Leather Long Stitch Link Stitch Book

It started with these, snagged off the 99 cent rack at a thrift store shortly before everything shut down because of covid last year. One is smooth leather, the other suede, both showing enough wear that I didn't feel guilty about cutting them up. There were several book binding structures for leather covers presented in my Handmade Book Club that I wanted to try, and recycling appealed greatly.

Once I started cutting away linings, collars and cuffs, I was surprised by how thin the leather was, about half as thick as recommended for book covers. I'd read where others in the club had fused fabric to their leather and I hoped by doing so, it would give the leather enough heft for a cover. Of course, I pondered over this a very long time before actually getting around to choosing a book binding pattern, determining the size of the book and making signatures. Why I did not think sooner to make a quick sample I do not know, but once I did, it was clear that using Heat and Bond fusible (which is fused with low heat and no steam) with the batik would work on the leather and give it a little more sturdiness.

There were other issues to surmount regarding working with leather. Even with that African batik (which is done on a slightly heavier base fabric than Bali batiks), the suede had a tendency to stretch more than expected along the edges. And I did not have a punch to make the sewing holes with as was recommended. Trying to make them with an awl was very difficult and the holes tended to close right back up. I ended up marking the hole openings on the batik side with micron pen so I'd be able to find them when sewing. It also didn't occur to me that these jackets would be made of smaller pieces of leather seamed together and that I would not be able to find a section big enough for the cover that would not have a seam in it. As it turned out, careful positioning put this seam angling across the back of the cover which I really like.

I chose this particular batik for the lining because of the "S" design on it. The recipient's last name starts with an "S". I was surprised to find that as I handled the book to sew in the signatures, the fabric started fraying along the edges. I expected the fusible to do a better job of keeping it from doing that. I trimmed the threads away and applied some Fray Check around the edges. You can see that I decided to attach a piece of leather to the flap to make a strap closure.

Here's the beauty shot, the stitching holding it all together that shows on the spine and gives the binding its name. The link stitch at top and bottom looks like a chain stitch but isn't done like the embroidery kind. The star in the center actually is an embroidery detail added before stitching the signatures into the cover.

Although there were some struggles in the making, I'm very pleased with how this book turned out and the way the strap closure works and looks. Here's hoping the recipient likes it and finds a use for it. I've found this size of 4-1/4 x 6-1/4 quite handy.