Inlaid Leaf Print
This is the book I made during my book binding demonstration at the Japanese Paper Place Renovation Celebration. The book does not use adhesives along the spine to hold it together, it is stitched using a modified Coptic sewing. Both the leaf print paper and the gray cover paper are Japanese papers.
Leaf Print
The leaf on this book is an ink print from an actual leaf. I used Speedball ink (typically for lino and wood block prints). It is not waterproof which proved difficult when I assembled the book. A waterproof ink would have been more suitable. I found a leaf outside that had fallen from the tree. I rolled ink onto the back of the leaf. Then I placed the leaf onto a piece of Japanese paper and rolled (with a clean roller) the top of the leaf to make the impression. The impression smudged a bit when I pasted the back of the paper to glue it to the cover.
Inlaid Cover
For the cover of this book I wanted to "inlay" the leaf print. To do this I placed the print onto a sheet of the gray cover paper. I then used an exacto knife to cut around the outside of the leaf (leaving a small margin of green). This left me with a hole in the gray paper and a leaf which fit exactly into this hole. First I pasted the gray paper onto the cover board and then I pasted the leaf and fit it into the hole.
Sewing
Most Coptic sewings are done with a pair of needles--one on each end of the thread. This one, however, uses only thread on one end of the needle. This allows me to have an odd number of sewing stations. The book is sewn with a #5 waxed linen cord. I had to use pliers a number of times to get the needle through the holes. It's not ideal, but it does mean the holes aren't the main feature of the cover.
Cover instructions
The stitching for the "bird toes" is done by punching three holes into the board for each row of stitching along the spine. The top two "toes" and the bottom two toes share a middle hole.
Sewing instructions
- start with your needle inside the first signature.
- push it out and go around the outside of the cover and into the first hole (the one closest to the spine)
- go down through one toe and back through the hole closest to the spine (repeat for each of the toes)
- now go back into the signature through the same hole you came out. but this time go on the other side of the board. move along to the next hole and repeat this stitching for each toe on the cover
- add a new signature by doing a kettle stitch at each hole along the book. Basically: push your needle out of a hole, kettle stitch it to the previous section and put your needle back in the hole. A curved surgical or upholestery needle will help you immensely. Make sure to bring the thread back in after doing a kettle stitch so that none of it shows along the spine from the outside of the book.
- When you get to the cover, attach it the same way you did the front cover.
- End on the inside of a signature and tie off using "half hitches" (loop your thread around one of the finished sewing loops and pull tight).
