paper questions?
hi, i stumbled onto book binding videos on youtube a couple of days ago (not for the first time) and i’m obsessed, to the point where i’ve already made a makeshift sketchbook for my boyfriend with printer paper and yarn. it’s so cool and i can’t wait to print out some fics (and possibly my own writing?) and experiment with different stitches!
but i can’t really seem to figure out what the best paper to use would be? i’ve read that newspaper is good, but that it won’t last as long as acid-free paper (and i’m not actually sure what that means), or that printer paper works fine but i’m not sure how much i’d actually like to use that
also the thing with long and short grain? i think that working on the long grain is better (?) but i’m unsure of which way it’s supposed to be oriented. is the long-grain side the longer side when it’s a full sheet of paper that hasn’t been folded into signatures yet? if i get big sheets and cut them in half hamburger-style (for lack of a better term) would it be better to buy them long-grain or short-grain? does “long grain” mean that the grain goes from top to bottom when the paper is looked at portrait style?
apologies if these are simple questions with obvious answers, i am very easily confused. but when i see a new craft, there’s a good chance i want to get my hands on it and i figured this would be the best way to get answers
anyways thanks for reading, and i’m looking forward to potentially someday posting some books in here!!!