If you've ever wanted to try a dark, goth-inspired junk journal but weren't sure where to start — or, like me, weren't sure it was even your thing — this tutorial covers the whole process from cover construction to flip-through, with everything in between. I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed making this one. It turned into one of the chunkiest, most layered journals I've ever made, and watching it come together changed my mind about the whole idea entirely.
What we cover
This is a start-to-finish build of a chunky, dark-themed junk journal — Halloween-adjacent, though I'd call it more goth-grunge than strictly Halloween. We cover building a fabric-covered cover from an old hardback book, constructing four signatures with hinging, pocket pages, and decorative sewing, binding with bakers twine using a pamphlet stitch, and then an extended embellishing stage that fills the journal with pockets, tags, ephemera, a writing board, and a custom closure. There's also a proper flip-through at the end so you can see every element in its finished context.
What you'll learn
How to build a journal cover from a salvaged hardback, including:
- Removing the original spine and replacing it with a custom cardstock spine cut to the width you want (I went with a 2-inch spine to accommodate a chunky build)
- Positioning fabric panels using a combination of glue stick for placement and fabric glue for bonding
- A corner-wrapping method I'd never tried before — wrapping one side over the other rather than mitering — which gives surprisingly clean, neat corners without cutting
How to leave the right gap between cover panels and spine — the front cover panel needs space to hinge properly into that gap, so moving the panel slightly away from the spine before gluing saves you trouble later.
How to create hinging pages for signatures that are wider than your paper stock, including:
- Folding a single page off-center to create a long and short section, then leaving one short for visual variety
- Overlapping two pages and stitching top and bottom on the sewing machine to simultaneously extend the page width and create two pockets
- Joining two pages side by side with masking tape or washi tape in the middle, which keeps text pages oriented correctly when book pages or catalog pages are involved
How to make a binding template and space four signatures evenly across a spine — I show how to divide the spine width into equal increments, mark corresponding holes on a paper template, and use it consistently across all four signatures so everything lines up.
How to bind signatures with bakers twine using a pamphlet stitch, one signature at a time, working through the cover — including threading thick bakers twine, keeping tension even, and finishing each signature with a bow at the spine.
Why I poke holes and bind one signature at a time rather than piercing all signatures first — it keeps the alignment honest and reduces the chance of things shifting between poking and sewing.
How to decoupage napkins onto file folder and book pages to create richly textured journaling surfaces — a technique I've covered in depth in a dedicated video, but used here to create several pages and tags for this journal.
How to make a writing board for a chunky junk journal, including:
- Sizing it to match the tallest page in the journal so it disappears when the journal is closed
- Laminating the board and making it double-sided and interchangeable, so you can flip it depending on which decorative side you prefer
- Using a leftover strip of lace in the laminating pouch rather than wasting that section of the pouch
How to create a custom journal closure from a salvaged necklace, adding beads and using bulldog clips on front and back so the closure can be partially or fully removed.
A range of page elements and embellishments, including:
- Pockets made from fabric glued to book pages and sewn on three sides, incorporating black lace trim
- Coffin-shaped pen holder pockets (a technique from an earlier video)
- Acetate pages folded and sewn around a sticker to create a translucent, layered element
- Paper ruffles, fibers, and beads sewn and attached to page edges before binding
- A laminated lace pen loop, stapled directly to a page
- Mini booklets made from orange circles sewn at the spine and from scrap paper offcuts
- Ephemera pieces built up from happy mail components — folded to create tuck spots, pockets, and layered journaling surfaces
Tips & gotchas
Leave real space between the cover panels and the spine. The front cover needs to drop into that gap to open properly — if you glue the panel too close to the spine, the cover won't sit right. Move it slightly further away than feels natural before committing.
Double-sided tape is fine where it's going to be hidden under layers, but I avoid it anywhere it might eventually contact paper directly — it has a tendency to seep through over time. Under wrapped fabric edges is exactly the right place for it.
Iron your fabric before gluing. I didn't on this one and spent time smoothing everything down by hand afterward. A quick iron first makes the whole process easier and gives you a cleaner result.
Attach brads, beads, and any hardware before you bind. Once the signatures are in and the journal is assembled, you can't get back in with a sewing machine or easily maneuver around the pages. Sew pockets, attach ruffles, add beads to binding holes — all of it happens before the book comes together.
Laminating delicate or thin materials can go wrong — and that's okay. When I put a single ply of napkin through the laminator it wrinkled badly. I ran it through a few more times, it stayed wrinkled, and then I decided to go with it. Sometimes the machine makes the decision for you and the result is better than what you planned.
When working through your page embellishment stage, do all your sewing and stitching before assembling signatures for binding. Once everything is bound, you've lost your access to the machine. Think of it as two phases: building pages, then building the book.
A writing board changes how usable a chunky journal is. A journal this full is genuinely difficult to write in without something firm underneath — the pages bow over all the layers below and nothing sits flat. A writing board the size of your largest page solves this entirely.
What I found making this is that the dark, grungy palette is actually very freeing: the whole aesthetic invites you to use things you'd normally set aside, back everything with a journaling spot, and just keep going. If you've been curious about working outside your usual colour range or theme, this kind of journal turns out to be a genuinely good place to experiment.
