Since I posted my hybrid button-hole and long-stitch books, people have been asking for their stitching instructions. The previous post only covered the case, but this post will explain the stitching order. These instructions assume that you have done some stitching for books before.




Prepare the signatures, holes are pierced aligning to the 2 inside edges of the button holes. Generally for long-stitch books, the height of the signatures is kept the same as the case, to avoid ripping at the spine.

The first set of my recent holiday journals was a hybrid of button-hole and long-stitching design. The long-stitching weave in and out of the buttle-hole cover.

Here is how the covers are made:

Construct the case with 5 pieces of boards: 2 for the covers and 3 for the spine. Align the boards and glue onto the cover paper. Cris cross cut the cover paper through the openings on the spine, and then glue them onto the inside of the case.

To accent the wonderful cabin I got invited to stayed in the Adirondacks a couple of months ago, I created a somewhat rustic guest book. The guest book doesn't have any turn-ins at the edges except for the spine, in other words, the edges of the boards are shown. The squares in the inside are also exposed boards. By using veneers and unfinished edges I created something that looks a little bit raw and unfinished.

As said to be rediscovered by Hedi Kyle, the secret Belgian binding is a unique non-adhesive binding method that includes sewing 3 pieces of bookboard together to form the case, and sections sewn onto the thread case.

A Google search on Secret Belgian Binding will return you with results on instructions, and many beautiful works artists have done (such as Rhonda from Nova Scotia, Canada and BookGirl from North Carolina).

The latest edition of the e-journal for bookbinders and book artists was released earlier this month. Download a copy from the Book Arts Web if you haven't done so!

I have always loved tacket binding, because its sasuage-like packing on the spine is so cute. I have just finished one for my co-worker's boyfriend, Todd, and I think I might have perfected my tacket binding skill so it's about time to share it as much as possible.

I have been devising my own tacket binding method, as I haven't actually seen one physically to deconstruct and examine its construction. My method may or may not be the same as the conventional one, but so far, it works.



Pierce 4 holes for every single tacket pattern. Contruct the "backbone" for the packing with the 2 holes that are the furthest apart. The book here has 2 groups of tacket patterns (groups A and B), so we need to pierce 2 groups of 4 holes.



Each section is stitched individually with 1 single thread. Start with a thread with a length 3 times the book height. Start the stitching from inside the section, pull it out from B4 (tail of the book) to B1 on the outside: this creates the botton "backbone". Continue inside, go through A4 to A1 on the outside: this creates the top "backbone".

Pull the thread out from A2 to the outside and you're ready to create the tacket pattern on the top "backbone". The pulled out thread should cross with your "backbone" thread. To pack, simply continue wrapping around the "backbone" thread to create a sausage effect. You can pack as much as you want, in this book I didn't overlap the stitches, i.e. single packed. Continue wrapping until you reach A3, then go back inside the section thorough A3. You have just completed the first pattern on top.

Pull the thread out from B2 to the outside to beging packing the lower pattern. Once finished, pull the thread back in to the inside through B3. Tie the thread and the section is completed.

As I mentioned before, I have been making paper recently. Making paper is generally not an easy thing to achieve at home, that is, if you want to have an efficient process and good result.

At home, I don't have a deep vet to hold the pulp, but I have a big plastic storage container for the purpose. By the way, pulp is the basic ingredient of paper. It's the a mixture of cellulose fibers and water. When the water is drained away, the left behind fibers is essentially paper.

In this pulp (and the resulting paper shown here), I've added denim cotton (for indigo the color), corn husk fibers (for the texture) and recycled paper pulp. In place of a professional beater to break up the fibers, I use—of course, like most paper-makers at home—a blender. Small batches of fibers are blended and added into the vet to create a workable amount of pulp.

Leftovers pulp is drained and frozen for next time's use.

I wanted a thick and substantial book. So, I put 20 sections in this book, stitched together by long-stitching. The cover is a Sanskrit script print paper, wrapped around a card stock. By wrapping the thick handmade paper around the card stock a few times, the cover becomes tough but flexible.

The cover is first cut out on Canford cardstock, the spine is cut open to allow the stitches to go through. The flaps on the spine also act as reinforcements for the spine and the stitches (see the trapezoidal flaps on the spine). The handmade Sanskrit script paper is then attached to the cardstock cover, cut and turned in.

Here is a trick: while the flaps on the cardstock open up and down so as to reinforce the spine for the stitches, the outermost Sanskrit paper has it flaps wrapped around the card stock sideways to cover the exposing edge (see close-up picture below).

The stitching "hides" the exposed horizontal edges of the card on spine so it doesn't require a cover. But the vertical edges on the side could be exposed, therefore the excess flaps on the Sanskrit script paper can be tucked back into the cover and covers the exposed edges.

Here is another trick: to achieve the best result when folding along a partially cut edge, cut first, and then fold. On the spine, perform the cut-outs first before folding the spine. Also, when folding parallel to the cut, fold a little big away from the cut. This not only prevents it being ripped, but also makes the job a lot easier to handle.