The Perfect Accordion Fold According to Peter Thomas

Another workshop at the Degolyer Conference was with Peter Thomas. Peter and Donna Thomas have a great team thing going on. Donna is an illustrator while Peter is a binder and printer. I think they both are also papermakers. What a job! Check out their one of a kind miniature books. They are a very talented team.

If you have ever tried to fold an accordion book, you may have found that when you finished it looked more like a staircase than a folded book. Peter has a fail safe method for getting the folds stacked straight. He showed how to make perfect accordian folds that are SOOOO easy. The basic folding steps are simple.

Step 1:
This is for a miniature accordion book. Cut a narrow strip of paper about 2" by 14". Fold the strip in half.

Step 2:
Take each edge of the paper and fold it to the center fold.

Step 3:
When you are finished, you will have three folds that shape the paper strip like a M. Invert the centerfold so the the paper strip look kind of like three wave crests.

Step 4:
Take the first fold and fold it to the edge of the strip.

Step 5:
Take the center fold and fold it to meet the first fold's edge.

Step 6:
Take the third fold and fold it to meet the centerfold.

Step 7:
Take the final strip edge and fold it to meet the last fold edge. You should have an eight panel accordion.