HAND BOUND BOOKS

I thought I would give a little insight into how I make hand bound books. I fell in love with the art of bookbinding a few years ago when I took an evening course. It’s an incredibly therapeutic craft, working with my hands, weaving the pages of paper together. It’s something you can’t rush, but so satisfying, as slowly a book forms between your hands.

1.

It all begins with measuring. Deciding how many holes to use to bind the book – a simple binding uses 3 – and then marking out where they will go. The more holes, the more complicated the sewing.

2.

I use a book-binding needle in a cork to pierce holes through all the pages. I give my dad full credit for suggesting doing this, it means no more sore fingers and makes pushing the needle into the spine of the book much easier!

3.

Once the holes are made, I’m ready to start sewing.

4.

Starting in the middle and looping the needle in and out, in a figure of 8.

5.

Threading through all the holes until the needle comes back through the center.

6.

I then tie a knot, and cut off the excess thread.

Here’s how it looks on the spine.

And that’s it!

Hand bound books can be created for notebooks, vows, order of service / order of ceremony, thank you cards and more!

If this has inspired you to create something hand bound, get in touch and see how we can bring it to life.

Images by the marvellous My Linh Le