Thursday, February 11, 2021

Fabric Journal: Lesson 6

 Binding Your Journal

The binding style I used on my journal is quite a simple one.  While it looks like a Long Stitch binding, it is actually a series of simple 5 hole pamphlet stitches. Each spread is sewn into the cover individually, so you don't have to worry about long threads getting tangled and making a mistake close to the end of the binding.

The following video will show you how to make a template for punching your pages and cover for stitching.

Making Sewing Templates for Binding 

Punching Holes for Sewing

This video reviews the making of templates and shows how you use them to make the holes in your pages and cover.

Since you will have 5 pages to sew into your journal you will need a template with 5 columns of holes to indicate where the pages are to be sewn. You will make two of these templates. One will be taped to the inside of the spine area of the journal cover and one will be taped to the outside of the spine area.  This will help you see the holes when you are going from the inside to the outside and back again. Fabric has a way of closing up and making the punched holes difficult to see -- the paper lets you see where they are. 


Each page will be sewn in using a 5 hole pamphlet stitch.


The tails of the thread will be trimmed to a 1/4" after the thread has been knotted with a square knot and the next page will be sewn into place. 

Binding Your Journal

This video shows the actual binding of pages into the journal with the 5 hole pamphlet stitch. 

If you wish, you may put extra reinforcement in the spine area for added support. (I put an extra strip of felt along the spine) This will make sewing a little more difficult but will make the spine stiffer.  It is optional and will not affect the operation of the journal. 

Finishing Touches

Finishing Touches

When your journal has been bound, there are still some things that may need to be done.  If you have made your cover decoration separate from the cover, that will need to be attached and the closure will need to be added to the journal if you are planning to have one. The video above shows the final touches I added to my journal.

Tag for the Journal

This video gives a brief look at the tag that was made for the back pocket of my journal and quickly details the steps that were taken to make it.

Extras

The fabric accordion book doesn't need binding, it just needs to have it's covers attached to the pages.  The covers are simply fabric wrapped pieces of stiff interfacing that are slightly larger than the folded stack of accordion pages.  You don't want any of the pages showing when the covers are closes.

The Finished Accordion Book

Finished Circle Journal

Finished Shabby Chic Journal

In the after-class discussion for Lesson 6, we talked about how to measure for binding templates when the embellishments on your pages made them thicker at one end than the other.  The following video describes that process.

Creating Binding Templates for Pages of Differing Thicknesses

Sometimes the pages in our journal do not end up the same size.  That can make aligning the sewing holes so that stitching that crosses the facing pages looks the way you want when the pages are sewn into the journal, difficult to accomplish. The following video shows how to transfer the sewing station holes so that facing pages of differing sizes will align.

Aligning Facing Pages

We also discussed creating image transfers on fabric using gel medium and inkjet images. The following video provides a demonstration of the technique and the results. 

Image Transfers on Fabric


iq




No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...