When the obligation knitting is boring and I long for something creative, I usually turn to other crafts to sate that thirst. This weekend it was bookbinding. I forgot how much I loved playing with paper and glue! I made a few books to list on etsy as Christmas presents (check out my embossed Copper covered journal! I’m so proud of it!), and I realized that it would be a great thing to do a tutorial on, so here it is. Skip over it for anyone not interested, and a warning, it’s very picture heavy.
What you will need:
- Paper cut to size (my sheets for pages are each 6″ long by 4″ tall which makes them 3×4″ when folded in half). I have 6 packets of 5 papers each, which when folded in half make 10 sheets each for a total of 60 sheets in the finished book or 120 pages if used front and back. My paper is a fine linen textured stationery paper.
- Long strip of heavier paper. The green is Mi Tientes, which is a 98 lb heavy paper for sketching. This strip should be just barely wider than the height of your pages, so in this instance, mine was 4 and 1/16″. The length should be about twice as long as the papers for the signatures (plus some for fudge room), so in my case, I cut the cover sheet to be about 13″ long.
- Thread for binding. I used 3-ply waxed linen thread. You can get a great variety of colors and different thicknesses of linen thread from Royalwood Limited, which sells basketry supplies.
- Paper cutter (or scissors and ruler) to make straight cuts
- X-acto knife with sharp point
- Needle thick enough to accommodate the waxed linen thread, my preference is a curved upholstery needle
- Glue or mono-adhesive for adhering the doubled up covers together.
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Binder Clips
- Bone folder
I like to work on surface of cork. It’s grippy enough that the stuff I’m cutting doesn’t slip around, but it heals very well, is cheap and easy to store when I’m done. I buy 12″ square cork tiles from office supply stores.
1. First, you need to cut your papers to size and then collect them into signatures (the sections that are sewn together to make a book). I clamp them with the binder clips so they stay aligned while I cut the stations (the holes that you will sew through). I like to mark where my stations will be with pencil and then cut downward through the whole stack of signatures with the X-acto knife or a utility knife. I placed my stations for this book 1/2″ in from either side and 1/2″ wide in the middle. You can put them wherever you want, just make sure that you cut the stations in the cover to match.
2. Also you will need to fold and cut the stations in the cover sheet. Fold this cover sheet so you have 1/2″ in the middle to make the spine of the book. For every fold, if you use the bone folder to smooth out the fold, you’ll get crisp edges and the book will lay much flatter. Cut the stations, but make sure you center the stations given that your cover sheet is slightly (1/16″) wider than your signatures. I also prefer to cut a little bit of an opening with the X-acto knife so that my thread doesn’t pull through the cover and ding it up too much as I bind.
The rest of this tutorial will refer to the stations as they are numbered here.
3. Place the first signature inside the cover and sew from inside to outside through Station 1. Go through both the signature and the cover (the picture just shows through the signature). Make sure you leave a tail for finishing later. 6″ is a good length.
4. Wrap the thread around the edge of the spine nearest to station 1 and through the inside of the first signature to thread the needle from the inside to the outside of Station 2.
5. Sew from the outside to the inside at Station 3.
6. Sew from the inside to the outside at Station 4.
7. Wrap thread around the end of the spine and sew from the inside to the outside of JUST the signature at station 4. This leaves your thread inside the cover at this spot.
8. Add the next signature by sewing from the outside to the inside at station 4 in the second signature.
9. Wrap thread around the end of spine and sew back from the outside to the inside of station 4 into the second signature. Then sew from the inside to the outside at station 3. (pictured above)
10. Sew from the outside to the inside at station 2, then from the inside to the outside at station 1, wrap around the end of the spine, and through just the signature at station 1. Then attach the new signature as in step 7. Continue in this way until all signatures have been added to the cover.
11. For the final wrap around the spine, start where you come out at station 1 from the final signature.
12. Wrap your thread around the end of the spine and slip the needle underneath the floated thread in the middle of the signature.
13. Slip the needle underneath the float once more to form a loop.
14. Slip your needle through the loop toward the edge of the spine.
15. Pull tight to make a secure knot and clip the end. When using waxed linen thread, it will stick down to itself, so it is extra secure. Repeat this knot for the tail you left in step 3.
The sewing on your book is now complete, but you should have LONG covers left.
16. Measure and fold the covers back at just over 3″ from the spine. You want a little bit of extra for the covers. I measured and folded at 3 and 1/8″ from the spine on each cover.
17. At this point your book will look like a gangly spider. So measure from the new cover folds about 3″ more and then cut the excess cover off. This section will be folded back in on the cover so that the cover becomes a double thickness of your cover paper and has a nice folded edge on the fore-edge of the book.
18. Add a few lines of mono-adhesive or glue to secure the doubled cover and fold it inward, hiding the cut edge near the spine inside. Repeat for the other cover.
Voila! Finished book with exposed spine sewing!
I love the way the sewing wraps the top of the spine, it reminds me of sewn headbands on old books.
Don’t forget to sign and date your work!
Enjoy!
