This is the documentation of the first technique that I tried to make book cloth.
Materials:
box cutter/Stanley knife
cutting mat
glass surface
steel ruler
acid-free PVA
sharp pencil
brush
sharp scissors
baking paper
iron
Japanese paper (the thin one)
Fabric (I used my old jeans)
First, I started by cutting off my old jeans.
After that, I matched them together. I made sure there is enough fabric to cover the bookcase.
Then, I sewed them together by sewing machine.
I flatted the fabric with a hot iron. I placed it face down on a cutting mat (or glass surface) and damped it a bit with a spray of water.
I cut the Japanese paper (as a backing paper) into smaller pieces about A4 (this helped me to manage it better)
I put the Glue down on the paper (from the centre to the corners). At this stage, I was careful not to use very much glue.
I laid the glued paper on the back of the fabric. I used my hand to press it gently.
I covered all parts of the fabric with paper, I put baking paper on top and tried to press it gently. I made sure they attach well. (I let it dry completely)
I used a Stanley knife to remove the book cloth from the cutting mat. Finally, I trimmed the edges with scissors.
Tip: I realised the access paper around the fabric that I glued down on the cutting mat was so useful to keep the book cloth flat during the drying time. So, from then I consider 5-centimetre access paper on each side to have better results.
Cleaning:
I cleaned the remaining paper on the cutting board (or glass board). I was spraying water over it and the papers peeled off easily.
What may wrong:
I started to make more complicated pieces. I followed the same instruction but this time I used glue on the corner of each junction.
It was too much glue used by me. So, glue was seeping through the weave of fabric on the front side and ruining the cover.
I put the ruin book cloth into the bathtub filled with water. I waited for the glue to dissolve in water, then I easily separated the paper from the fabric.
I let the paper be dry and I washed the fabric in the washing machine, and I let it dry.
I started over but this time I used double-sided fabric tape to attach the corners. I tried to make it as flat as possible. Then I followed the usual procedure.
This time it turns out good. Hooray
Here is the video that I used to learn how to make my first book cloth.