January 2003 Bookbinding Journal

1-1-03 Spent the majority of the day on one single book. It’s that way with new ideas. The prototype of a new book always takes two or three times as long as any I make afterward from the same pattern. Working through design measurements, creating templates, figuring out problems I didn’t anticipate (and no matter how carefully I plan, they always happen) — all that takes time. I wanted to get away from the quarterbound books I’d been doing and play with decorative stitching. This idea came to me a few days ago, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it, or even if it would work at all. (This picture was taken before I decided what to do with the stitching at the top.) The book is 5.74”x4.5”x1.25” (outside measurements) and has six signatures of six pages each. First step is to make a templates for the holes. (Please believe me, the holes must be exact, both in the spine and in the signatures.) The top template is for the signatures. The holes for each are different. The numbers (3/4, 2/5, 1/6) correspond to the signature, with “All” being holes that are punched in all signatures. The bottom template is for the spine. The circle of holes is purely decorative and is not used to attach the signatures. For six signatures, the spine cannot be less than 1” in width. Cut davey board covers and spine, and punch the spine. Attach all to the cover leaving 3/16” gaps. (I will mention that at this point I realized that I was short a few holes and punched more. Live and learn.) Repunch the holes and stitch the circle, mashing the stitching flat on the inside either in a bookpress or with a bone folder. Fold cover edges over and glue down. Cut pastedown the height of the signature and the full length of the davey boards. (This allows for indentation into the hinge area.) Line this up carefully and glue it to the spine only, being careful not to get any glue in the gaps. Place in a press until it is secure. Carefully run a bone folder down the gap, indenting the pastedown into it. Cut two 1/8” strips of davey board, place those in the gaps and place in a bookpress to complete the hinge. Remove from the press, remove the strips and glue the pastedown flaps to the davey board, again being careful not to get glue into the hinge area. Put the 1/8” strips back in and place back in the press. At this point, it would be wise to leave the cover overnight to dry completely to prevent warping. Remove from press, carefully repunch the holes from the outside to the in, then sew in each signature separately. Here is a picture of the hinge area after completion and addition of the signatures. With this type book, any number of variations in holes and stitching are possible, from the simple to the ornate. I’m not a big one for beads, but they could be used to enhance the stitching. Here the top stitching was used to secure a bookmark of complementary cords to finish the book.

1-3-03 Did another book with decorative stitching on the spine, but used a calico cover on this one. It went much faster, partly because of the templates, but mainly because I knew what I was doing this time. Managed to remember to take a picture of the cover before stitching in the signatures. This gives a good view of the hinges. The imprint of the center decorative stitching is also visible. This is hidden by the signatures when they are sewn in. The spine stitching is slightly different from the previous book, but uses the same hole structure, and the bookmark was braided on this one. Otherwise, it’s the same book. **Totally off the bookbinding topic, but worth sharing. I live in the middle of town, but occasionally country critters pay a visit and offer photographic opportunities. This little fellow was lurking in the enclosed back porch this evening, probably hoping to share the cat food with Punkin, who wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the arrangement.

1-4-03 In my workroom is a basket of small cut pieces of scrap hmp. The bright idea came flitting in this morning that these cut pieces would look nice on a book cover. It would be similar to the ragged edge calico covers, but this would use carefully trimmed pieces that fit together perfectly, side to side, in a random pattern. Some ideas should die at birth. This was one of them. Oh, the idea did work, but getting the pieces to fit without gaps nearly drove me over the edge. I have a good eye for angles, but the precision needed for these pieces was a bear. With the ragged edge calico covers, the papers were glued onto each other forming a sheet before mounting on the davey boards, but that wasn’t possible with this cover. Nothing here could overlap. Each individual piece of paper had to be cut to fit, mounted on the board exactly against the next piece and then pressed before going on to the next, a very time consuming process, even when alternating between the two covers. After both covers were finished, they went into the press while I cut and sewed the signature block and mounted the pastedowns. The book turned out well, but I won’t be doing this one ever again, thank you. Instead, I may explore a puzzle cover my husband suggested last night. (I’m really hoping the insanity of what he proposed will sink in before I get too far into this.)

1-6-03 I resisted the puzzle. Instead, I worked on a book problem that has been troubling me for some time. Back in October a friend showed me how to do this book. The cover was made first, and the signatures were sewn onto the suede strips (in the same manner that signatures are sewn onto tape). Then cuts were made through the cover in the hinge area, the suede strips were pulled through those cuts and braided on the outside of the book to bind the signatures to the cover. It’s a lovely idea, but those raw cuts bothered the heck out of me. However, there really isn’t any other way to sew onto the suede and get it to the outside without making those cuts. Still, I liked the effect of the braided suede, so today I made this clothbound book that “fakes” that stitching technique. This one goes about it a little differently. Instead, the cover is made with six lines of holes punched in the spine, then the book cloth and pastedowns are added. After the cover is dry, the signatures are sewn through the spine and over the suede strips, which are on the outside of the spine. After the stitching is complete, each of the suede strips is cut into three equal strips. The top and bottom sets (which are then six strips each) are braided toward the middle, then the middle strips are tied over those to finish the book. There are two other lines of stitching on this book, one at the top and one at the bottom. The waxed linen threads go over 1” lengths of 1/8” dowel rods that have six grooves cut into them and have been flattened on the back. I learned one thing from doing this book. Don’t ever use suede with a dark cotton book cloth! The “suede lint” sheds all over the cloth. I used packing tape to clean it, and the lint off easily enough, but I have a feeling it will shed more as time goes by. Live and learn.

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1-8-03 Did this cross-stitch book today. All of the stitches are used to secure the signatures with no false or fake ones. There are 10 lines of six holes each that secure six signatures of six pages each. The only difficulty I ran into was sewing the signatures in. Because of the crossing of the stitching, all of the signatures must be sewn in simultaneously. That wasn’t too difficult, but it required six needles, and of course, I only had four that would accommodate the waxed linen thread. That meant unthreading and rethreading needles a few times. Again with this book, I used the wooden dowels to secure the stitches in three places down the spine, then wove the two colors of thread between those. It was a fun book to do. **On an unrelated note, I’m in a limbo between a computer that’s threatening to crash and a new one running an operating system and a number of new or upgraded programs that I don’t understand yet, including the one used to produce this journal. If I disappear from the online scene temporarily, that’s why. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, computers are firmly entrenched in our lives now.

1-15-03 Making the shift between computers and upgraded programs was...interesting. (Feel free to read deep sarcasm into that.) It appears that I'll be forced to learn a new webpage program if I intend to continue maintaining my website. **Yesterday, I finally threw up my hands and took a break to play with books. There is only so much a brain can absorb before it falls to pieces. I'm not overly happy with this book, but I learned a few things doing it. All the stitches are used to attach signatures, which are sewn in two at a time. (I started doing them all at once, then realized it would be possible to do just two.) There are six signatures, six pages each. This is a close up of the spine. The bottom and middle stitching is across waxed linen; the top line is across cord, which is used as a bookmark. The interior pastedown is the same green color as the cover ribbon. I had planned an entirely different cross stitching, but blew it when I punched the holes. Didn't realize it until I was committed. I'll likely use that stitching on the next book...or I may do something entirely different. Who knows. I do know that my brain is computer fried right now.

1-22-03 I'll be switching to Front Page for the website design program some time in the next couple of months. When I do, this site will come down, but only temporarily. If you should stop by and find it gone, check back in a few days. **Yesterday I backed off the computer stuff and played with a book. I'd not done Coptic stitching in so long I was afraid perhaps I'd forgotten how, but it must be like riding a bicycle (not that I'd want to try that again, mind you). I'm still hung up on the calico covers. They take longer than using a plain handmade paper cover, but they're far prettier. I used an sheet of Indian hemp handmade paper for a spine guard on this one. Without that for a background, the stitching would have been lost in the backdrop of mixed colors and textures. I promised to share warts when they happened, and one did with this book. I made a template to drill the holes, but when I mounted the template onto the covers, I accidentally reversed it. Just as soon as I drilled the first hole, I knew what I'd done. Brilliant… Of course, that hole didn't match up with the hole in the signature. Fortunately, I was able to tear small pieces of matching scrap paper and glue them over the holes. The spine cover flap was so figured that the patches and the holes simply disappeared.

1-27-03 Last winter I figured out how to do a Coptic book in which the stitching made three Xs on the spine. It made a lovely book, but there were some things I intended to do differently on the next one. However I never got around to repeating it. Apparently, I never got around to writing down the directions or what I would have done differently, either. (Most of the time I am well organized...honest.) When I looked this morning, I couldn't find any notes on it, just the book I did last winter. From looking at it, the only thing I could see that should be changed was the placement of stitches at the top and bottom, which are a little too close to the edges. It doesn't make much difference on the cover, but they are too close to the top and bottom on the signatures to suit me. This is an interesting book to do. It has nine signatures of four folded sheets, but instead of starting with one cover, attaching the signatures, then attaching the other cover, it's necessary to stitch this book in halves, then sew the halves together. This is because of the "disappearing" stitches as you sew from each side toward the middle. Four signatures are sewn to one cover; this is repeated for the other cover; then these are stitched together, incorporating the ninth signature in the middle to make the finished book. The spine stitching on this one is a little cleaner than the first, but I know now what I wanted to correct, or at least be a little more careful about -- the tension and directional pull on the signatures. The signatures ended up uneven at the top and the bottom. A little more care while sewing would have solved that. I have now written that bit of information down in a prominent place...right here...so perhaps I'll remember it next time.