craftgrrl | Turning a hardcover novel into a sktechbook

[Materials used:
a hardcover novel
blank paper (I used computer paper cut to the size I needed)
an exacto knife
a pencil
a plastic ruler
dental floss or book binding thread
silicone glue
strong thick ribbon
a hammer
a nail
a bulldog clip

First, find yourself a hardcover book that you want to turn into a sketchbook. You want something cheap, in decent condition and something you aren't going to be upset about ripping apart (althought it is possible to still be able to read the novel if you take it out carefully). I got this version of Treasure Island at a thrift store for a dollar.

Using the exacto knife, carefully cut the pages of the book out at the front and back. Be very careful to not cut throught the bookcover. It is really easy to go through the spine of the book because it isn't as strong as the front and back cover section. You will be left with the cover to the book and the pages of the novel. I was also able to take of the paper glued to the front and back cover but this won't always come off easily. You are going to cover that part up anyways, so it's not a big deal if the paper won't come off.

If you need to cut your blank paper to fit into the book do so. Just measure a page from the novel and double the width of the page. I decided I wanted to have 100 pages in my sketchbook, so I cut 50 pieces of computer paper. Once you have this done, use your plastic ruler to fold each of the pieces of paper exaclty in half. Unfold all the paper and pile it neatly.

Using your pencil, mark off six evenly spaced out dots along the fold line of the piece of paper onto of your pile. I used a bulldog clip to keep the paper together in the pile. Using a nail and a hammer, carefully hammer the nail into each of the dots, making sure to go through all of the paper in the pile. You may have to do this in two groups. It is very important that every sheet of paper has the same puncture marks.

Fold each piece of paper back again. I then divided the folds into groups of five, placing the folds into eachother. Meaning I had ten groups of folded paper, each containing 5 full sheets of paper which works out into 10 book pages. Then using the dental floss I bound the fold groups together using the coptic stitch style.

Some tutorials on the coptic stitch can be found here:
one
two
three

Using the silicone glue, glue a piece of ribbon along the spine of the book pages you just bound together. The silicone glue takes a little while to set so you will probably have to take a little break from it. The glue also has a really strong smell, so use it in a ventilated area. You can trim off the excess ribbon, or fold it over and glue it to get a more neat finish on it.

Once the ribbon has set, you can start glueing the front and back page of the black pages to the from and back inside cover of the book. Do not glue the spine of the book pages to the spine of the cover. This is very important. Spread the silcone glue on the front of the pages, then place it properly on the inside cover of the book. Once the glue has set, do the same for the back piece of paper.

At this point in time, I opened the newly glued together book to the center and placed some heavy books on it and left it over night to set. This will make sure the book will be able to lie flat when you use it, and gives the glue time to set permanently.

And that's it! Once the glue has set, you are free to enjoy your new sketchbook! Here's the pictures of my finished project. The book, and the inside.