Bookfolding Crafts

I’ve recently been introduced to book folding, and guys – I’m addicted! These crafts are surprisingly easy once you’ve got the method down, but they end up looking so sharp and professionally done.

There are a lot of different methods for book folding, such as MMF (measure mark fold), MCF (measure cut fold), 180 fold, every other page folding, diagonal folding, half folding, and combinations of these. If you’re just starting out, like me, it’s best to start with the MMF method. Both of the projects I’ve completed and have pictured in this post were done using this method, and it’s so easy. Not only that, it’s actually really relaxing/meditative to do!

To complete book folding, you will need a pattern. You can buy these on sites such as Amazon, Etsy, etc. The two patterns that I used (a heart and “Home” with a heart) were found in the bookfolding tutorial book “Bookfolding for Beginners and Beyond” by Beth Oldrich. This is a great book to get anyone started. The only critique I have is that it doesn’t mention how to angle your folds (or how far in each fold should go towards the spine of the book). After realizing I couldn’t figure this out, I called the one who introduced me to this craft and asked, and she steered me right by saying that the folds should be created at a 45 degree angle, so that the length in towards the spine should be equivalent to the length down or up the page.

If this sounds confusing, don’t worry, once you get the hang of it, you’ll see that it’s so simple. I’m going to provide some general instruction here on how to do book folding with the MMF method, but to actually create something, you will need a pattern. As I mentioned above, you can find these in book tutorials, such as the one listed and linked above, or you can buy them individually on Amazon, Etsy, or other sites.

GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR BOOKFOLDING (MMF)

Materials:

• A pattern (Again, you can find patterns on Amazon, Etsy, or other crafting sites.)
• A book with enough pages to complete a given pattern (this is usually indicated on the pattern you are using)
• A pencil (I’ve found mechanical pencils work best)
• A ruler with both centimeter and millimeter units/markings
• Bone folder or a credit card to help make the folds clean and tight (I got my bone folder here)

General Instructions:

1. Determine your starting page. To do this, count the total number of sheets in the book (1 sheet is considered the front and back of a page). Subtract the number of sheets needed to complete the pattern. Divide this result by 2. This will be the sheet number you should start on. Note that this is not the page number in the book, but rather how many sheets you need to count in to start your marking.
2. Use the measurements indicated on your pattern to measure from the top of the page down, and make a mark at each measurement indicated. The first measurement will indicate the fold from the top, and the second measurement will indicate the fold from the bottom. However, both measurements should be taken from the top of the page. Make all the marks given in the pattern before starting your folding.
3. Use your marks to make your folds. As mentioned above, the top mark will indicate how far down the page to make your fold from the top, and the bottom mark will indicate how far up to make your second fold from the bottom of the page. Each of these folds should be made at as close to a 45 degree angle as possible.

That’s it! As you can see, the general procedure is really quite simple. It’s just a matter of getting used to reading the patterns and familiarizing yourself with the formula to find your starting page. After that, it’s just marking and folding.

Enjoy! 🙂