If you've been looking for a handmade book that packs a surprising amount of function into a compact, accordion-folded structure — something you could carry in your purse, gift to a friend, or use as a pocket organiser — this tutorial is exactly that. I show you how to make an accordion pocket book from square sheets of paper, complete with a sandwiched cardstock cover, optional sewn-in signatures, and a ribbon closure. The whole thing comes together with folding, gluing, and a little bit of decorating, and the result looks far more involved than it actually is.
What we cover
Starting from four square sheets of paper, I walk through every step: the diagonal folding method that creates each pocket panel, joining the panels into a continuous accordion, building and sandwiching a front and back cover, embellishing, filling the pockets, sewing in a signature using a three-hole pamphlet stitch, and adding a closure. I also show two size variations — a 6×6 inch version and a 12×12 inch version — so you can see how the proportions scale.
What you'll learn
How to fold square paper into an accordion pocket panel using the diagonal method — each sheet is folded corner to corner, opened, then all four sides are folded to the centre, creating a pocket unit with joining flaps on two sides. Four of these joined together give you eight pockets total.
How to join the panels together, including:
- Full-flap gluing — the flap adheres completely to the adjoining panel
- Sides-only gluing — only the edges of the flap are glued, leaving a hidden pocket in the joining seam itself
- Sewing the sides on a sewing machine before joining, for extra hold
How to build a sandwiched cardstock cover — two pieces of cardstock are cut slightly larger than the panel size, and the accordion's end flap is sandwiched and glued between them. This gives the cover structure without bulk. I use two adhesives: a craft glue as the main hold and a glue stick as a secondary helper — the glue stick alone won't hold a cover long-term, but it's useful for positioning before the main glue sets.
How to make a removable cover — instead of gluing the sandwich closed on all sides, leave one edge open so the cover can slide on and off. The 6×6 version I show uses this approach.
How to fill the pockets for everyday carry — I walk through what I'd actually put in mine: a small notebook, business cards, planner stickers, a to-do notepad, tags, postage stamps, receipts, photographs clipped to the outer panels. This isn't a decorative object; it's genuinely useful once the pockets are loaded.
How to sew a signature into an accordion panel using the three-hole pamphlet stitch, including:
- Sizing the signature so it sits flush inside the panel without poking out
- Finding and marking the centre of both the panel spine and the signature fold
- Piercing through both layers with an awl
- Running embroidery floss through using a needle, tying off with a knot and bow
Why it matters to bind signatures before filling the pockets — once the pockets are loaded, the panels are stiff and getting a needle through cleanly becomes genuinely difficult. Empty panels are much easier to work with.
How to add a ribbon closure — a length of ribbon is glued or tied to the back cover and wraps around to hold everything closed. For smaller sizes especially, this is worth doing — the book will spring open on its own until the paper has had a chance to settle.
How to embellish the cover, including:
- Lining black cardstock with a scrap of patterned paper
- Adding a stamped image on a small piece of scrap
- Layering with stickers, tags, or labels
Tips & gotchas
Leave it under something heavy for a couple of nights. Fresh off the fold, the accordion will keep springing open — this is just the paper's memory, not a construction problem. A few days under a stack of books and it settles right down.
Bind your signatures before you fill the pockets. It seems backwards, but once the pockets have things in them the panels become rigid and awkward to stitch through. Empty panels take an awl and needle cleanly; full ones fight you.
The sides-only gluing trick gives you hidden pockets. If instead of gluing the full joining flap you only apply glue along the two edges, the centre of that seam stays open — and you can tuck things into that hidden space. It's a small change in method that adds a useful extra pocket without any extra steps.
Don't rely on a glue stick alone for the cover. It's fine as a positioning aid — press it down, get it where you want it, then go over it with a stronger craft glue. Glue stick as the only adhesive won't hold the cover layers together reliably over time.
If you want the printed side of your paper facing inward on the pockets, attach the panels the other way around. The trade-off either way is that one side will face in and one will face out. By default I attach them so the pattern shows on the outside; if you prefer the pattern on the pocket interior, just flip the orientation when you glue the panels together.
Finding centre without extra creases. I use a ruler to mark the exact centre of each panel before folding the sides in — you can also bring two adjacent corners together to find it, but don't crease them down. Unnecessary creases in the paper show later, and I find a pencil mark cleaner.
The structure works just as well as a gift (it genuinely impresses people who haven't seen one before) as it does as a personal carry organiser or a junk journal base. Adding signatures turns it into something you can actually write in; keeping it signature-free keeps it light and portable. It's one of those formats you'll find yourself coming back to in different sizes for different purposes.
