Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Last of the Little Library Book Challenge

The final binding in this challenge is a staggered running stitch. Really quite simple as long as you remember that not all signatures have sewing holes in the same place! I used leather from the smooth leather bomber jacket on this one and was moved to get those pieces of marbled fabric back out. The one used to line the cover is one on heavier fabric but what about this one which is very similar but on very thin fabric? Could I cut it into partial signature wrappers? Yes I could! And to make it easy on myself, I used Scor Tape to attach them to the signatures. The only down side to this was the way the Scor Tape gunked up my awl as I punched sewing holes.

A "feature" we could add if we wanted to was a peep hole in the spine, one of the reasons I wanted something decorative along the fold of my signatures. I tried several ways of marking the hole before cutting and used applique scissors to make the cut. The teacher warned not to expect our circles to be perfect but I was still surprised at how difficult it was to follow the line I'd drawn, so yeah, my circle opening is not perfect.

But it worked perfectly fine all the same. Again, enjoyed the option of using two different thread colors.

I didn't particularly care for the closure option, but we were encouraged to experiment to come up with our own anyway. I've had this buckle for the longest time, since my mother in law decided she was done with sewing clothes and offered me some of her things. Could never figure out how to use it until now. I love how it looks.

I chose a 24lb specialty Southworth Granite paper to fancy this one up a bit. It will end up being a gift like the last one too, if I can bear to part with it.

The inevitable gap between signatures which in this case also exposes the hole in the cover spine. Not sure that I like that.

And as always, I pen my name, the date, and kind of paper in the signatures along the back cover.

A lovely little trio of books, all about 4-1/2 x 6 inches, ones I wouldn't mind making again, perhaps with Kraftex covers and different types of closures and slightly larger sizes. This staggered running stitch one in particular is calling out to me to end its asymmetry by adding a 5th row of stitches to even things up. It'd still be staggering. ;-)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm just catching up on the two most recent posts. All of the trio are beautiful! I'm pulled toward the aqua, but the peep hole & buckle closure also appeal! Oh, heck! I like all three!! Jan in WY

The Idaho Beauty said...

I know, Jan! The aqua one is my favorite just because of the color but I can't deny I'm also a fan of the richness of the brown leathers and that buckle closure.