Crafting with Cat Blog: How I mastered bookbinding

Hello crafty friends! Welcome to the next episode of my blog. Today I'm going to be talking about how I became completely addicted to bookbinding...

 

This story starts during 2020 when most of us were confined to our homes to reduce the spread of COVID-19. I was lucky to be able to work from home quite easily but was very aware that I didn't want to fall into the trap of working all the time. So, I turned, as I often do, to my creative pursuits. One day I saw an advert on Facebook for an 'Introduction to Bookbinding' kit. I had already wanted to have a go at bookbinding, so I quickly ordered the kit and within a week it arrived.

 

I will say that I was under the impression that there was a lot of equipment needed - and if this were your day job that might be so, but I quickly found that you could just as easily use things you had around the house instead. For example, I found that I could replace a book press with a couple of heavy books, and I could sew small books together without needing a sewing frame. After a while I did invest in a finishing press and plough, but I'll talk about that a little later.

 

 

I quickly got the hang of folding and sewing the page signatures (a nested set of 4 sheets) together. I started out using plain paper for the pages but realised that people may like lined notebooks. I found it was surprisingly difficult to get good quality lined paper to use in bookbinding projects, it seems that this is a constant theme across the bookbinding community. I did find a supplier for a while, but they have stopped supplying so I'm going to look into printing my own - watch this space!

 

Initially the thing that I found the most challenging was neatly cutting the edges of the book blocks. With some practice I got better at cutting with a blade and ruler, however I wanted to find a more consistent method. I don't have space for large equipment so a guillotine large enough to cut blocks was out of the question. However, I do have room for a small plane, so after a little research I treated myself to a custom-made finishing press and plane. This has made the job a lot easier, although arguably messier! I've also had to learn about how to sharpen the plane blade as it rips and wrinkles the pages if allowed to blunt.

 

 

But the pages are only half of the story. I learned how to turn ordinary cotton fabric that you would use for quilting in to book paper (using double-sided iron-on adhesive and tissue paper) and how to make simple, cheap and non-toxic paste with cornflour or rice flour and water that is used to assemble the hard cover and then finally attach the page block and cover.

 

 

And here it is - the first book I ever made from scratch! Since then, I have made many, many notebooks and perfected my style. There are many in my store to choose from!

 

 

I've also been working on a new product. I made these fabric covered photograph albums with box covers for a present for my Mum. I'm still perfecting the method for these, but I definitely plan to add these to my store in the future.

 

 

A notable point from this story is that having a load of notebooks that I had made was what encouraged me to start my store in the first place. If you are someone who likes somewhere nice to keep your notes, why not have a look?

 

See you next time.

 

Catriona Marshall, 4 May 2024