A pocket is what turns a junk journal from a scrapbook into something you keep going back to. A page you can look at gets looked at once. A page that holds something gets opened.
Six folds below, with measurements, in rough order of difficulty. All of them work in any book.
1. The flat pocket
The workhorse. Ninety percent of the pockets in most journals are this one.
| Cut | 1 inch wider and about two-thirds the height of what it will hold. For 3x5 cards: cut 4.5 x 4 in. |
| Fold | 0.25 in along the bottom edge and both side edges |
| Glue | Those three flaps only. Top stays open. |
| Press | Under a book, 10 minutes |
Snip the two bottom corners of the flaps at 45 degrees before folding so they do not bunch. That one detail is the difference between a flat pocket and a lumpy one.
2. The corner pocket
Fastest of all, and the right one for photos and cards you want visible.
| Cut | A 3-inch square |
| Fold | Diagonally, corner to corner |
| Glue | The two outer edges to the page, in a page corner |
Four of these, one in each corner of a spread, hold a photograph without any adhesive touching the photograph. That is how you keep something you might want back.
3. The tuck strip
Not really a pocket, and the most-used thing in the book.
| Cut | Page width x 1.5 in |
| Glue | The bottom long edge only, a thin line |
Ten seconds to make. Holds tags, tickets, strips, anything flat. Put one along the bottom of a page you have not decided about yet and the page becomes useful immediately.
4. The gusseted pocket
For thick contents — a folded letter, a stack of photos, a small booklet.
| Cut | 4.5 x 4 in, plus 0.75 in extra on each side and along the bottom |
| Score | Score each margin twice, dividing the 0.75 in into three even 0.25 in strips |
| Fold | Accordion those margins — in, out, in. The middle strip becomes the depth. |
| Glue | Only the outermost 0.25 in strip to the page |
| Corners | Snip a small notch at each bottom corner so the side and bottom gussets do not fight |
Gives you a pocket about a quarter inch deep. It is the fiddliest fold here and the only one that holds real bulk.
5. The origami pocket
No glue at all. One square of paper, four folds, and it holds itself together.
- Start with a 6-inch square, patterned side down.
- Fold in half diagonally to make a triangle. Crease and open.
- Fold the left and right corners in to meet at the center, overlapping slightly.
- Fold the bottom point up about two-thirds and tuck it under the overlapping flaps.
- The top point is your flap. Fold it down to close.
Glue the back of the whole thing to the page, or leave it loose inside a bigger pocket as a removable envelope. A 6-inch square makes a pocket that takes a business card or a folded slip.
6. The full-page pocket
Turns an entire page into storage. Good at the very back of a book.
| Cut | Full page width x two-thirds page height |
| Fold | 0.25 in along the bottom and both sides |
| Glue | Three flaps, and reinforce the two bottom corners with a small triangle of paper on the outside |
| Optional | Divide it with a vertical glue line into two narrower pockets |
The corner reinforcements matter here. A full-page pocket carries more weight than any other, and it always fails at the bottom corners first.
Gluing a pocket so it never lifts
Four rules, and they apply to all six.
Thin glue, right to the edge. A thick bead squeezes out, and a gap at the very edge is where lifting starts. Spread it with a scrap of card.
Press for ten minutes minimum. Under an actual heavy book, not your hand. Overnight for anything with liquid glue.
Washi over the glue line. A strip along the visible edge hides any glue that shows and adds a second layer of hold. This is what washi is actually for.
Do not overfill. A pocket stuffed past its depth pulls its own seams open. If it needs more, use a gusseted one.
What paper to use
| Paper | Best for |
|---|---|
| Patterned scrapbook paper | Everything. The default. |
| Book pages | Flat and corner pockets. Too weak for full-page. |
| Brown paper bag | Strong, ages well, excellent for gussets |
| Envelope linings | Small pockets. Free, and they look expensive. |
| Vellum | Any of them — and you can see what is inside, which is the whole appeal |
| Cardstock | Full-page pockets only. Too stiff for small folds. |
Vellum is worth calling out. A translucent pocket shows a hint of what it holds, which makes a page inviting in a way an opaque one does not. Ready-made laminated vellum pocket dividers hold their shape better than anything folded from paper, and they punch straight into a discbound book.
Make a tuck strip tonight
Cut a strip of paper the width of a page, glue the bottom edge, press it under a book for ten minutes. Under a minute of work, and it is the pocket you will use most.
Then the flat pocket, which covers almost everything else.
Measurements for the tags to put in them are in the ephemera templates, page layouts are in 25 page ideas, and the supplies are in junk journal supplies and washi tape.