Make a flag book
Following on from my last post here is a tutorial on how to make the accordian flag book that I made to display my leaf prints. This is a simple basic shape to make a book that has loads of potential as you can make endless variations.
Scroll down for my YouTube video where you can watch me making the book.
An accordion or concertina book is a long piece of paper or card that has been folded in alternate directions. It can be joined to form a circle as in this version below. Your base card is decorated already or you can attach images to each page.
With an accordion flag book, the concertina part is made with much more narrow folds and you then attach individual pages to them.
In this example I was using pages 14cm square as this was just a bit smaller than the gel plate I used to make the prints. You can easily scale this up or down to suit.
Supplies needed:
Double sided prints 14cm x 14cm - bear in mind that the reverse will lose its inside margin as it’s glued into the book so choose appropriately
2 extra prints for the outside covers
2 x thicker card 14cm x 14cm plus paper for the front and back covers
Cartridge paper or thin card 14cm x 32cm for the accordion spine
Glue of your choice - PVA or Pritt stick work well
A synthetic brush
Paper creaser/burnisher or curved handled scissors
Paper knife and cutting mat
Scrap paper for when you’re glueing
Books for weighing down
Method
First prepare your covers. Cut the corners of the pieces of paper you’re using for the inside cover of and fold and glue over the card. Put on one side to dry.
Take your 14 x 32 piece. Fold in half and apply pressure to the crease. Fold each half back on itself, burnishing the folds as you go. Repeat this process until your piece has 7 ‘points’. This will make a 7 page book with flaps to attach the front and back covers.
Glue your pages to the second flap and each alternate one until you’ve attached them all. At this stage it’s a good idea to apply some weight as the glue dries. I use a couple of hard backed books.
To attach the covers, glue the ‘wrong’ side, making sure you go right to the edges, and attach to the inside of the first flap. Then place your front cover and smooth down. Repeat this process for the back .
Again weigh down your book for at least 10 minutes. Now you have your finished book!