Medieval limp binding
Feb. 28th, 2019 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
antuhsaI realised that I've spent a lot of time here talking about bookbinding, but haven't yet shared any of my work. High time to rectify that! Here are some pictures of a book I finished recently and that I'm quite proud of.
This project started with a scrap piece of leather that I found at the fabric market. I took it to bookbinding class and played around with it until I ended up with this book. That's pretty much what the process was like :p.
The binding method used for this is called longstitch binding or Medieval limp binding (though my book doesn't look Medieval in any way, nor did I intend it to). I had never done this binding before, so I thought it would be fun. The leather was a little too thin to be used on its own, so I lined it with this bright green bookbinder's linen to make it stronger. I think the linen goes with the leather beautifully and I love the pop of colour you get when you open the book.
The green line on the front of the book happened almost by accident. I was cutting off small strips of the lined leather to make it fit the pages better, when I suddenly had the idea to turn one of those strips around and glue it back on. I have to say, I love the effect! It's very minimalistic, but it makes the book look so much more visually interesting. I'm very happy with my well-timed moment of inspiration!
There are a couple of things I'd do differenty next time, but all in all I'm happy with how the book turned out. The project as a whole is not yet finished though, since I'm currently making a slip case for it to give it a bit of extra protection when stored or carried around. The book was intended as a birthday gift for someone, but that particular birthday has already come and gone... So it will be a belated gift once the slip case is done.
So there's a bookbinding project I've been working on recently. I've absolutely no idea how detailed I should be when talking about making books, but I hope it's enjoyable to see some images of my work at least ^^
This project started with a scrap piece of leather that I found at the fabric market. I took it to bookbinding class and played around with it until I ended up with this book. That's pretty much what the process was like :p.
The binding method used for this is called longstitch binding or Medieval limp binding (though my book doesn't look Medieval in any way, nor did I intend it to). I had never done this binding before, so I thought it would be fun. The leather was a little too thin to be used on its own, so I lined it with this bright green bookbinder's linen to make it stronger. I think the linen goes with the leather beautifully and I love the pop of colour you get when you open the book.
The green line on the front of the book happened almost by accident. I was cutting off small strips of the lined leather to make it fit the pages better, when I suddenly had the idea to turn one of those strips around and glue it back on. I have to say, I love the effect! It's very minimalistic, but it makes the book look so much more visually interesting. I'm very happy with my well-timed moment of inspiration!
There are a couple of things I'd do differenty next time, but all in all I'm happy with how the book turned out. The project as a whole is not yet finished though, since I'm currently making a slip case for it to give it a bit of extra protection when stored or carried around. The book was intended as a birthday gift for someone, but that particular birthday has already come and gone... So it will be a belated gift once the slip case is done.
So there's a bookbinding project I've been working on recently. I've absolutely no idea how detailed I should be when talking about making books, but I hope it's enjoyable to see some images of my work at least ^^
no subject
Date: 2019-03-02 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-05 07:12 pm (UTC)I'd love to bind something for you! I don't feel ready to take on commissions quite yet, but when I do, I'll make you all the books!