Encasing Structure's Content

This is a weekly blog that I have created with the sole purpose of creating a hand bound book once a month. I will be showing the entire process from start to finish. Although I would appreciate some mention of credit, please feel free to use and share any information found on this blog. The creative process rarely happens in a vacuum.

Monday, March 30, 2015

March 2015 Week 5 - Final Book


Hello Everyone,

Once again, my content creation is going to spill over into the next month a bit.  I decided that the pull outs should have images on the fronts and backs, so this has put me a bit behind.  So, this is actually going to be a two part blog entry for the finished book.  (I'm hoping to get the second one posted later this week.)

Overall, I'm very happy with the mostly finished result.  This is such a wonderful book structure from Hedi Kyle, I really encourage everyone to give it a try.

Here's the book in its mostly finished state:

top view with pull-outs shown

front view with pull-outs shown


front view with pull-outs in pockets


detail of diagonal pockets

detail of pull-outs (front)


detail of pull-outs (back)

The next blog entry, I will post photos of the finished pull-outs and then discuss next month's book.

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila

Monday, March 23, 2015

March 2015 Week 4 - Adding Signatures

Hello Everyone,

Well, I had a bit of trouble last week with my printing not lining up, so I wasn't able to sew in the signatures until today.

So, without further delay, here's how I sewed in the signatures.


Because of the size of the diagonal fold pocket folder, it is very hard to add a lot of signatures.  I only added 3.  They measure approximately  3 1/2" x 4 7/8".



I then measured and marked 1" from the top and bottom and the center of the signatures.  Since there were so few, I put them all together.


I then inserted an awl into each mark, going through all three signatures.


Using the signatures for guidance, I aligned them where I wanted them inserted into the folder and then marked and pierced for those holes.  I chose to put them along the natural crease along the diagonal folds.  (It would be interesting to explore other placement for them, an idea I will tuck away for another time.)



Then using wax thread and a needle I sewed the signatures in with a pamphlet stitch.  A pamphlet stitch creates a kind of figure eight - 8.

Starting from the outside, insert the needle into the center hole of the signatures and the folder.  Then you go into the top hole



and up through the center again


then down through the bottom hole and you will have both the beginning and end piece of your thread on the outside.

In order to create an endless looking loop to the stitch, I wrapped the end that just came out of the bottom hole under the first loop



then double knotted the thread and cut off the excess.



Now my signatures are secure.




I also created the insert pages for the diagonal fold,



Throughout the week I am planning to do the illustration for those pullouts.  The bottom pocket pull-outs measure roughly 2 1/4 x 2 3/4 with the diagonal cutting off one corner.  The top pocket pullout measures approximately 5 3/4" x 3 7/8".

Next week, I will show the illustrations for the pullouts, the completed book and have the introduction to next month's book.

Till then,

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila

Monday, March 16, 2015

March 2015 Week 3 - Book Structure

Hello Everyone,

I am changing the order of things around just a bit because I realised I needed to have the exact measurements of the pockets in order to create the content for them.  I also decided to break it up into 2 parts, Part 1 - folding the folder, Part 2 - adding signatures.

Part 1 -
Hedi Kyle's Diagonal Pocket Folder

Materials:

12" x 20" text weight paper
bonefolder
pencil
ruler


 I intentional only put a design on one side of my paper, so that the demonstration would be easier to read.  (Hopefully it is.)

You begin with the 12" x 20" paper, vertically situated, pattern side down.  Measure and mark the centre of the paper, then fold each side to the middle mark.


I did run the bone folder over these folds so that they were clearly defined.  Next, unfold the sheet and measure and mark from the bottom three lines each 4" apart.  I then scored,
with my bonefolder, each set.

You should end up with this:



 As you can see I marked the folds 1, 2, 3.  #1 will fold up to #2 along the scored line.   #2 needs to fold up to #3, creating an additional fold.  See below:




Now, fold both corners of the long fold in, see below:




Flip the entire fold up and on the small fold (created between #2 and #3) fold those corners.




It should look like this after the corners are folded down.


Flip the entire paper over and fold in the sides, like this:


 That is one side, now for the other.  Fold the two corners to the middle.


  Then fold the middle edge up, so that it aligns with edge of the paper.




 Score along the edge of the fold:


This is the trickest part.  On each side, unfold, pop and flatten along the scored line to form a kite shape.



CORRECT

It helps to keep in mind, when you are unfolding and popping the kite shape that the end of the paper needs to maintain the point.

A common error is to not unfold enough,  in this case, the end will not make a point, like this:

INCORRECT
Once you have the two kite shapes, you simply tuck the two ends inside each other and then tuck the top edge of the structure inside and it will look like a triangle.


tucking of the kite shapes

final triangle

Now using the edges of the pockets as your guide, fold it into a folder.




For the final folds, I did not use a bonefolder to crease the folds.  Since I am adding additional materials to the inside, I wanted to make sure there's enough room before I finalize those folds.

So there it is.  Folder done.  Part 2 I will post in a couple of days and that will be adding the signatures.  Then I'll be back next week to show the additional content.

Until then,

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila

Monday, March 9, 2015

March 2015 Week 2 - Content

This week's post is about the content I am going to use for my Hedi Kyle Diagonal Pocket Fold Book.

The theme this month is "Sweet Femininity".  This is a subject I am not usually drawn to, but with the onset of spring and seeing all the cute Easter bunnies and assorted what-not, it put me in a mood.  We will see how successful I am in capturing femininity.

I am starting with a very light yellow rice paper.  Adding a very simple small design in a light pink and gray colored pencil to one side only.  Pink is definitely associated more feminine in our culture, and using both the light pink and light gray will help keep it on the sweet, soft side.




It doesn't look as nice as I wanted, so I will be adding to the overall design.  Maybe more lines, I don't know, I'll have to experiment a bit.

There are other additional items I am planning on adding to the paper after I fold the paper into the book form.  But I wanted to have an overall pattern on one side, so when I'm doing the book folding demo, the folding will be clearer.


There is one unique property to the book form I will need to address in my creation of the content and that is the beautiful diagonal pocket folds on the inside of the structure.

photo showing diagonal pocket folds

As you, hopefully, can see in the above photo there are three pockets created on the inside of the finished structure.  I did a very rough sketch below:


I would like to add something inside each of those pockets, making sure that I don't cover up or diminish the impact of the folds.  Right now I'm thinking for pockets #1 and #3 making a pull out card that mimics the shape of the diagonals.  An additional pull out will be created for #2, but it will be just a simple rectangular shape.  I want to keep the emphasis on the diagonals.


That's all for this week.  Next week, Content Creation part 2.

Till then, Happy Book Binding!
Sheila

Monday, March 2, 2015

March 2015 Week One - The Introduction

This month's book form will be Hedi Kyle's Diagonal Pocket Fold Book.  It was a demo I had original posted on the Binders Guild blog.  I have had a few suggestions and questions on the tutorial itself, so this month I'm going to do the demo again and see if I can improve on it.

If you would like to see the first tutorial, here's the link bindersguild - hedi kyle diagonal pocket fold

Here's the original finished book:

Closed 

Opened, showing diagonal folds


Here are the materials I will be using:

For the book form:
1 - 12" x 20" text weight paper -  The weight of the paper is very important because it cannot be too thick or inflexible.

For the text block (which is optional):
6 - 5 1/2" x 8" text weight paper

It should be quite fun and interesting to re-envision this structurally complex book form.
Once again, I also plan to address not only the form but the content.  So, next week's post will be Content.

See you then!

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila






Sunday, March 1, 2015

February 2015 Week 4 (technically week 5) - Construction

This was a very challenging book to finish in a month.  I'm very happy with the finished result but I did run in to a few problems along the way.

My first problem (which I had thought might be the case) was sturdiness of the cut pages.


The delicate curving line and the thick diamond circle shape attached to the end of it, needed to have support.  So I attached to the back of all the coloured shape pages .005 clear acetate sheets.

After that I did put the pages under weights for a couple of days to flatten them out as much as possible.  The paper wasn't as cooperative as I would have liked it to be, and had I had more time I would have weighted all the pages for at least a couple of weeks.

But once that was done, I began constructing the book.

Materials Used:

Tunnel Block -

8 tunnel pages - 8 1/2" x 10", 1/2" fold on each side so final dimension of page is 8 1/2" x 9"

2 concertina sides - 8 1/2" x 18"

Cover

2 mat board - 8 3/4" x 9 1/4"
1 cover paper - 10" x 16"
1 end paper - 8 1/2" x 9"

Spine

1 mat board - 8 3/4" x 2 1/2"
1 cover paper - 8 3/4" x 5"

Construction:

I started with the two concertina sides.   I scored and folded two 8 1/2" x 18" sheets, mountain, valley, mountain.

Next, I attached 1/2 inch folds of each page to the concertinas, working from back to front:


I found it easiest to glue and paste one side of a page at a time, instead gluing both sides at the same time.  And although I stood the form up for the pictures, I found it very helpful to lay it flat on the table to attach the pages.


Then I continued gluing the pages into place.

Make sure you consistently space, place and glue the pages to the concertina sides evenly.

The thick paper needed to be manipulated into place.




Once I finished gluing all the pages, I cut off the excess I had on the concertina sides.  I did leave a one inch strip on each, so that I could attach a top page.

The top page is not necessary, but I felt the image needed it.



It was at this point that I did realize my error in gluing the page edges forward and not backward to the front.  So I created a fold between the purple layer and the first page.  Technically not right, but I got it to work.  If I create this book form again, I will keep that in mind.

Next I tackled the cover.  First, I measured the concertina block, to see how much I would need for the spine, 2 1/2".  (Once again, the paper was not cooperative, so it took a bit of work to get a proper measurement.)  Then I cut an additional piece of mat board, 8 3/4" x 2 1/2" for the spine.

I placed and glued the two mat board pieces and the spine on my cover paper, leaving approximately 1/8" between the pieces.



After that had a day to dry, I glued the end paper, which contains my story and the cover paper for the spine.

I also let those dry a day or so under weights, before I glued the tunnel block in place.

And here's the finished result:


















The hardest part about making this book was waiting for various parts to dry.  The actual construction was not difficult.

The only thing left to do is to put the whole book under weights to help flatten out.

Tomorrow, I will be posting about the next project ' "Hedi Kyle's Diagonal Pocket Fold Book".

Till then, Happy Book Binding!

Sheila