Saturday, April 15, 2017

Creating a paper bag book


 While I am normally getting ready to sleep around 6:00 am,  today I must be up and out the door early for my trip out of town to the Cosmosphere.  I will take photos, but I probably won't show them until after bEARTHday.  So I'll be late visiting and may not even make it around at all today.

Some of you may remember my friend Kathy gave me a bunch of paper bags she had marked and punched holes in.  I planned to create that book.  If not, I would more than likely have sent these bags to the recycle center.

The first thing I did was paint one bag green so it would be different.  It is the inner most bag.  Other materials include my "needle," which is a dental flosser, and waxed thread.

Then I cut about five times longer than I would need and tried to insert the waxed thread into the first hole.

That didn't work.  I had to retrieve my awl and make the holes larger.

Note any time you see the brown paper, you are looking at the outside.

The green side is the inside.

Now I spent hours and hours, not just creating this pamphlet stitch, I also spent hours photographing it.  In the end, I think you can see how it's made, but the image I found on the internet at the end of the post is far better than my photos.

This convoluted demonstration boils down to: in one hole, out the next, back in the first hole, out the next.

I stopped trying to describe everything as soon as I found the diagram at the bottom of this post.



























I left long tails at both ends, because I planned to add beads and charms.

Here is a diagram I found on the internet: 

Maybe it will clarify what I did.  It looks a lot better than the way I photographed my pamphlet stitch.

I left the tails long because I wanted to add beads.
 
Unfortunately, many of the beads I chose because of their colors, had holes too small for the wax thread to fit into.

Right now I'm not sure where I'm going with this.  I hope when Kathy comes down later this month, she will give me pointers on how to finish it off.

Today is Day 15 of 22 and I recycled eight paper lunch bags and some beads into a paper bag book.  Thank you, as always for your continued support of my recycling efforts.  Hope to see you later today, but if not, tomorrow.

13 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

This looks like a lot of work, but I am sure it will be worth it in the end. You have a lot of patience. Have fun today, enjoy your day out! Hugs, Valerie

Helen said...

hope you figure out how to finish this. glad to see your blog bar is back working too! there'll be another trip for you to share later from Kew, but glad you enjoyed the ships)

My name is Erika. said...

I think something will come to you to finish up the book! Now me, it might sit there for a few months before that happened😀 Hope you have a great trip to the cosmodrome. I bet it will be a blast. And nice to see your friend and his kids too. Enjoy. And happy Easter too. Hugs Erika

froebelsternchen said...

A fantastic tutorial - it will come an idea for finishing it for sure! Always good to have the hard work done when the decoration idea stands!

Nancy said...

A good start- I'm sure the book will invent itself in time. I love using the floss threaders as a needle.

nanskidrewski said...

So cool. I want to try this! Great tutorial..So easy to follow! Have a fun day.

CJ Kennedy said...

Will be interested to see what you do with the book.

chrissie said...

Great idea to make the book from the bags and a great way to bind them together.

Enjoy your day and takes lots of photographs.

Love Chrissie xx

Jeanie said...

Your book looks great and I can't wait to see how it "ends." Thanks so much for the outstanding stitching instructions. I always get bogged down with those and never do it right. The diagram is terrific, too. Thanks!

Sandy said...

What a wonderful idea! I love using paper bags and used to make paper bag cards. I love this - thank you so much for sharing how to do this!!
sandy xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Wow! Love this - another great idea! I don't know how you manage it! Hugs, Chrisx

Meggymay said...

Another great project, this looks so much work, look forward to seeing what happens next.
Yvonne xx

Cindy McMath said...

Ooh I love this Elizabeth. I would now just treat it like any book / journal and treat each bag as a page. If you haven't cut the side of the bags, you can also tuck things into them. Your tutorial confirms the reason I've never hand stitched a book - way too much work! But great results all the same.