The three-hole pamphlet stitch, my first binding

Every bookbinding journey seems to begin with the same humble structure: a single folded booklet, sewn through the fold with three holes. It is called a pamphlet stitch, and it is how I made my first notebook. It took me an evening, a lot of re-threading, and it was slightly crooked. I still use it.

What you need

• Five to eight sheets of paper, folded in half together.
• One sheet of slightly heavier paper or thin card for the cover.
• A needle with an eye big enough for your thread.
• Linen thread or strong cotton thread, about three times the height of the booklet.
• An awl, or a push pin, or a thick needle for piercing.
• A bone folder or the back of a spoon for creasing.
• A clothes peg or two, to hold things in place.

Folding

Fold each sheet in half separately and crease it firmly, then nest them inside one another. Folding them all at once makes a thick, rounded fold that never quite closes. Put the cover around the outside and check that everything lines up at the top edge. The pages will stick out unevenly at the fore-edge, the side opposite the fold; that is normal and can be trimmed later.

Piercing the holes

Make a simple guide from a scrap strip of paper the same height as the booklet. Fold it in half to find the middle and mark that point. Then mark two more points, each about two centimetres in from the top and bottom.

Open the booklet to the centre spread, lay the guide in the fold, and push the awl through each mark, straight through all layers including the cover. Keep the awl exactly in the valley of the fold. A hole that wanders off the fold will show on the outside.

Sewing

The sequence for three holes goes like this:

• Start from the inside, at the middle hole, leaving a tail of about eight centimetres.
• Go out through the middle hole, then back in through the top hole.
• Travel along the inside, past the middle, and out through the bottom hole.
• Come back in through the middle hole, making sure you do not pierce the long stitch already there.

You should now have both thread ends inside the booklet, one on each side of the long stitch running down the fold.

Tying off

Pull the thread snug along the spine, gently, in the direction of the sewing, not up and away from the paper, which can tear the holes. Then tie a square knot with the two ends around the long stitch. Trim the ends to about one centimetre. A little fray at the ends looks charming rather than messy.

Trimming

If the uneven fore-edge bothers you, place a metal ruler along the edge and cut with a sharp craft knife in several light passes, rather than one heavy cut. Keep your fingers well behind the ruler. I trimmed my first booklets and now mostly leave them uneven, because I have come to like the stepped look.

What I learned

• Waxed thread is much easier to handle than unwaxed; it does not tangle as readily.
• Five holes are better than three for anything taller than about twenty centimetres.
• A slightly heavier cover paper makes the whole thing feel like a real object.

My first booklet now holds shopping lists and half-finished sketches. The binding has not loosened at all. For something so simple, the pamphlet stitch is remarkably sturdy, and it is the right place to start.