Learning Coptic Binding

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Liz Constable from Book Art Studios posted on Facebook March 17th: You asked! So here I am asking for your help to get me started…Teaching online. What platform do you favor and why? Everyone who comments will go in the draw to win a 1-1 3 hour teaching session with me…

Posting from Liz

I responded that I heard Skillshare is good. And Liz announced on March 28th that I won!  

I was so pleased and excited too!  We started Skyping on Monday April 4th at 4:00 pm my time which was 9:00 am New Zealand time.

Our first session was to determine what I wanted to learn and what Liz wanted to teach. Even though I’ve been bookbinding a good while I find the Coptic stitch to be challenging. I like this style since the book lays flat for art journaling and calligraphy. Liz said she liked the Coptic stitch, so we planned our next one hour meetings for the following 3 Mondays.

For the first teaching session, Liz asked me to have a cup of black coffee available, and to figure out the paper size. I used Arches Text Wove paper - 10 by 6 1/4 inches. Liz demonstrated various ways to dye paper with coffee and other ways to decorate paper. It was most exciting!

Our second session focused on the template. Liz suggested I make the covers the same size as the text block but my covers were slightly larger. (On the covers I used marbled paper a friend brought back from Turkey.) I was a bit derailed with the dreaded template and it took the full hour!

The last session we hole-punched the covers and sewed the book! I had never sewed this type of Coptic binding so it was truly an enriching experience. We went over a half hour and Liz was most patient with me.

The day after our last meeting I sewed another one so I would remember what I had done. 

I used a cloth covered binding this time. I found the Fleur de Lys cloth at Joann's.

I colored the end pages of each of the eight signatures using acrylic paints since they are fast drying. I plan to dye paper with coffee and play with the other methods I learned too!

Coptic binding looks like a row of chain stitches.

Liz is now available to teach via Skype! And she is currently writing an E-Book about bookbinding. I already let her know I am her first customer for that book! Liz can be found on Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/BookArtStudios/

If I can answer any questions you have, please ask me by Entering your Comment below.

Edible Book Day

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

April 1st is Edible Book Day, celebrated since 2000, with the Books 2 Eat Festival in Houston and globally too. Tonight festivities held at 7:00 pm at The Printing Museum. For this event I created my "A is for Apples" book using a French Link Binding.

Here are some of the steps I took sewing the French Link Stitch. I begin by making sewing stations (holes) inside my sewing cradle using a needle awl. 

Glossy white paper cut 7 3/4 by 4 3/4 inches to fold six pages together to form a signature. Six signatures for a total of 144 pages in the text block. A page in front and back are glued with apple end papers to each cover.

I wanted to have a ribbon to tie to an apple, but also tie a bow after the apple is eaten. So besides having the ribbon I also have the two hinges to prevent the book from going wobbly.

I sewed two kettle stitch areas at the head and the tail. Even though I started sewing from the outside, at the last sewing station (hole) I thread a needle, make a kettle stitch, then bring the thread inside to knot and tie off. 

I placed the book in my Arnold Grummer Paper Press for a few hours before I glued the apple end papers to the front of the text block & front cover, and repeat for the back cover. 

The French Link stitch is a pretty binding with an open spine where you can see the stitches.

I'm happy with how it came out! Thanks go to Lee Steiner, current President of the Houston Book Arts Guild who suggested using a basket and the title, A is for Apples, too!

Ribbon Book Binding

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

We had interesting themes when we swapped handmade books online a few years ago. It was always fun seeing what each person made. The books had content, except when we would have a Blank Book Exchange or a How-To Book Binding.

The How-To Book Binding theme always received the most participation! We included the paper and instructions. I sent the Ribbon Binding - pretty and an easy book to make. It requires only 4 pages with a cover, plus a good amount of ribbon. Especially good for using leftover hand-made paper scraps.

Supplies: 

Arnold Grummer Paper Making supplies. 

Arnold Grummer Paper Making how-to.

Cover: 5 1/2 by 8 inches, folded in half to 4 inches by 5 1/2 inches

Paper: 4 pages 5 1/2 by 8 inches, also folded in half - I used stationery with roses on the edges

Pretty Hand-made paper: 3 by 4 inches - Paper that I made with flower inclusions

Optional paper for framing the handmade paper on the cover: 2 1/2 by 3 1/2

Ribbon: 4 feet; Double sided tape

Two beads with large holes

Directions:

• Start by wrapping the ribbon around the outside into the inside middle of the cover. Tie a knot at the top leaving 6 inches of ribbon - where you’ll add a bead

• Fold in one page wrapping the ribbon around the valley fold of the page. Loop through the ribbon at the bottom
• Fold in the second page and wrap the ribbon, loop through the ribbon at the top
• Proceed doing the same for the next two pages and you’ll arrive back at the top.
• Tie another knot at the top.

Knots at top and bottom

• To avoid pages slipping, cover the ribbon binding with frame and hand-made paper.
• Thread beads to the ribbon. The beads should have large holes to go through the ribbon. Tie a knot at the end of the bead.

Fun to make, put the book in an Easter Basket! Plus fun to keep for a little diary or journal.

Marbling Suminagashi Style

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

During a two day book making class I sewed four Japanese bindings, marbled many sheets of rice paper and made a wraparound red cloth case with bone clasps holding it all together.

We worked on a paper marbling technique known as Suminagashi. With two Sumi ink sticks, vermilion and black, I rubbed the Sumi sticks on a grinding stone in a small amount of distilled water. I used bamboo brushes to drop the ink in the water. Sumi ink is also used with Asian calligraphy. 

This week I marbled with an updated Suminagashi technique, using paint I bought from Dick Blick, called Boku-Undo which comes with instructions.

In my garage: one inch deep cookie tray, 12 x 18 inches, water filled, six colors of paint, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and black, I was ready! Dripping in four colors for each sheet of paper, swirled water colors around with a bamboo brush; cleaning out paint, after each page was completed, with a horizontal tear of newspaper sliding along the surface of water.

This is one of my favorite papers: I used Yasutomo Japanese Rice Paper, also found at Dick Blick. Marbling on the fuzzy side of the Rice Paper allows the Boku Undo or Sumi Ink to stick to the paper.



Back to the workshop: we accomplished so much in two days! We sewed these four Japanese bindings: Kikko Toji (Turtle Shell Binding - my favorite); Asa-no-ha Toji (Hemp Leaf Binding); Koki Toji or Kangxi (Noble Binding) which is a 6 hole binding; and Yotsumi Toji (Four Eye).

Hemp Leaf

Turtle Shell

Noble Binding

Four Eye

Unfortunately, when I took the workshop my bindings were not sewn tight enough.

A more recent Turtle Shell Binding has a tighter sewing tension with attached beads. Guess you know I like red covers! And this book made a nice gift. If you have any questions - please let me know in the Comments section.