It seemed a no-brainer.īut now I think that was a mistake. Production orders could be processed in less time with no risk of damaging the books with glue on unwanted surfaces. I had settled on transfer adhesive because it was not as messy as glue. I discovered that the adhesive I had used was starting to fail after about four years. But as my journey continued, I began to see that my earlier books were starting to sag, looking tired and even wrinkled. The fabric stores had a rainbow of colors and surfaces, and I could purchase small amounts. What was I going to do with ten yards of the same material? I wanted variety, man! Besides, the dealers only had limited choices. I used transfer adhesive to stick the fabric to the boards and they looked great! At first, it seemed the way to go because for one thing, the bb suppliers had a minimum order policy. It took me a while to discover the right properties, mainly because I ignored the bookbinding suppliers at first, being mesmerized by the selection of fabrics at JoAnn’s. Choosing the right covering for your book is part of that experience thing. It is the fine points and the details that set the novices apart from the true crafter. Gluing Decorative Spine Bands onto the formed spine.Īnybody can cobble a book together. Although many bookbinders will add the endsheets afterward using glue, I prefer to stitch my endsheets to the textblock. They serve as hinges between the cover and the pages. One leaf is glued to the cover board and folds to make the first and last loose pages. I keep my stitches snug by tugging parallel and tight to the spine at the end of each course.Įndsheets go before and after the textblock. I use the kettle stitch on each end and loop through the cross stitch over each band to tie the signatures together. I punch eight holes into four sheets at a time making sixteen page signatures. For my 6×9 journals I use three bands each 1.25″ wide. I like waxed thread and stitching with bands made from scrap bookcloth. It is really only a matter of choosing the way you are most comfortable with and then practicing until you get it right. Any of these methods will produce good books. Try your hand at ethiopian coptic stitches or try to emulate smyth sewing. Read up on the various methods of stitching with cords or bands. Check out the difference between using waxed vs.
Home-made stitching loom for Coptic stitching.ĭuring this sojourn into stitching signatures, try out different types and weights of thread, different needles and spacing between stitches.
#COPTIC READER PUBLISHING TV#
I spent a lot of evenings in a comfortable chair stitching signatures and listening to a TV or radio program. Concentrate on consistency so that your stitching looks even and orderly. Learn when and where to tug on the thread, and how hard to pull so that it is just snug. It takes time and patience to get it right. I had big nasty knots that bulged at the spine, and my books didn’t open or close properly.īut now, with thousands of stitches behind me, I can say they are looking quite respectable. My first efforts were crooked, too tight on one end or too loose. I know I made at least ten books from start to finish before I had anything that I was unashamed to show. However, I would suggest that the beginner start with anything they can get for the purpose of learning. If you value your time, it only stands to reason that you should use the very best materials that you can lay your hands on. If you decide to bind your own books, a lot of your time will be invested in doing so. Either method results in a durable binding that will stand up to normal usage for many years. The flat type, sometimes known as smyth sewn, utilizes finer thread and more stitches to overcome the same problem. The additional spread is fanned out at the spine, resulting in a book that is more uniform in thickness. The rounded spine is more traditional and was developed to reduce the added bulk offered by the cord used to stitch the signatures.
There are basically two kinds of spines: flat and rounded.