Make a mini map concertina

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Finished series

Make a mini map concertina…or a whole series! This quick, effective project will get you travelling through the pages of a zig-zag book in no time.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: You'll need

You’ll need:

  • Old maps, preferably double sided. Check the grain direction of your map paper – watch this for a reminder. You want the strips to be short grain.
  • Scissors

Step by step:

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: First fold into eight

Fold each strip into a zig zag, by folding in half, and in half again, until you have eight pages.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Keep going with all the strips

I’ve used one page from an atlas – the paper was short grain – divided into four strips.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Finished strips

Here are all four strips folded into eight.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: First pop-up cuts

On each of the folds, cut two parallel lines, from the crease to the centre of the page, like this. Be sure not to cut more than half way across the page!

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Crease forward and back

Then, at the end of those two cuts (at the centre of the page) make a fold, like this. Bring it to the front and crease it, and fold it round the back and crease it again.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Reverse fold

Now, when you open out the page, push the centre part so that it pops through to the other side of the concertina.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Reverse fold from above

Keep going until the fold has completely reversed! Hopefully it will magically fold flat now. Super clever.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Continue on each crease

On the next fold, experiment with cutting the lines closer together (…though never going over half way across the page.)

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Close up

Crease back and forth, then reverse the fold, as before.

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina:3D landscapes

Creating three-dimensional landscapes within the map!

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Experiment with scale

Go wide!

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Try different sizes

Go narrow!

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Bird's eye view

Such interesting shapes, and endless combinations!

The Travelling Bookbinder: Make a mini concertina: Finished series

Create a whole series and admire how they interplay.

You could add words to the pop out parts, or just revel in the shadows and silhouettes.

If you’d like to use more maps and craft new landscapes then sign up for MapLove – class begins on 3rd March!

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