Have you noticed that the spiral bindings on the sketchbooks can get stuck together, and it doesn't take much for the binding to start coming apart? Your back cover comes off, then you start losing pages, and it's all sadness from there.
Follow these steps to cover the binding on your sketchbook and keep it alive for a long time!
You will need:
- Duct Tape
- Scissors
- Your sketchbook
- A strip of cheap construction paper the same height as you sketchbook, and wide enough to wrap around the binding with some overlap onto the covers (for a Canson XL it's about 3.5" wide)
You can add the duct tape to your paper with the sticky side face up or face down.
There should be at least 1/4" of tape sticking out past the edge of the construction paper.
Cover the one side of entire strip of paper with tape (don't leave any exposed paper on the taped side)
Trim the excess tape off the top and bottom so there are no ragged edges.
When you stick the binding cover onto your sketchbook, leave the sketchbook CLOSED so that you don't make it too tight. Make sure the tape is ONLY sticking to the front and back covers of your book. You don't want any tape to touch the metal spirals.
If your spirals are very loose, you can use curling ribbon to tie them together:
For the Canson XL books, this works best inside the back cover.
Stitch up the Spiral Binding:
1. Cut a length of ribbon about 2x the height of your sketchbook.
2. Pull the ribbon through a small bend in the spiral, tie a knot
3. Pull the ribbon across the gap and through a large bend in the spiral
4. Pull the ribbon back over to the small bend side and through the next small bend
5. Repeat until you reach the end, then tie a knot.
 |
| Thread the ribbon through the small bend |
 |
| Tie a knot at the top (working end of ribbon is down) |
 |
| Continue looping the ribbon through the bends of the wire |
 |
| Continue until you finish, make sure there is no slack. |
I have a small number of yarn needles that you can use to make this process go faster, but for the love of all that is holy, please don't lose or misplace them!
See how fast I can go when using a needle:
Have fun! And enjoy having a sketchbook that lasts for many years!
