0:00 - intro 1:40 - bookcloth making methods 3:45 - once & done method 13:35 - outro

11:06 As a garment seamstress and former fabric store employee, I must share with you.... When instructed to "PRESS" that is different from "ironing"... Hold the iron in on position when pressing, lift the iron, move it to the next location and "PRESS" for designated time, lift and repeat. When ironing, you move the iron across the fabric spreading the heat. When joining iron-on interfacing to fabric, you risk stretching the fabric on the cross-grain when "ironing" rather than pressing. I hope this helps everyone who doesn't have the same experience I have with iron-on interfacing.

Dear Nik, I have been wanting to comment on your posts a billion times BUT then I just click on your next video and “SSSWWIIIIIISSSHHHHH” I am sucked down your rabbit hole of INCREDIBLE BOOKBINDING!!! But today, I FINALLY had a little bit of self-control, LOL! I have thoroughly ENJOYED EVERY SINGLE POST YOU HAVE MADE! You are crazy talented and your tutorials are always so well done!!! I wanted to make sure to tell you HOW MUCH I have learned from you and what a wonderful teacher/craft maker you are!!! I absolutely adore your skills and your support as a “teacher”. Thank YOU SO MUCH for taking the time out of your life to help all of us learning to do bookbinding. I PERSONALLY am so grateful to you Nik🌻 Again, my sincere appreciation and thankfulness. With enduring THANKS, Tammy🌻

I’m fifteen and trying to start bookbinding for the summer - your channel is practically heaven sent! Thank you!!

To easy your mind a bit… the original saying is "There's more than one way to skin a CATFISH". Somewhere along the line people just got lazy and dropped the 'FISH'… not sure why, they just did. Thanks so much for this video. I have been wondering all along as to why not just use the fusible interfacing. So glad you answered that for me! Thanks, thanks, thanks!

The original was "more than one way to skin a cat[fish]". No meows were harmed in the making of that saying. As always, your vids are super informational and I love learning this stuff.

There's more than one way to filet a fish :)

There’s more than one way to load a dishwasher, for an almost equally controversial phrase (though for a different reason)! 😋 Thanks for the great shortcut method!

Very Interesting. My daughter (17) has discovered hnd sewn book binding. I'm going to send this to her for reference. Thank you for a great Video.

When in doubt, one should just come to your channel first, instead of watching a bunch of other videos that show people gluing right to the book. Or no one explains what brand they're using, and I was trying to figure out why they were removing the backing paper and then ironing on tissue paper again. JoAnn's carries this sheerweight, so off I go to buy some to use with a pretty batik fabric I bought. Thanks Nik for clear and concise information!

I made some rice paste (can’t eat wheat), and I am going to make my book covers today. Your method looks SO MUCH EASIER and definitely FASTER than the wheat/Rice paste way. I am going to use the rice paste first (since it took a lot of work and time), but I can’t wait to do it your way!!! I betcha I never do the rice/wheat paste way again!! Thanks so much for this tutorial! I always learn so much from you and sure appreciate you taking the time to teach us! ❤️

I always use "There's more than one way to build a box". 🥰

Thanks for this quick alternative. I always enjoy your tips and creativity.

I always though bookcloth was only used on the spine. Thanks for opening up my eyes.

Thank you for this video. I HATE when making a journal with fabric that the glue comes through. I never thought of doing this. :) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Oh my gosh . I have seen all the other methods. I had iron on interfacing from my sewing. I used it and it worked fine. I am glad to see you do this. I was worried I was doing something wrong.

Brilliant!!! I sew & I NEVER THOUGHT of this!!!!

Could you do a part 2 of adhering this to a book?

Thank you Nik, hope you are well. Love the fabric you used in the video.🌷

I discovered a middle ground method: clear gesso. It makes pretty decent book cloth for thin cottons. I haven't tried it on anything thicker, but if it works for the cotton...🤷🏽‍♀️

Thanks! I learn something every time I watch your videos!

I so much enjoy your videos and am a beginning journal maker. I have learned do much from you. I'm always game for the "once and done" method. the easiest way. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

Thanks so much, Nik. Your one and done method really rocks! So much easier than and less time consuming than the other methods, all of which I have used in the past! You are a wonderful teacher!

You ready are a great teacher! Thank you!

Oh my gosh thank you soooo much. I’m a visual artist looking to create my own custom book of work. Your videos have been so helpful and entertaining!

You are so fun! I love your videos. Also I'm a one and done person also so I'm excited to try this method. I'm a watercolorist and I'm making watercolor journals to take on vacation. Thanks for all the information in your videos. 😊

Thank you for sharing! I really enjoy your videos!

Love what you do Nik thank you for sharing your amazing knowledge so helpful

Thanks for the tips! I've been wanting to use some vintage ladies handkerchiefs from my collection in my journals but knew glue would come through the fabric. Even though I have been sewing for years and purchased interfacing for clothing, I never thought about using it in bookmaking.

As always, a great instructional - thank you!! ❤️

I watched this video a week ago used heat n bond lit sewable and it works the same until I got more ! Thank you!! I’ve been obsessed with making bookcloth from the fabric I’ve hoarded

Great vid, really clearly explained. Just what I needed.

Thanks a lot! Heat and bond is not easily accessible here in my country but pelon is everywhere! And it costs only $0.3 per yard😊

Thank you for this very informative. I like this way. I have used in the past, used normal fabric with double sided heat n bound, iron it all straight on to the book board. I iron straight on with no problems. I made a book this way 8 years a go and thank goodness it's still OK I was worried. I only do it with cotton fabric that feels thick enough but not to weighty. Silk is nice also. I just like can do it all in one go.😃

Thank you for explaining book cover fabrics!! I always wondered where you got them and stuff like that!!

Thank you for sharing your way. It looks easy I will definitely try it

Great, helpful info, Nik! TFS the inspiration!

Thanks for this! This is perfect for newbie me.

Thanks, Nik. 'Once and Done" is for me! I do like the fact that you talked about other ways to do it, though.

Love this! Thank you for posting

Thanks for the tip. I’m all for easy!

Thank you so much! Heat n bond doesn’t exist in my country, so I was wondering if interfacing will work, and I’m glad to see it does! I will look for a similar interfacing to the Pellon sheer weight.

So easy. I’m planning to try this soon!

I’m so happy to see this. Some time ago I watched a ton of videos on making bookcloth and thought it all looked too much hassle! I actually decided to try iron on interfacing and it worked fairly well… although mine was quite thick stuff. Seeing you use the same method gives me confidence to try it again, but with lighter interfacing! Thanks Nik!

Great information Nik. Thank you!

Oh neat - I've done the fusable adhesive method and I was thinking the last time I went to replace the last of my adhesive that there's no reason fusable interfacing wouldn't also work. Cool to see it actually in practice :D

Thank you for explaining this! I'm going to give this a try.

Can't wait to try this - thanks so much for the information!!!

I've been bookbinding for a couple of years using pre-purchased book cloth - A friend is a poet and has asked me to bind up some of his poetry. He was in Bali and I had him buy some gorgeous linen, so I'm really excited to use this method! I can't use wheat paste... I have celiac - can't work with wheat. :/ - this method looks brilliant! Thank you so much!

Thank you for this video Nik, really good info

Omg this is thrilling! I am brand new to bookbinding but I quilt and sew and think interfacing is fabulous. I feel like it might be more lasting than tissue paper? I'm excited to try this!!

This is AWESOME ! I have been wanting to make some book cloth.. THANKS !

Sooo intuitive!! Thanks!!

Thank You for another great video. I have a few rolls of 'official' bookcloth where the cloth and backing are seperating I think this will be a great way I can use the up. The cloth is so thin that any glue makes ugly marks. Loving wishes Aya

It’s so funny that I came across this because I have started using hear n bond on some of my fabrics that I use in my journals. I was wondering if I could use it to cover my journals. I had even thought about the interfacing and I’m so happy to know that I can do it and it will be a great way to cut down on the glue seeping thru.

Good afternoon Nik wow thanks for the amazing tips! I am going to do this. Hope you are well, take care 🌹❤️

Great video, TFS!

I love this method too, thanks for sharing. I’ve only done it one time and it’s perfect. Do you have a video on making the book with the that fabric? I would love to see how you do it and specially your corners, I want to get them nice and flat! Thanks

'Corners and edges on point', the bane of my existence!!! I was using heat and bond, you my girl are full of brilliant ideas! 😊💕

Explained well, thank you!

exceptional video Nik the Booksmith. I broke that thumbs up on your video. Always keep up the high quality work.

Thank you for this!

When I started bookbinding I had a bunch of chipboard and cardboard left over from other projects and figured I'd just use what I had. What I had was only about 30lb. So the ultra heat-n-bond making the fabric thicker/stiffer worked out in my favor. I liked the resultant weight, and didn't have too bad of a time with the corners. I do now use the lightweight heat-n-bond when I'm using actual bookboard. As much as I love special occasion fabrics I have yet to try covering a book in one, but maybe I'll try a small book and see if it works...

Thanks Nik, you made it very clear, I will give it a try 👍

I ironed the head n bond onto the the fabric then just ironed it right to my book cover. Worked fine though you do have to iron it for a while to get it to stay. Be sure to keep the iron moving to avoid burns

Great tutorial and wonderful idea. TFS 🤗🐞🥰

Thank You SO much for sharing all of your knowledge & tricks. I appreciate it ever so much. That way we don't have to waste money and time learning the hard way. Much appreciation from a new subscriber

Thanks for sharing! Wheat past like you say know one has time for that🤣🤣🤣will have to put on my todo list 😉

I use wheat paste I don't find it messy though. One great backing is room darkening cloth. Even when used by itself. Great video. Thank you for sharing

Your right about interfacing- what a mess I went through to sew on some interfacing - broke so many needles..thanks for telling me about sheer weight by Pelion…

I never thought to add fusible interfacing to strengthen the fabric so the glue won’t bleed through. Thank you! There’s more than one way to akin an onion! lol.

I've used the heat'n'bond + tissue paper method. This looks good, will try. I have a feeling I'll like this better.

Thanks, these are great tips to know.

Morning. This is awesome thank you. 💜

Great information. Thanks for sharing

Wow I was just getting ready to make journal. My Sister made me some beautiful cotton cloth with colors she put in. I never knew about anything like this (late in life to crafting lol). Im so glad I saw this before I tried to glue that cloth on the book, I probably would have ruined it

Brilliant, thank you

I will try this method. I have been quilting fabric, and I use the term loosely, to muslin.

Thanks Nik 😄

Awesome video! I have some thicker fabrics I want to try this method with. 🥰

Thank you so much for sharing 🙏🏼😘

I saw that you use a Rowenta iron. Smart woman. Those are the best for us people that like to wear ironed shirts and pants. Thanks for all the education.

Tfs very helpful informative

Thank you so much for sharing :) enjoyed this video and will have to give it a try :) TFS :) :)

Oooh this is fun!

Thank you for sharing 👍💗

Thank you!!!!

More ways to peel an onion? Great demo, thanks. I've been thinking about making book cloth but have been intimidated about mixing fabric and paste. Why did I never think of fusable interface before?

I like how you explain everything nicely but you’re also extremely chaotic haha

Very nice👏👏

You could say there's more than one way to tie a knot? There are quite a lot of knots out there for it to express a bit of vastness

No,no i confessed 😁 I never never never test before ! Anything ! 🙃 ! Thanks for this method ! Nice day 💜

Thank you for such detail in your instruction. Could I use woven iron on interfacing?

Hi from Aussie Subbie 👋 Im making a white fabric cover for a journal, this will be a great way to ensure my glue doesn't show through, TFS! xx Kelley

I've only used this technique once (so far) and it took way more than 10 sec per area to get the interface to stick to my (light) scarf, but my instructions didn't say to put a damp fabric between the iron and the interface. I'll try that next time! (otherwise, it worked well)

I have done a couple of journals and I run into issues with covering the front back, and spine covers. I don't seem to be able to accurately cut material. I want to give this a try. Thanks Nik!

I was wondering, if as a bookbinder you have ever considered experimenting with the thermal plasticity (reactivation of adhesiveness by heat) of PVA adhesives? As a now retired custom furniture maker, I often had to work with numerous exotic wood veneers to meet various client requests. The ‘traditional’ method was to use hot hide glue with a brass edged veneer ‘hammer’, which is messy, time consuming and sometimes the results are quite unpredictable. In the late 1990s I learned a technique employed by furniture maker Frank Pollaro (arguably now the highest paid furniture maker in the world). It involved very lightly dampening the face of the veneer, taping it to the workbench with gummed paper veneer tape and applying one or two even coats of high quality PVA to the underside of the veneer. This was then allowed to dry. The veneer could then be positioned on the substrate, and working from the centre outward to the edges, it was simply ironed down slowly using a household iron set to cotton/ linen. I used this technique on dozens of different species of wood, including highly figured and irregularly grained, book matched veneers. I never had any problems either with a variety of finishes I used regularly, or had any veneer lift off (after almost two decades now). I have experimented with this technique since 2014 for backing my own book cloth with Kozo or other Japanese rice papers on a variety of cotton and linen fabric weights. I apply the PVA to the backing paper, which I tape to a scrap board of MDF. I have used both a brush and a roller for even glue application centre to edges. I use a thin second coat of PVA only on heavier or textured fabrics. I haven’t had any instances of bleed through into the outer surface of fabric thus far. It seems to me this is exactly the same as using an iron-on interfacing to back cloth for covers. Incidentally, the fabric on the first book cover I made with this technique is still completely secure. I would be curious to hear your comments.

Very interesting Nik, so useful to know. If my brain stops slipping a cog, there are other ideas in there somewhere... How about next time you could 'scan a kit' ... Thanks for sharing some great info though.

Hi Nik! I really agree with you about the cat saying. It's not good at all. I will have to think about alternatives. I'm sure other people have said this to you before, but you do sound just like Julia Roberts. Lol Thank you for the tips. 🙏❤️

Hi Nik, Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, we all appreciate it. One of the iron on backings is a diamond pattern of glue and it shows though lighter weight fabrics. Not a good look! As a alternative many ways what about bake a cake? Or does that open a can of worms? There another -------- There's more than one way to open a can of worms! Thats for me! But somewhere there'll be a Humane Society for the Protection of Worms. lol xxx keep safe xx