All talk, no binding

Not a lot happening!
Because I somehow misjudged the amount of green and white sugar paper I had left I think I will try something different with them, which is why they are folded down; that leaves 1 sheet of white, 2 of blue, and 4 of pink, which I think I will make a little A6 sized...something!...from; plus 16 sheets of (relatively) A5 cartridge paper, which I will turn into one bigger sketch book. Maybe. If I ever get started :p

Finished child's drawing book

Done: slightly different from the pink one, though that is the same amount of canvas being used. Tragically I was a bit off the ball today, and missed a sewing hole (because I changed my mind about the pattern after I'd started), and the canvas was a little grubby :(

Maybe I'll like it more tomorrow...

Boys' drawing book

Beginning the next kiddies book, blue and white...

Sketch books 3 and 4

Hopefully the black and grey one will look less lumpy around the binding once I've pressed it for a while. Otherwise, that's all my sketch-book blocks used up (and my patience with the 'strings' for closing them - I have no faith that any of them will last, but sshh!)

Sketch Book - uh oh!

Getting dark, but it was worth it - canvas cover, book block, and back board are now one! Yay!

Overnight I weighted it down under a mountain of books, which is a good idea in theory to iron out any lumps or bumps....

...But a bad idea if you accidentally turn up a corner as you are putting it away, and it comes out the next morning with a definite crease :(

Also, the binding doesn't look as well at the back, over the board - getting the awl through the 3 different layers may have skewed it slightly and put out the symmetry...I will see if I like it better later!

Child's drawing book Finished :)

One kiddies drawing book, with handle!

The white bit is the secret ingredient - scraps of canvas a friend gave me to find something to do with them. So my idea had been to have canvas covers on front and back, for both the kid's and the sketch books, so people could design their own covers. But in this case the canvas I had just wasn't big enough - as a plan B I did a half 'n half job on it, on both sides...it would probably appeal more to kids this way anyway as it is more colourful, right???

Oh, for those more observant - no these are not hard-back books! It is called Japanese Stab Binding, and is quicker and less messy, as there's literally a single drop of glue involved, than the 'real deal'.

I may try a few hard-back versions...sometime...maybe!

Should I trim the little extra flap from the handle I wonder?

One Book Block

Stage one, book one = done :)

Cutting the Paper

Less sunshine, one bone folder, one quite-blunt kitchen knife (the cheap man's cobbler's knife), and 3 hours later - and all my paper has been folded and cut.



All the sugar-paper is in A4 size, because I will probably use it for kiddies books. I had intended that the cartridge paper be A6 size, (i.e. a quarter of an A4 sheet) for small cute note-books; but turns out the cartridge paper wasn't quite the A1 I'd expected, so all my folding and cutting will produce even smaller books than I'd intended!


So until I know if they will also be 'cuter', I only cut the final 2 of the 4 big sheets to A5 size (i.e. half an A4, or its equivalent).


But I'm hopeful - you can't see it in that picture I don't think, but it's actually really nice quality. If I can find a hammer sometime in the next day I may know by tomorrow what kind of final product they will make :)

Getting Started

Take a sunny day, a cleared off desk, and a lot of goodies...

...cutting mat, bone paper folder, craft knife, awl, mechanical pencils, steel ruler, bulldog clips, needles, crochet hook, and glue and glue brush (in this case a cheap stencil brush :p).

...Just to start with, 6 sheets of coloured sugar paper, 4 sheets of white cartridge paper, some newsprint, a packet of tissue paper, and some scrap canvas...

...and some pretty things...

...like multi-coloured embroidery thread and some pink, green and metal beads.