Monday, September 26, 2016

Welcome to Fabric Covered Books 2016


Fabric Covered Books
 CEG Day Group - Two Full-Day Course

What to bring to the October 6th meeting
Kit Fee:         $12 for instructor-provided kit (correct change, please)




You will be making (a) one or two pamphlet books and (b) a book with long stitch binding and a fold-over flap.

General:

Equipment/Tools:
See the items on the list sent to you previously. Bring all items mentioned except:  brass or steel weight, curved needle; binders clips.

Fabrics: Your selected fabric outer covers can be decorated with stitching and other adornments, as you choose to do prior to the class – or not decorated at all. Avoid decorations that are particularly “lumpy” (bulky jewelry, for example). Inside covers should not be decorated.

Papers: Your kit will include 40 sheets of 8.5" x 11" 25 lb paper which should be sufficient to do both of the book forms mentioned below. However, for the second book, you may prefer to use other paper that you have selected and cut to 8.5" x 11", such as sketch book paper, varied papers – papers that you would like to write or draw on. For this book you would likely want to have 5 sets of 5 or 6 sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper in each.

Needles: You will need needles suitable to the thread you choose for both projects – that is, with an eye large enough to accommodate your selected thread(s).

Pamphlet Book(s)
You will make your choice of either (a) two small pamphlet books with a finished size of 5.5" high x 4.25" wide when closed or (b) one large pamphlet book with a finished size of 8.5" high x 5.5" wide when closed.

If you choose to make two small pamphlet books, bring:
  • Two outer cover fabrics, each measuring 7.5" high by 10.25" wide
  • Two pieces of fabric for the inside covers – complementing each of your cover fabrics – each measuring 4.5" high by 7.5" wide
If you choose to make one large pamphlet book, bring:
  • One piece of outer cover fabric measuring 13" wide x 10.5" high
  • One piece of complementary fabric for inner covers measuring 10" wide by 7.5" high

As well, bring thread(s) that complement your fabric choice(s), avoiding any that is particularly stretchy: linen thread, embroidery floss, perle cotton, crochet cotton, etc.

You will have sufficient 8.5" x 11" 25 lb paper in your kit* to make whichever of these books you choose.

Long Stitch Bound Book with Fold-Over Flap
Provided in your kit is a piece of FlexiFirm (9" x 15") which will be the foundation for the cover and fold-over flap closure for this book.

You should bring:
  • Fabric for outer cover measuring 10 ½" high by 17" wide. (Fabric decorated in a previous class or workshop – e.g., “Stupendous Stitching” – might make a great cover for this book.)
  • Fabric for inner cover measuring 9" high by 15" wide.
  • Book closure. Some ideas: button with straps or ribbons; buckle with fabric strap; elastic headbands; frog closure; toggle closure
  • Your choice of thread for stitching – strong but not stretchy – such as linen, embroidery floss, perle cotton, crochet cotton, decorative fibres.
  • Optional: beads for decoration of thread tails. Must be able to fit on selected thread used for binding.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Star Books

As a subset of our chapter of CBBAG, The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, a group of like mined souls formed the Alternate Book Group to investigate, as the name says, alternative books structures.  Alternative to the traditional book structures that we've already studied.

We each take a turn researching a structure and then sharing that knowledge with group.  The aim is to learn how to make a new structure that we can adapt to our own needs.

My book of choice was the Star Book.  I've always been interested in it's carousel like appearance and it's layered look.  It seemed to have so many applications.  Anyway, that was the one that I chose to explore and teach to the group.

Here are some of my examples:



This shows the sewn spine which is not usual with a star book.  This was my nod to traditional bookbinding and would give the book a sturdy structure so that it could be used like a codex.


This shows the interior pages.  I used lyrics from Bird on a Wire for my content.  The inner page is just the black outline part.
      
This shows the star shape when opened.


This is the cover of the Bee book.  It also has a sewn spine.

This shows the interiors pages.  I used quotes from The Life of Bees for the content and followed the honeycomb path for the text.


 This is one of the first pages for It's Complicated.  It uses increasingly more complicated cuts as the book progresses.


Three colours of paper help bring out the depth of the book pages.

 

Stopping By Trees uses the word of a Robert Frost poem as content.


The images are printed on transparencies and the book looks eerie when placed on a glass stand and illuminated from below.








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