Courses
The Western Australian Craft Bookbinders Guild offers a range of courses at a small cost. These are held on weekends in Como, and cater for both members and non-members. Here is a map reference (Como, McDougall House). These courses are a great way to start your bookbinding, and are run on a regular basis. The courses run as a progressive series, so attending a number of them will help your skills, as a range of different binding styles and techniques are demonstrated. Some skills are repeated, so that you get opportunities to improve through the participation in a number of courses.
All courses result in you taking one of more items home at the end.
Check the list of courses below to see when the next courses will be run. If you cannot make a course that you have booked for, please contact the Secretary so that someone else may take up the place.
You must be 18 years old or over to attend one of our courses.
Weekend courses start at 9:00 am and go through to 4:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
All our courses are held at McDougall House on Clydesdale Street in Como. See the map reference above.
You must register and pay in order to attend, and places are very limited. We have a maximum of 8 on all courses.
Payments must be made before the course starts, and are not refundable in the last 14 days prior to the course commencing. View our Refund and Privacy policies here.
Details about what you make and techniques you will learn can be found on our Course Details page.
Note: all our communications with you will be via email. Please check your email for payment details once you have registered for a course. If you do not respond, you may lose your place.
If you have waitlisted for a course, you may also get an email from us indicating that a place has become available.
We do not use your email address for any marketing, nor do we give it out to anyone.
Last updated: September 2026
October 2026 Bradel Course
Date: Saturday, Oct 10th, 2026 - 9:00 AM to Sunday, Oct 11th, 2026 - 4:00 PM
The Bradel style is a very professional, library quality binding that is very robust. This is a great binding style to master for the very best of your books.
This is a rounded and backed book with a hollow spine, all of the binding is hidden from view, giving a smooth and polished result. This is a split board binding.
This course is $115.00 for the course, and all tools and materials are provided. This course takes place over a single weekend, for a total of 12 hours of tuition.
This is best attempted if you have some binding experience.
This course is now full. You may waitlist in case of a withdrawal.
Takeway: a single Bradel bound book in a half bound format.
December 2026 Beginners Course
Unfortunately, maintenance work at McDougall House for the whole of December means that we have had to cancel this course.
Courses will start again in March 2027.
November 2026 Beginners Course
Date: Saturday, Nov 14th, 2026 - 9:00 AM to Sunday, Nov 15th, 2026 - 4:00 PM
This is a great introduction to making your own books using very traditional techniques. We provide all the tools and materials for the course, and discuss how you can get started on your bookbinding journey.
This course is $115.00 for the course, and all tools and materials are provided. This course takes place over a single weekend, for a total of 12 hours of tuition.
This course is now full, as is the waitlist.
Takeaway: A pamphlet style book, a hardback multi-section book, a slipcase for your hardback book.
Courses are generally published no earlier than approximately 4 months in advance. We do not run courses in January. There will be more courses in 2026.