Book Making 2

I managed to part F from an old light blue shirt and cut a large rectangle out that was enough to cover the book completely. I then took my silk paints and started to paint the cotton. It became obvious painting was not going to do it so I just dropped it on using three colours, azure and navy blues and purple. I then sprinkled it with enough water to make it damp and scrunched it in my hands to allow the water to spread and the dye with it.

I scanned the material several times and above shows one of these although there is a bit more purple in real life. I then added some metallic inks with a sponge - do this after you have put the cloth onto the book as the glue made this a little messy as the ink ran. The silk paints were fine because I had ironed them to set them.


The photo below shows the board covers laid on the cloth. I cut the board near the holes to make strips. The cloth will act as a hinge between these two bits of board so the book can still be opened once it is bound.

I then taped the board across the middle to hold it the distance apart I wanted it and to hold all the pieces tsraight relative to each other. Make sure you allow a little extra spine width to allow for the thickness of the board - I didn't and had to rip a few pages out. Then glue the outside of the board covers and stick down onto the cloth. Stroke the cloth outwards to remove any bubbles and wrinkles and to ensure it is taut.

The masking tape across the middle is no longer required so can be removed. Fold the fabric across the corners and glue it so that wherever fabric touches fabric or card with the fold it will stick. I then ironed the corners to ensure the material was smooth and well folded. I then glued all the fabric flaps, ensuring there was glue right up by the cover and folded the material over, ensuring that I smoothed it to make sure it was taut. I then removed any excess glue that had come through the cloth and secured with masking tape as it dries.



This next part is hard to photograph... I then took some black cotton and took it through one of the board holes through the cloth into the inside of the book. I then threaded all the pages and took the cotton through the hole in the other cover and through the cloth. I then took the thread through the second set of holes, then the third and fourth and then back down. I did this alot of times!

Make sure all tail ends are at the same place and sew them through so they are between the first / last page and the cover. Knot them together and then slide them under the sewn down spine, near the holes. Then put glue along the spine to stop them escaping and coming loose. Press down the spine so any escess glue comes out and wipe away.


Of course it isn't finished yet! I need to make or find some preety paper to glue across the first page and front cover and also the last page and back cover. This will hide the edges of the fabric and the board on the inside and ensure the book is fully joined together. Now I have lots of lovely interiors to make for my Neice!

Book Making Part 1

I started to make my first book tonight.

I haven't done much. I took 24 sheets of A4 paper from a folder which had 4 holes punched. I then punched four holes in each of two pieces of A4 board for the covers. I then took 23 further of the pages and sliced them so I was left with a thin strip of paper with the four holes. The slices will sit in between each full sheet to make the book fatter so there is a little more room to accommodate collage and paint.

Next I need to find an old shirt of F's....