Book Folding Peaks Valleys

instructables
BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS
by waydabbles
If you are new to Book Folding, I highly recommend image-searching "book folding" because you will be amazed
and inspired by what people are doing with book folding.
I wanted to try something di erent from what I've seen online, so I came up with a repeating pattern of Peaks and
Valleys. What's really cool about this pattern is that you can adjust for the number of pages in any book and you
can decide how many peaks and valleys you want.
At the end of the tutorial, I will show you a few photos of my other variations of this pattern.
So let's jump in and get folding...
Supplies:
Yo u o nly ne e d a f e w t o o ls a nd m a t e ria ls . . .
To o ls
Bone folder or Te on folder or ngernail or handle of a butter knife

Eraser
Pencil
Ruler
Template Pattern.
You can use Grid Paper to create a template
M a t e ria ls :
Hardbound book in good condition

Page holder:
Options include a Coat Hanger or a large elastic of some kind
Grid paper
O t he r:
BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 1

Audio entertainment
Flat Surface
Good Lighting
A Refreshing Beverage of your choosing. Stay hydrated.
Patience
Time
Step 1: Selecting a Book to Fold
Think of selecting the right book the way a sculptor might select the right marble. You are turning this raw material
into a work of art, so you want to select a hardcover book with clean pages and a spine that looks in good
condition.

Step 2: Count Foldable Pages/Leaves
Before we get to countin', I just want to di erentiate the di erence between pages and leaves. I think everyone
knows what a page is, it's what you see in a book as a number. A leaf is 2 pages. It is the piece of paper that has a
page number on the front and a page number on the back.
And the reason this is important is because when you are measuring where to make your folds throughout your
book, you are only making marks on one side of the leaf. Explaining it in words is more di cult for me than showing
you with photos. So I hope my photos tell a clear story.
1. The page width of this book is 5 3/4" I like to start the pattern about 1/2" to 1" out from the spine.
2. I thought 5" would be a nice even number to work with.
3. I made a pattern where each fold is 1/4" apart. So I ended up with 20 marks. So there are 20 folds in
the template separated by 1/4"
4. 1 section is folding from 1 through 20 and then 19 back to 1 (you don't fold the 20th mark twice on
the turn around), which creates a lovely symmetry.
5. So we have 39 folds in the section I folded 3 sections:
6. Section 1: 1 through 20 and then 19 back to 1 = 39 folds
9. For a grand total of 135 folds.
10. 135 folds = 135 leaves
11. 135 leaves = 270 pages.
12. To do this exact pattern, you'll need a book that has at least 270 pages.

Step 3: Mark the Leaves
We are going to mark the entire book before we fold, so it is crucial to nd a way that works for you to not double
up numbers or skip numbers. Here is what works for me:
1. Place the book in front of you as you would to read it.

2. On the 1st leaf, begin marking the numbers starting with number 1 at the top left.
3. Turn to the next leaf and mark number 2 and so on until you get to the 20th mark.
4. I write the number below every 5th or 10th mark.
5. Then I return to the beginning and mark from 1 to 20 on the bo t t o m of the book from right to left.
6. I write the number above every 5th or 10th mark.
7. As I'm writing the number, I can check if it matches the one I wrote above. This way I have checks and
balances to make sure I don't make any mistakes all through the marking process

Step 4: Make a Template
1. I used a 1/4" grid paper, so each mark was on the grid line.
2. Cut grid paper with a 1/4" extra on the left hand side and about 1 1/2" extra for the right:
3. 1/4" + 5" + 1 1/2" = 6 3/4"
4. On the top of the of the grid paper, number from left to right 1 through 20 on each vertical line.
5. At the 20 mark, you will fold this line under itself.
6. On the bottom of the grid template, mark every vertical line from right to left 1 through 20, with the
1 being on the same vertical line as the 20 above and the number 20 on the same vertical line as the
1 above.
The photo tells the story much better.
Step 5: Fold and Unfold Leaves

1. Line up your ruler to the marks on the top and bottom of the page.
2. Fold the leaf up 90 degrees to the edge of the ruler and run your ngernail along that line to crease
a crease
3. Remove the ruler and continue folding the leaf over at, running your ngers or bone folder along
the edge of the fold to smooth it down.
4. Take the folded tip of the page - the part that is overlapping the gully - and fold it back on itself, so
the new fold is away from the spine as far as possible without crossing the rst diagonal fold.
1. The idea is to avoid having excess paper at the gully of the pages, but not cross over
the original fold as it will interfere with the design.
5. Repeat the folding technique you did on the rst leaf on the second leaf
1. You should notice that there is a tiny little overlap of the leaf on the bottom edge. The
size of this overlap will increase until you get to the mid mark of the 20 marks. At that
point, the excess paper will be on the top of the book.
2. Push the overlapping piece of the leaf over the edge of the book, creating a crease.
3. Lift the leaf up and fold the piece under itself.
6. So once you get to the 20th mark on the top, you will then reverse the order and count down. So you
folded 1 to 20. Now you will fold from 19 back to 1.
7. Repeat this step for each pair of marks on the remaining pages.

Step 6: Erase Pencil Marks and Refold the Leaves
Why erase the pencil marks? The marks create a dark smudge right at the point of the fold and can be seen and
look dirty.
1. Turn the book a quarter turn to the right, so the front cover is across from you and the page is
sideways.
2. Put an elastic around the front cover.
3. Erase the marking.
4. Fold the pre-folded page
5. Slip the folded page under the elastic.
6. Repeat until all the leaves are folded
7. Remove elastic

Step 7: Add an Endpaper (optional)
I nd that adding a darker end page, helps the white or cream colored pages stand out.
1. Measure the height and width of the endpaper that is on the back and front of the book.
2. Cut a piece of cardstock slightly bigger than the endpaper that is on the book.
3. I would add 1/8" total to the height and 1/16" to the width
4. Put an elastic around the folded pages, including the back cover to hold it out of the way.
5. Apply glue to the back of the new endpaper. I prefer using a glue stick to white (pva) glue as it's less
messy.
6. On the front cover place the new endpaper over the original endpaper, making sure to cover it
entirely
7. Smooth down endpaper to get out any air bubbles
8. Place a few books or something heavy on the endpaper, being careful not to damage the folded
pages.
9. Let dry for a few hours
10. Repeat with the back cover.

Step 8: A Few More Experiments With Peaks & Valleys
It's always nice to nish a project. Maybe take some way.

photos and share with your friends.
Oh, one last thing. I was curious to see if a folded
I hope this tutorial inspires you to make this book book could be returned to a readable state and from
folding pattern of peaks and valleys or try something the experiments I have done, I can say that it is
of your own design. possible. In fact, I have folded a book with one
pattern and the unfolded it and tried a new one. I
These photos are some variations on the pattern. I would recommend pressing the unfolded book with
tried more sections with about the same amount of something super heavy.
folds per section. And then I tried making one
symmetrical section with a lot more folds. Okay, I guess that's about it. Oh, and please let me
know if you try this design or if you are already doing
And I left the paper sticking up on the top side, which some cool book folding projects.
I love the look of.
Cheers!
And that's the joy of exploring and experimenting. I
don't always go into a project knowing exactly how it's Wade (Waydabbles)
going to look or if I might alter something along the


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instructables

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS

So let's jump in and get folding...

Bone folder or Te on folder or ngernail or handle of a butter knife

Hardbound book in good condition

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 1

Step 1: Selecting a Book to Fold

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 2

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 3

1. Place the book in front of you as you would to read it.

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 4

The photo tells the story much better.

Step 5: Fold and Unfold Leaves

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 5

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 6

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 8

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 9

It's always nice to nish a project. Maybe take some way.

BOOK FOLDING PEAKS & VALLEYS: Page 11

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