Friday 16 October 2015

Making books

A couple of weeks ago, me and wonderful mum had a very crafty weekend.  On the Saturday we did a ceramics course (more about that coming up in a future blog post) in Leicestershire and on Sunday we did book binding in Derbyshire.  We live in Nottinghamshire so are pretty well placed for these things!



The workshop was brilliant!  We had such a good time and I'm so proud of the two books I brought home.  The booklet above (which is upside down, it's clearly Australian), was the first we produced.  It's a very simple booklet made with ordinary copier paper and a thick paper cover.  It's A5.



We made holes through the pages with a bradawl and then tied it up with polyester thread, though you can also use linen thread.  



I need to get me a bradawl and some linen thread as I'd like to make some more of these.

When we'd finished this booklet, I had somewhere to take some notes as we moved on to making a hardback book.  Yes, this is a real-life hardback book.  And I made it!



Books are made from signatures, sets of pages, which are made by folding A3 sheets of cartridge paper and slitting them with a kitchen knife.



We made 8 signature each with 8 leaves.  They are rough cut as we didn't have access to an industrial guillotine, but I like the finish.



Again, holes were made with a bradawl before the signatures are stitched together.  That's a piece of linen tape in the middle, it just helps to add some stability to it.



The cover is made of grey board covered with book cloth, I chose a lovely teal colour for mine.  The covers aren't decorated, but they could be quite easily.



Can you see the little stripy bit below the pages on the spine?  This is called a head band and apparently all hardback books have one.  I had never noticed this before but Mr C had.



I was originally going to use a piece of ribbon as a page marker, but the ribbon I chose was too thick and it wasn't working out so I changed my plan.



I am unbelievably proud of this little A6 book!

17 comments:

margaret said...

what a wonderful weekend you have had, the books are very professional looking, you are able to turn your hand to so many crafts, such a creative lady you are, wonder what you will use the books for, maybe we will see you sketching/drawing in them

pennydog said...

Oh man I could have given you the glue, the board, the linen tape.... I chucked it all out :( Might still have the thread though if you want it.

Rachel said...

The next stage will be to make your own patterned headbands. I can't remember the details, but there's a special knot that creates a lovely little edge to the headband. It's very satisfying!

Christine B said...

Your book is fabulous Wendy! It looks like it was a fun workshop.... I think I would like doing this.... I may have to look out for a workshop in my area! Have a lovely weekend! Christine x

Sharon - creativity and family said...

Wow, I love the book, you have some great classes in your area :-) x

Jo Ferguson said...

I'm fascinated with all aspects of bookmaking. You should be incredible proud of your work...it's amazing.

Bethany said...

Oh my goodness that's awesome!!!! Learn something new every day--I had no idea that's how the pages of books went together (folded and cut on the edge). It's nice to see something like this when people rarely take pen to paper anymore.

Flickenstichlerin said...

What a neat idea, you and your mom are making so many beautiful things.
Greetings,
Sylvia

Sandra :) said...

WOW you get all the best classes! Your books look great - I think I knew about the head band but didn't know what it was called - always glad to learn something new, even if I don't have access to the classes YOU get to play with!

Anonymous said...

wow that looks like a really interesting workshop

Sarah in Stitches said...

Oooohhh, this is so cool! I think I'd love this class. The two books look great, but the hardback one is my favorite! :D

Jane said...

That book is brilliant, well done

Pam @Threading My Way said...

WOW!!! Very impressive, Wendy.

Chris of UK City Crafter said...

Your book looks brilliant, it's always good to learn a new skill and extra good when you make something as special as this.

ukcitycrafter@live.co.uk

Sheryl said...

This is great Wendy. I have an address book that needs mending and you make it look quite easy i need classes too.

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

Your book is fab! I have a lot of books on bookmaking - some of them just about arty ways to create little booklets and things, but I really, really want to learn how to do this. And I would like to decorate the books with stitch. This has turned out so well. You should be very proud! :)

JennyPennyPoppy said...

Congratulations on your fabulous looking book!