About the Workshop
Learn how to make four basic book structures perfect for journals and zines with a needle and thread! Build your dream books from a selection of risograph printed pages and patterns!
In this workshop we will go over the basics of bookbinding, and learn four simple techniques perfect for binding your own zines and journals. We will explore a little history of bookbinding, introduce the tools, materials, and bookbinding vocabulary, and then sew some books! The four book structures we will learn are the 3-hole pamphlet, 5-hole pamphlet, Japanese stab binding, and the French link. By the end of this workshop you will have learned how to fold, sew, and bind both single and multi-signaure books. These skills are the foundation of all bookbinding, a beautiful, centuries old process that will enhance your creative practice. Learn to make your own books and journals just in time for the holidays!
Participants will walk away with four blank books, a bone folder, a bookbinding needle and thread, an awl, and four hole punching guides: everything you need to make simple books at home.
Supplies Needed
None! We provide all supplies.
Skill Level
All are welcome! No previous bookbinding experience necessary.
Workshop Fee & Ticketing
Your ticket includes the workshop, compensation for the instructor(s), 4 handbound books, an info zine about bookbinding methods, and a set of tools for future bookbinding!
Interested in supporting Outlet and everything we do? Please consider a supporter add-on with your ticket—there are different options and the extra funds go to our scholarship program so that we can continue to offer free and discounted workshop tickets to anyone who needs it. Our goal is to not turn anyone away for lack of funds and your support makes that possible. Add-ons also mean that we can pay our workshop instructors more! Thank you so much for your support.
Your ticket helps keep Outlet afloat. We can't thank you enough for supporting us!!
Accessibility & Mask Policies
We want our workshops to be as accessible as possible! Outlet is a ground-floor space with a single-stall ADA accessible bathroom. You can find more information about wheelchair access, parking, transit options, and more on our accessibility page. If there’s any way we can make your visit feel more comfortable or safe please let us know.
In an effort to keep our classes accessible and to keep our most vulnerable community members safe we require masks in our space for all group workshops and indoor events. We offer both masked and mask optional appointments during our open hours.
About Outlet
Outlet is a risograph print shop, community maker space, and the studio of Kate Bingaman-Burt and Leland Vaughan. We host workshops, pop-up events, and other projects and offer an array of services from printing, button making, binding, and more! We're the home of a zine library and more art supplies, making tools, and collage materials than we know what to do with. We also rent our space and offer in-person open hours where folks can print, make buttons, and hang out. Outlet is based out of Portland, Oregon and was founded in 2017.
About the Instructor
Miranda Field-Martin is a graphic designer, book artist, and risograph printmaker based in Portland, Oregon. She is extremely passionate about independent publishing and operates the one-woman micro-press Seltzer where she publishes her own work and the work of friends and collaborators. She loves experimenting with color and texture, and favors combining digital and analog processes in her practice. She binds all her zines by hand with a needle and thread. You can find her at Outlet’s open hours as a printing assistant, at various local zine fairs and markets, or @seltzerpress or on seltzerpress.com.