, and how to make your own book press. In addition to the usual sections on tools and papers, it covers paper types and sizes, spine swell, gluing techniques, and troubleshooting common errors. The resources and references section includes full URLs for avid readers.

Love this book! It’s a great reference for starting out