Sewing
- Clean white
thread
Put talc (baby
powder works) on your hands to
prevent finger oils from darkening sewing thread.
-
Threading Needle
Needle the thread
rather than threading the needle. Flatten out or twist the end of
the thread so that it will go through the hole easily.
Put the end of your thread between
the pads of your thumb and forefinger. Pull it down so that you can
barely see the tip of the thread. See photo below.
Now lay the eye of the needle over
the thread and open up your finger and thumb a little, tiny bit. The thread should pop right up through
the hole in the needle. This can take a little
practice but it's simple once you have it.
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Aligned
Signatures
Before you tie a
kettle, Coptic or other "knotting" stitch, be sure to adjust the signatures so
that the head, tail and spine edges line up with the other
signatures and with the cover (if it's on the book at this point). Once you’ve tied a knot (or have sewn a kettle stitch) the
placement of the signatures is permanent.
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On the frame
I love sewing books
on a sewing frame as there is much more control over the shape of
the spine.
-
When sewing on a
frame, I like to use straight pins
instead of keys or pushpins. They make it easy to string the frame and you don't
have to make holes in the wood or worry about keys coming loose.
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Some people will tie
the ends of their sewing tapes or cords to string and then tie the string to
the sewing frame. This saves on the more expensive cord or tape.
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Stringing up
a frame is a little time consuming. If your frame is tall
enough, gang-sew text blocks for a very efficient time saver.
When you finish one text block, tie your double kettle and then cut it off
as normal. Now just start sewing your next text block, right on
top of the last block.
When you are finished sewing all the blocks you are going to,
remove the blocks (and tape) from the frame.
Carefully pull the blocks so that they are spaced out on the
tapes, with enough tape on each side of each block to use for
lacing or gluing on the cover boards.
Cut the tapes between the blocks and you have the makings of
several books ready to go.
-
Raise the
text block up from the deck of the frame by placing it on top of
a finished book. It gives your fingers more room to manipulate
the needle when working down at the bottom of the stack of
signatures, and it also raises your signatures up to where the
tapes lie a little more neatly on the frame.
Off the frame
When
I’m making a small book (say, 10 signatures or fewer), a frame can
be overkill. When sewing without a frame there are some simple
things to do to maintain control.
Remember: Beeeeeee the frame.
- Sew your
book on the edge of the table with the spine edge facing you and
about ¼” hanging off the edge of the table. The less you move
the sewn signatures the better. This position gives you a bird's
eye view of your work and also gives your needle room to come
out of the text block without running into the table.
- Keep
your non-dominant hand inside each signature while sewing.
You'll find yourself depending on it to control thread tension,
to hold the thread still while you form a knot, to hold your
place between 2 signatures, to help feed the needle through a
hole and for other helpful little tasks like removing twists. Use your
non-dominant hand the same way when sewing on the frame.
- Keep weight on the
fore-edge of the book as you sew; either your hand or, if you are
walking away, use a small, clean weight. I also keep a weight on top of the
stack of signatures I haven't sewn yet to help keep them compressed
while they await their turn.
One step kettle
Most people form a kettle stitch in 2 steps; send the needle under
the bridge of thread and then bring it back through the loop. You
can do all this in one step by sending the needle under the bridge
of thread and stopping before the needle is all the way through the
gap between the signatures.
Throw the sewing thread over the needle (the equivalent of reaching
through the loop and grabbing the needle) and then pull it
taut. It's faster and it's the exact same knot (essentially a
half-hitch).
Measuring
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Relative
measuring
When making a tight-back book, it’s
important that your materials are the exact size in relation to
one another. Don’t use a ruler to measure materials and then cut
them all ahead of time. Instead, use spring dividers, calipers (or Vernier
gauge) and
Measuring Rules
to measure and cut as you go. All your
measurements, and therefore your materials, will be cut relative to
one another. If something changes along the way, subsequently cut
materials will evolve with it. For instance, the boards should be
measured and cut only after the text block is fully sewn (including
headbands), rounded and backed. It’s easy to slap down a 1/8”
measuring
rule and score a line for cutting the boards in relation to the
size of the text block.
Rules make measuring quick!
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Measuring
rules
Rulers
sometimes have little notches where the tick marks are. When you run
a knife down those tick marks you can dull it, or even chip the
blade. Our rules don’t have tick marks.
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Portable
measuring
Volcano Arts' measuring rules are the greatest time savers. The
only
problem is that they are too long to fit into my toolbox (see
below). The answer? Cut a set in half and carry one half in
your toolbox. I cut mine on a cutoff saw (made for cutting metal,
not wood). Use a grinder to make the cut ends match the uncut ends.
Adhesives
- When using paper
to cover board, mix
PVA 50/50 with
Methylcel to
increase the time you need to smooth out any wrinkles. I have
this great paper that has a flocked design on it. When it's wet the
paper stretches but the flocked areas can't, so the paper gets very
puckered. Adding methylcel to the PVA means that I have the time to
work the wrinkles out before the glue dries.
- This happens to
everyone. You're squeezing your glue bottle, but it's clogged. Then
suddenly whoosh! You have too much glue and it's where you didn't
want it. Avoid this problem by putting a sewing pin in the cap.
Pin in glue cap helps prevent clogs
(a larger pin would be better) |
Fred
Sanford lives!
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Bookbinding is close work and when we hit a certain
age reading glasses can become our favorite accessory. Buy a pair of readers that is a little stronger than your normal
reading magnification. For instance, if you normally wear 1.5s, put
on a pair of 1.75s just for sewing books. Soon you’ll have a “Fred
Sanford glasses drawer” just like mine. Naturally you'll want to
talk to your eye doctor before taking my advise.
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For removing knots or other super-detailed work I
like to use an
OptiVisor.
Marching kettle stitches
Little soldiers
When sewing kettle
stitches (the stitches at the head and tail of the book, which hold
the signatures together), it's important to pull the thread in the
same direction every time so that the stitches all march in the same
direction like little soldiers.
Leather weight and one-step kettle
stitch
Ace Bandage around text block and
finishing press
Glue Brushes
-
Clean glue brushes
I've heard it so many times, "I forgot to
clean my
brush after using
PVA
(synthetic adhesive). Now I have to throw the brush out." No you don't!
- The first thing to try when your
brush is stiff from glue is to simply soak the brush in a dish of cold water (hot water may expand the metal ferrule on your
brush, causing the bristles to fall out -- a great tip for painters
too). Soak it for an hour or two
(or overnight if you have a lot of adhesive to contend with). This will
reactivate the PVA so that you can clean the brush normally. Once the
adhesive
is out, use a brush cleaner (a cake of brush-friendly soap in a deep
jar) to get rid of any globs hiding in the bristles.
- If soaking the brush in water
doesn't do the job and the bristles are still stiff, try this
excellent technique. Put a little white vinegar (maybe a teaspoon or
so) in a glass and then fill it to the bottom of the brush's ferrule
with hot water (I know, I know, I just told you not to use hot
water, but we're desperate here). Hot tap water is fine. Put the
brush in and let it soak for about 30 seconds. It will come out soft
and supple.
Now you have a brush with vinegar (3% - 6% acetic acid) in it. Any
binder worth her salt knows that one of the most important things
about bookbinding for posterity is to keep the pH as neutral as
possible. To neutralize the acid in your brush (raise the pH), dump
the water/vinegar out of the glass, rinse the glass and refill it with cold
water. This time add just a little baking soda (a base).
Use the glue brush to stir the neutralizing solution for about 30
seconds, pressing the bristles against the side of the glass to open
them up and let the baking soda into the interior bristles. Rinse
the brush thoroughly, again opening it up and rinsing the inside.
Your brush should be ready to go back to work.
-
Rustless adhesives
Keep brushes with metal ferrules as dry
as possible to lessen rust contamination in your adhesives. Better yet,
buy glue brushes with plastic or string ferrules and
buy and
store your
adhesives in squirt bottles rather than dipping your brush into them.
Paring
- Paring stone
- Binders who pare
leather (make it thinner) by hand do so with an incredibly sharp
knife called a "paring knife" and they work on a stone. It's
fashionable to use a litho stone, but I like to use a lovely piece
of granite that's about 3" thick. They're a lot cheaper,
easier to find and you
can get them in whatever size and weight that you want. Check out
your local leather store to see if they have any nicely polished
stones. Be sure to get a heavy one or it could slide around.
- Speaking of your
paring stone sliding around, put a piece of that bumpy rubber shelf
liner stuff under your granite or litho stone and sliding will no
longer be an issue. Design binder Dominic Riley quipped once that
binders in England drink beer so that they can hold their paring
stones in place with their bellies. ;-D
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No more
sharpening stones
Brace yourself. I sharpen my
paring knives on abrasive papers. These come in many, many grits and
are better suited to the task than water or oil stones. I hear some
of you saying, "Sacrilege! The old timers use stones so that must be right." Yeah, I used to
think so too, but after taking a class with Book Conservator Ann
Lindsey I learned that the portability and disposability of abrasive
papers makes them far superior. They don't have to be soaked, oiled
or trued (flattened), and when one piece of paper wears out you
throw it away and use another. Just splash a little water onto
your paring stone to hold the paper in place and then drip a little
more on top of the paper for lubrication. Keep your angles true or
you'll make a mess of your knives.
|
Pressing
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Artist's tape
for headbands
After sewing
headbands onto your book, glue the ends of the threads down and then use a piece of
artist's tape to hold them down while they dry. The artist's tape
won't ruin your paper (test to be sure), but it's strong enough to do the job.
This is also a great trick if you're using glued-on headbands.
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Artist's tape
for press placement
I can't explain
it, but I used to really struggle with getting a book block into the
finishing press. I'd end up with twisted, misaligned blocks
and invariably one signature would be on a different plane than the
rest. Given my retentive nature, this drove me nuts. Low tack artist's tape to the rescue!
Now I jog the block until it is exactly
how I want it to look after gluing. I then set my waste boards in
place and hold everything tightly while I put a long
piece of artist's tape around the whole thing; book block, waste
boards and all. Once it's taped it's a simple matter to set the
block into the press, ready for the first layer of glue. Once the
glue is dry I remove the tape and move on to the rounding and
backing steps.
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Laminate
under light weight
When laminating
2 pieces of binder's board together, don't put them in a nipping
press. The twisting motion of the press will rotate the boards and
they won't be lined up when you pull them out. Use a board and a
weight instead.
- First aid for drying spines
When you're working on the spine of
your book while it's in a finishing press, you need a way to insure
that everything is tight while the glue dries. An Ace Bandage is
perfect when lining the spine or when adding a hollow tube. After
gluing, just wrap the bandage around the whole book and the press
and set it aside. The clips that come with the bandage aren't
necessary. Just tuck the end under the press and the weight will
keep it in place.
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Passive
compression
For compressing signatures while I sew, I like to use the weights that surveyors (and others) use. They are
1 1/2 pound bags of shot (as from a gun) sewn into 2 pieces of
leather, like a little pillow. After I spent $8 a piece on these, a
friend of mine made me several more from her husband's lead shot
supply. It's now illegal to hunt with lead shot because of its
effect on the environment and this was a great re-use! Warning,
double stitch the bags. You don't want lead balls all over the house.
- Active compression
There is no better tool for compressing signatures to reduce swell
than our Volcano Arts Teflon Folder. The tool is heavy and wide so I find
that the process is quicker and more efficient than with a bone folder.
Backing Fabric
- YouTube treasure
Here's a great video on YouTube that shows you how to
use
methyl cellulose
to back silk
with paper to make book cloth.
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Backing upholstery fabric
In craft bindings you might want to use upholstery
fabric to cover your book (horrors!). Traditional binders use
wheat starch paste or methyl cellulose for backing fabric (though they wouldn’t be caught dead
using upholstery material), but it just isn’t strong enough to hold
heavy fabrics. Use straight PVA rather than paste or a mixture of
adhesives. Note, some upholstery fabrics have a moisture guard on
them and may not stick even with straight PVA. Test a scrap.
Travel
Travel
box
Personally, I sew books wherever I am so I have a
bookbinding box
ready to go at a moment's notice. To make one for yourself, find or make a great
looking and durable box with a lid (a handle is nice too). Drawers and dividers
are very helpful. Now fill it with everything you might need to make
a book on-the-go, even if you're only going to the living room.
Mine is now so well stocked that I rarely need hand tools that
aren't in the box. I just set my box on the table next to me and
start working. No more running here and there in the studio to find
everything I need. I've made a little hobby out of finding the exact
right containers for everything in the box. Mint and candy
containers
become
tiny, colorful little holders for needles, scalpel blades, sharps,
etc. See what's in my box in the list below.
Closed Box
Inside Box
Here's what's in my travel box right now
{{sounds of rummaging}}
Spring dividers
Glue brushes
Pen, pencil and eraser
China markers in light and dark colors
Pad of sticky notes
Straight pins for sewing frame
Needles
of various sizes and shapes
Toothpicks
Wash cloth
Water brush
Bone
and Teflon folders
in several sizes and shapes
Awls in 2 sizes
Japanese screw punch and tips
Chisel for cutting holes for tapes
Small cutting mat
Ruler
Artist's tape
Baby powder
X-Acto knife and blades
2
Scalpels with straight and curved
blades
Sharps container for used blades
Sandpaper
Tweezers
Slitting knife with cover
Small metal square
Scissors
Assorted
adhesive brushes
Squeegee for backing paper
Leather weight
Saddle square
Measuring rules
cut in half
2 Lifting knives
Christine Cox teaches
metalsmithing and bookbinding
classes in her studio in Volcano, CA. |
