A Book a Week 2014. Week 34

Week of 25 August

Little books class.

I planned this class to be one in which we used found paper and the bindings were simple.

Here I found these cool paint chips at the store, and did a modified Japanese Stab Binding, with eyelets.

Here I used pages from an old Readers Digest book, paint chips, and a fake flower stamen from the craft store. Can't find an easier binding than that:

This binding was probably too hard for this class. I used playing cards as covers for this Coptic Binding.

This might be in competition for the easiest binding. I took store bought notepads, and glued pretty paper on the cover.

Kind of a match book style, I folded in half a paint chip and bound it with a Japanese Stab Binding with small washers.

and I lined it with pretty roses and cute roller skates paper:

A Book a Week 2014: Made, Altered, Repaired. Week 31

Week of 4 Aug

Belgian Binding Class!

I was really impressed with the folks who came to try out Belgian Binding. It is not an easy or beginning binding, but everyone concentrated and we learned from each other as we went. I loved the beautiful color combinations each person chose, to go with their upcycled Readers' Digest book covers.

I buy large packs of pretty scrapbook paper, and use those sheets as covers for each signature. It's fun to find a theme of papers related by color, hue or design. Students matched signature covers with their RD book covers.

I like to use a variety of crochet thread to bind books. They come in so many colors, and even multi-colored threads:

A Book a Week 2014: Made, Altered, Repaired. Week 22

Week of 2 June

Book Repair Class - Rebacking

I taught another basic book repair class at the library. There was a full house (10), but we had enough space and repairs to work on.

Rebacking is a bookbinding term that means replacing and/or repairing the spine of a book.
Here is an excellent training guide from Minitex.

Look how proud John is! He did a really nice job rebacking this old textbook. You can tell this tool man is used to working with his hands.