Make a fold up pocket book!

Here’s a versatile little structure for storing all the precious notions you want to remember of these strange times – make a fold up pocket book from a single sheet of paper.

This creative quarantine project has been created for Iona Primary School. It is designed using the minimum of materials, things you have to hand. I hope you’ll expand and develop what is a simple yet elegant form.

You will need:

• A sheet of A4 copy paper for practice (US letter paper)
• A sheet of A4 heavy cartridge or watercolour paper for the real thing
• A needle and thread OR washi tape
• A bone folder
• A selection of papers for the contents
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil

Begin by folding the sheet in half width-ways, and opening it out again. If you want to practice the folds, then try with a sheet of copy paper until you’re happy.

Then fold the sheet in half length-ways, and open out.

Fold the short ends in to meet the centre crease. Your page is neatly divided into eight!

Measure three centimetres (one and a quarter inch) in from the long side.

And fold the long side in.

Repeat on the other side, so you have two fold-ins, three centimetres deep, on either side – these are your pockets.

Get ready to cut! Snip along the centre crease to this point.

Mmm…looks a bit like a pair of trousers….

Now begin folding. I want my pockets to be on the inside, so I’ve started by folding this way, pockets in.

Keep folding forwards and backwards, right up to the top.

Then bend around the corner…

…and keep folding, forwards and backwards, right down the other side.

You’ll end up with this concertina, that has a curious fold in the middle. Don’t be alarmed, this is exactly right.

Now you can either seal up the pocket ends with a strip of washi tape, or use a needle and thread to secure each one with a single stitch.

Make a hole near the top of the pocket. Take your needle and thread through the hole.

Tie a double knot on the outside edge, and trim the ends.

Secure all the pockets in the same way.

Now your fold up pocket book is ready to fill. Which bits of ephemera will you use?

Here are some ideas for the content of each pocket:

• Write a miniature postcard to your future self. Design the stamp and the picture. And don’t forget to include your address.
• Make a tiny concertina book with a very long sentence inside.
• Write a wish and fold it up very small.
• Put together a recipe, with ingredients…not necessarily to eat ie. A recipe for a perfect day.
• A list of things to do. Things you want to do. Today, or one day…
• An envelope containing homemade confetti for emergencies.
• A paper-cut string of people. Using a strip of thin paper folded into a concertina, draw the shape of a person whose hands and feet go right to the edge of the fold. Carefully cut through the whole thickness and unfold the string of people holding hands.
• Thank yous. Think of three good things about this time and make a note of them.

Finally, decide on the title of your book, and write, print or paint it on the front cover. Then put together some ‘blurb’ (what your book is about) for the back cover and you’re done – another artist’s book complete. Congratulations!

Photograph your Fold Up Pocket Book and share some images – we’d love to see what you’ve made – please tag #FoldUpPocketBook and post your pics at @PaperHazell on Instagram and PaperLove on Facebook.

A larger version of this structure can be found in Bound:15 Beautiful Bookbinding Projects by Rachel Hazell.

Have a good week!