I bind my own. It takes some time, but the result is a notebook that has the paper I want in it, that lays flat so I can use all of every page (I'm a lefty), and that I don't spend too much money on.
Moleskines are $$ for a pile of paper. A few minutes and an upholstery needle and I have graph paper, light-weight blank, and watercolor paper bound together just the way I like it.
Just out of curiosity, got any pictures of these? Making my own notebook is something I've considered ever since exploring my pocket notebook options. Your comment might be the thing that gets me off the fence.
Nah, they're pretty dull; the coverboards are usually a clean piece of pizza-box or a bit of used matteboard. I'll take a pick this afternoon, if you like.
Note that these are tutorials for reasonably archival binding; good for 300 years. You only need your nodebook to stay bound for a month, until it's full of your distilled brilliance, and then you file it. So if you don't have a binding frame, that's OK. A couple boards and a hand-clamp will do 'ya.
Moleskines are $$ for a pile of paper. A few minutes and an upholstery needle and I have graph paper, light-weight blank, and watercolor paper bound together just the way I like it.