Powering Through

I was quite determined to get a couple of books completed last week, and I DID, thanks to a rearranging of my daily schedule putting studio time first. First up was the second butterfly binding which had gotten sidelined by motorcycle racing. :-) Here you see it stacked on top of the first one and can see that although the covers are of the same piece of handmade paper, I opted for the tan hemp thread for this second one. I'd considered it for the first one but thought perhaps I should pick up some of the purple petals in the paper. This time around I was sure it would look good and I was not disappointed. See this post for more about this binding.

Next up was another coptic binding, this one from a March 2021 First Journal Challenge (which I believe was the first challenge offered to non-members of the club). Yes, THAT long that the challenge was run and I printed off directions and opted for a 6 x 6 format to make a watercolor sketchbook and am just now making it. Because the covers are the same watercolor paper used for the signatures, I needed to come up with something decorative to glue over them. I didn't have a lot of options lying around, and what I had wasn't big enough to wrap around the 6 x 12 inch pieces (which will be folded in half to make the cover sturdy), I opted to try another one of those techniques for turning brown paper bags into faux leather. Instead of an actual grocery bag, I tried it with a thinner piece of brown packing paper, which after crumpling and smoothing, running a stamp pad over the high parts of the wrinkles, spritzing with water, then massaging with hair conditioner, developed some tears. Just too thin a paper for this process. But once dry, I was able to get two pieces out of it to wrap around the cover papers. The hair conditioner is to soften the fibers to create a supple and suede-like piece to work with. I have to say, that much was true, and I can imagine just how much more like suede one done with the heavier grocery bag would feel. And I had no issues with it as I glued it to the watercolor covers and turned the extra to the inside. If you are interested in trying this, here's the video I followed.

This was not going to be my first journal, nor my first coptic stitch book, had I done it when the challenge first came out, but just another opportunity to learn a different way to do covers and practice sewing that binding. It definitely came out better than my actual first coptic stitch book with watercolor paper which sprung open like crazy for several reasons I figured out later. I was making my stitches quite tight for one thing, so that may account for some of the stitching being a bit loose on this one even though I thought I was pulling them up snug, causing the signatures to move up and down, but at least there is very little spring! Love the look of those stitches, made with that hemp thread again.

Open cover waiting for stiffening inserts and strap before gluing shut

The covers were sewn on before gluing them shut, the sewing holes punched through the fold. Another piece of watercolor paper cut slightly smaller than one side of the cover were then glued inside for added stiffness, and I opted for a strap closure, one end of which was also glued inside and slits cut on the opposite side for it to slide through on the front. I didn't think my "faux suede" paper would be strong enough for a strap, even if doubled, so went looking for something else, finding fabric self-made bookcloth strips trimmed off while covering bookboard of another project. Too narrow to use one alone, but two butted together and fused to cardstock was perfect. Well, maybe the cardstock made the strap stiffer than necessary but at least it will hold up.

Here's a look at the inside after the cover was glued shut. Not sure how much that cover paper looks like leather. Sometimes the look and feel reminds me more of cork, which I am discovering is a favorite of many in the club for covering boards. They are buying the cork fabric you may have seen in quilt shops. I'd lose that feel if it turns out the paper can't hold up to use and need to have a coat of acrylic varnish added to protect it. Always an option but I didn't want to do it outright.

And here's the finished product, which I am pretty pleased with. I was also pretty pleased with the way I moved right along, day after day. So much of bookmaking actually is doing a step that doesn't take very long, then having to wait hours or until the next day while signatures are being pressed or glue is drying before proceeding to the next step. This pace and the breaking up of tasks suits my current attention span, not to mention it keeps me from overdoing it physically as it forces breaks that my sewing and quilting do not.