This week we looked at single sheet bindings, in particular Yotsume-Toji, more commonly known as the Japanese Stab Stitch. Single sheet binding are great for binding your own artwork or prints, as flip books or diaries. Don't forget that 15mm of the page is lost along the spine edge, so bear this in mind when planning your designs.
A sturdy awl is a must! The Japanese make the most amazing bookbinding tools. The slender one below is an example. For comfort, I often use the English awl which has a wooden handle that's a lot easier on the palm of the hand!
This is a book I made as an example to show the class, recycling a page from a magazine to cover the back board:
Our session at Artisan Community Art Studio went well, with everyone making a beautiful book to take home! It was really fun seeing the results of 8 different people's decisions on materials; from traditional bookcloth and marbled papers, to wrapping paper featuring a map of Paris and recycled art journal pages. The designs and colour combinations were very impressive and here are some pictures:
Thank you to everyone who came and for letting me share pictures of your work. See you next week!
Susan
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This blog post suggests 10 Ways to Use a Mini Journal in your daily life for mindfulness and creativity. Its prompts draw on ideas from artists, poets, writers, business coaches and psychologists.
What do those professional bookbinding terms mean? Can I use any kind of glue? Where do I find waxed linen thread? Do I need special paper? Is that awl as good as the one I already have? I hear you. I was you.
