If you've ever found yourself mid-project wondering what paper weight to use for tea dyeing, or whether PVA glue will warp your pages, or exactly how many signatures to put in a journal — this video is a direct answer to all of that. I went through the questions that come up again and again in my comments and put them all in one place: making journals, selling them, binding them, sewing on them, and using them once they're finished.
What we cover
This is a Q&A-style video covering the most frequently asked questions on my channel — everything from paper and glue choices to sewing machine settings, bookbinding terminology, pricing on Etsy, and how I actually use my own junk journals day to day. No single project, just a long honest conversation about the things people get stuck on.
What you'll learn
What paper weight works for tea and coffee dyeing — I use standard 80 gsm copy paper, the cheapest I can find. It dyes beautifully. Paper doilies, envelopes, fabric, baking paper — I've dyed all of it, but for journal pages, plain copy paper is perfectly fine.
How to distress paper with an ink blending tool, including:
- Always start the blending tool off the paper and move onto it — starting directly on the page leaves circular marks you can't fix
- Work in circular motions with a very gentle hand; build pressure gradually
- Keep the tool at a slight angle rather than flat on the surface
- Makeup sponges do exactly the same job as a dedicated blending tool
- You can make your own ink blender from a cork wine stopper with felt glued to the end
How to make a DIY tearing ruler — I didn't want to wait to order one, so I made mine by dragging a plastic ruler along a rough metal edge, then a sharp rock, then a metal file. The key is that you want uneven depths and irregular spacing — some deep grooves, some shallow, some wider apart — so the tear looks natural rather than mechanically uniform.
What a signature is in bookbinding, and how to calculate pages — A signature is a group of sheets folded in half and nested together, bound as a unit. A single folded sheet is a folio. For counting journal pages, you count sides (like a printed book does), not physical sheets. One sheet folded gives you four sides. My formula: pages per signature × number of signatures × 4 = total page count.
How many pages per signature — There's no rule. My sweet spot is around 10 sheets per signature for standard copy paper. For thick cardstock, I'll drop to three. For an unembellished journal, I'll go up to 20. The thickness of your pages and how heavily you plan to embellish both affect what's realistic.
How to incorporate single pages into a journal using hinging, including:
- Overlapping two pages slightly, gluing, and folding in half to create a bindable unit
- Stitching two pages together with a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine
- Using washi tape or fabric to join pages side by side before folding
What thread and needles to use for binding, including:
- Waxed thread is my first choice — the wax helps it slide through paper cleanly and reduces drag
- Embroidery floss works, but the multiple strands mean you have to be careful not to split them on your needle
- Any thread works for small booklets; for larger journals, waxed thread is worth it
- You can wax your own thread by running embroidery floss or twine through a piece of beeswax a couple of times
How to choose a binding needle — You need a needle with an eye large enough for your thread, but not so large that it stretches the holes in your signatures. I use large-eyed needles from a two-dollar shop. Thin sewing needles are too fine for binding; very thick tapestry needles leave holes that are too wide.
What glues to use (and which to avoid), including:
- Acetone-based craft glue won't warp paper; water-based glues will
- PVA glue mixed two-thirds glue to one-third water makes an easily spreadable, runny solution — adjust to feel
- Glue sticks are fine as helpers (to hold something in place before sewing), but not as a primary adhesive in a journal you expect to last
- Double-sided tape seeps through paper over time; I avoid it in anything meant to be kept
Whether you need a sewing machine — For most projects, no. Glue handles the same job. The exceptions are plastic: cereal bag pouches and quilt-packaging pockets genuinely need a machine to hold together. If plastic isn't involved, there's almost always a glue-based workaround.
Sewing machine settings for paper, including:
- Stitch length between 2 and 3 mm — I usually sit around 2.5
- Never go down to 1 mm; perforations that close will tear right through the page
- Zigzag stitch at around 2–2.5 mm for close stitching; wider for decorative use
How to price journals on Etsy — I can't give you a number, but I can tell you that hourly rate is probably not the right frame. I ask myself: what would I pay for this? Value is personal, and the right buyer at the right price matters more than a formula. I also show exactly how to find what a sold listing went for on Etsy using View Page Source — it's not private unless the seller has chosen to make it so.
Why I don't use digital printables — I don't own a colour printer, and over the years it's become something of a principle. I find working without them pushes me to be more creative with books, scrapbook paper, and magazine images. No judgment on using them — several journals I love are full of them — but I prefer journals that leave room to actually write.
How I use my own junk journals — writing journal for processing thoughts, visual journal for memory-keeping and collage, a small desk journal for ongoing creative scraps. A "currently" list — what I was watching, reading, learning, loving — is one of my favourite ways to fill a page in a way that becomes genuinely interesting years later.
Tips & gotchas
Starting off the paper is the single most important ink-blending habit. If your blending tool touches the page before it's in motion, it deposits a concentrated circle of ink that you can't blend out. Bring it in from the side, already moving.
Water-based glues warp paper — full stop. If your pages are buckling, the glue is almost certainly the cause. Look for acetone-based adhesives for bonding; if you're using PVA (which is water-based), diluting it and spreading thinly helps, but it won't eliminate warping entirely on sensitive paper. For very fine materials like napkins or tissue paper, the glue needs to be genuinely runny — almost like water — so you're saturating rather than dragging across the surface.
Paper destroys sewing machine needles much faster than fabric does. The recommendation is to change after about eight hours of sewing; for paper, I'd halve that. In practice I change mine when stitches start skipping — but I've also gone a year without changing and sewn every day, so do as I say, not as I do. If you use the same machine for fabric and paper, mark one needle with a dab of nail polish so you always know which is which.
Clean your machine when you sew paper. Paper produces a surprising amount of fine dust, and it builds up in the bobbin housing and feed mechanism. I didn't clean mine for four years and then wondered why it was noisy and struggling — one proper clean and it sounded brand new. A quick brush-out every few days and a deeper clean now and then is all it takes.
Don't use double-sided tape in journals you intend to keep. It looks fine when you make it, but over months and years the adhesive seeps through the paper and leaves staining you can't remove. I've had it happen on my own work and on journals gifted to me. For anything archival, proper glue is worth the extra step.
Stitch length matters more than you'd think. Setting your machine to 1 mm on paper isn't making it more precise — it's perforating a tear line. Stay above 2 mm and you'll keep the page intact.
For binding awls, slender is better than thick. A thick awl stretches the hole it makes, which means your thread won't grip cleanly when you stitch through. A thumbtack or a needle mounted in a handle does the same job as a commercial awl — what matters is the diameter, not the brand.
That's when the interesting questions shift to what you're putting inside the book rather than how the book holds together. Most of the questions in this video came up because people were trying to make something and got stuck; my hope is that after this, fewer things stop you mid-project.
