July 27, 2015, Week 4 - Binding and Final Book

Hello Everyone,

This week I'm binding the book with the French Link Stitch.

Here's what you need:  The signatures lined up and ready to go, a book binding needle, waxed linen thread (Mine is a brown color that I thought would like nice against the white pages.  It's a little over 5 ft. in length.) and a clip to hold the pages together as you sew.

I started with the last set of signature and worked my way forward.

Starting with the hole at the top, I inserted the needle and thread through the outside to the inside

leaving about a 4 to 5 inch tail.  (Most instructions usually say to leave about 2, but my Fingers are not that nimble, so I find the extra length helps when I have to tie it.

Then I wove the thread in and out of the holes for the length of the signature.

As you can see, the thread is on the outside of the signature after it is woven.

Here is what the inside looked like.

Then I took the next signature and ran the thread from the outside in.

No knot or tie is necessary for this juncture.

I then inserted the needle into the second hole (inside to outside) and ran the needle underneath the first thread line of the first signature.

From there I inserted the needle into the third hole and back up the fourth hole.  Once again running the needle underneath the second line of thread from the first signature and then back down into the fifth hole.

The Pattern continued until the second signature was complete.

When I got the the end, I took the teil that I had left at the beginning and tied a square knot to secure the two signatures together.

Then I added the third signature by just inserting my needle from the outside to the inside.  I did find that securing the pages together did help keep things lined up and allowed me to tighten the Stitches better.

For the third set of weavings I had to adjust the first set by just pushing them with my needle a bit, so that I when I threaded the needle I was only picking up the thread of the second signature set.

I put together a quick Illustration so that hopefully the Pattern is a little easier to get.

Once I got to end of the third signature and added the fourth signature, I used a Coptic stich to secure the two together.

I continued sewing and added the fifth signature and ended the binding by tieing off the thread.

And the book is complete

Detail of the French Link stitch:

More views:

This was a fun book to do.  I do think though, if I use this stitch again, I will have more signatures, so the stitching is clearer.

Next week, I begin August's book.

Until then,

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila

July 20, 2015, Week 3 - Content and Template

Hello Everyone,

This week I was able to make the two drawings to add to my Lemonade book.

I did do a bit of photo editing on them before I printed them for the book.  (I decided to print them instead of glueing in the originals to help keep the pages similiar.  This will help the binding look more uniform.)

 

With the content is complete,  I have folded and organized my pages and they are ready for binding.

I'm beginning by creating a template for the stitching holes.  For my version of the French Link Stitch, there will be a Coptic stitch on the top and bottom and three French Link Stitches in the middle.

For my templates, I always mark TOP, usually as big as I can.  (I am very good at not paying attention to what is the top and this can make your stitching crooked.)  So from the top to the bottom, I measured and marked 1 inch, from that mark 1 1/4 inches, then 1 inch, then 1/2 inch, then 1 inch then 1/2 inch, then 1 inch, then 1 1/4 inches and then 1 inch.  There will be 1 1/4 Inches between the Coptic stitches and the French Link Stitches and just a 1/2 inch between each of the French Link stitches.

Next, using an awl, I punched holes in each page, aligning the template with the center fold of each page.  Take the time to make sure you align the template perfectly, always putting the top of the template with the top of the page and that you punch the holes exactly on the mark and in the crease.  The more accurate your holes, the nicer your binding will look.

If you have a punch cradle, by all means use it, but it's not necessary.

Once all the holes on the page are punched, it should look similiar to the above.  Not the greatest picture, but you do want to make sure your holes are where they need to be.

Then I continued to punch the holes for all the pages.

With that done, I'm ready to sew.  

Soooo, next week will be a demo of the stitching process and the final book.

Until then,

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila

July 2015, Week 2 - Content

Hello Everyone,

The book is progress along on time this month.  Yea!  So I was able to print the entire book out and work on the lemon designs that I wanted to hand print on the book.

I thought because the theme was old-fashioned summer, that I would print my lemon designs in an old-fashioned way, by hand using what I had around my house.

After an awful and time consuming attempt at creating a stamp, I settled on creating 3 lemon design stencils.

I used some very heavy weight, printmaking paper (280 lb weight)  and cut out the designs.  Then using a small brush and my liquid acrylic paints, I dabbed the paint on the pages.  I did not use any tape to secure the stencils, I just held it down with my fingers.  Although often times artists get caught up in wanting to make everything exact and perfect, that is the opposite of the look I wanted for the lemon designs.  I want them to be slightly irregular, so that it will look like they are done by hand.

Here's the finished result:

So far so good.

For next week, I will be adding the drawings and preparing the book for binding  (ie.  setting up the page template and piercing the holes).

Till then,

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila

July 6, 2015 Week 1 - Introduction

Hello Everyone,

Well summer is underway (finally!) here in Wisconsin.  So I thought I'd start by sharing a beautiful dahlia that bloomed in my garden today.

This is my first year to grow them, so this was a pleasant surprise.


Now on to books.  This month's book will be a  French Link stitched book with soft cover.   The theme is "Old-fashion Summer".  And so I thought I would create a book with Lemonade Recipes.

The French Link stitch is a wonderful stitch that involves creating a twist between two threads on two different signatures.  This creates a beautiful soft X pattern down the spine of the book.  Most of French Link stitched also have a row of coptic stitching at the top and bottom.  I have posted some examples of this stitch on my Encasing Structure Pinterest board.   link:  Pinterest Encasing Structure Board

For my lemonade book, I will use  5 double page signatures.  This gives me a total of 40 pages.  (a single page signature is 4 pages, a double page signature is 8)

I find its always helpful to create a dummy book.  For this one, I'm starting with an unbound Dummy that I can take apart and make sure that I am organizing it properly for the layout template.

Dummy Book - 5 double page Signaturen

Then I marked what each of the pages will be and I also include a page number.

front of 1st double signature

As you can see, when you flatten out the individual signatures, the pages do not go order.

back of 1st double signature

I find doing this prior to setting up my template on the computer is a must.  I am less likely to make major layout errors.  FYI - I am using Microsoft Word, for the text layout and printing.  You certainly could use Adobe's InDesign or equivalent to set up the pages.  I just chose Word because it is what I have available on this computer.

So there's my start to this month's book.  Next week, I will be showing how to do create a simple print design with stuff from around my house and acrylic paint.

Till then,

Happy Book Binding!

Sheila