first and foremost, how thick do you want it to be? fold your paper (normal printer paper is what i used) in half. make sure you fold in sections, aka: 6-15 papers each half fold.

next, sew those papers together, BY HAND. make sure you sew all of the packets, except for one.

take the packets that you sewed and sew them together by the stitching in the back, so this by hand too.

split the last packet in half and put one half on the back of the sewn papers, and the middle inside of them.

now, cut a peice of leather to fit, make sure it is bigger than the paper

sew a line down the middle connecting everything together.

now, the tougher part. open the book up to the middle stitched part, and flip over so you are looking at the backing.
(sorry the pic is bad)
take your exacto knife and cut a straight line following the stitching, making sure it is spaced nicely apart. DO NOT CUT THROUGH ALL THE WAY. only cut about halfway through.

now burn you paper if youd like, and decorate as you wish. use cording to wrap around the journal.

^_^ enjoy!