Rainy days are perfect for makin' books

Not that I need a rainy day excuse - I loooooove making books! And over the last few days, that seems all I've been doing... you should see the sorry state of my studio (umm ahhh)...

In truth, I'm creating book samples for the Eco Books bookbinding workshop I'm holding in Sydney this weekend (but more about that later). By 'eco books', I mean handmade books made from recycled and found materials. It's been all sorts of fun scouting around my studio for bits and bobs to turn into a variety of little books - vintage button cards, scraps of fabric, an old 70s 'How to Sew' book, children's ABC blocks, vintage sewing patterns, offcuts of scrapbooking papers, coloured thread - they've all been scavenged and reworked into books.

My favourite, and the one that easily took the longest, was a concertina-folded pocket book based on a vintage sewing theme (in case you hadn't already guessed...).

 

The covers are made from two vintage button cards adhered to some pinking-sheared scraps of pink paper. The red thread ties together the thick parcel, and serendipitously loops nicely around one of the red buttons to lock it in place.

 

Inside the concertina-folded book, pocket pages hold a variety of sewing bits (needle book, vintage thread, aqua buttons on a card), as well as three tiny pamphlet books made from fabric, paper, or both.

 

The three books included a corduroy-covered pamphlet made from bits of an olding sewing book and sewn with red thread; a fabric 'needle book'; and a pamphlet that used pieces from a vintage Butterick sewing pattern. The three books are tiny, and tuck nicely into the pockets inside the concertina-folded book.

 

The little needle book is a classic example of a pamphlet stitched book, made from just a few scraps of fabric and embroidery thread I had lying around in the craft drawers.

 

 

 

Another little pamphlet book was based on a vintage Butterick sewing pattern I picked up at an op shop. Not that sewing pattern tissue paper is the easiest to bookbind with, but I just love the look of those old graphics! The cover I made from a snippet of the sewing pattern instruction sheet, laminated to some cute 'measuring tape' scrapbooking paper.

I also made a few other concertina-folded examples (not photographed), as well as this bigger, A6-sized, suede-and fabric-covered, pamphlet book:

 

 

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So, getting back to the Eco Books bookbinding class... It's very short notice, but if you're free this Saturday afternoon (11th September, 1-5pm) I'm holding the class at the NSW Bookbinders Guild bindery workshop in Rozelle. I'll be teaching three different bookbinding techniques: 1. a pamphlet sewn notebook, 2. a pocket concertina book, and 3. a 'chocolate book' - a miniature leatherbound book with windows cut into the spine to expose the coloured page sections inside (shown above).

If you're interested, send me an email and I'll reply with all the class details:

 

And if you're not able to make it this weekend, I will be holding this class again, possibly next month. So drop me a line if you'd like to know more.

Ok, best I be starting to tidy up this studio now...

Michelle
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Comments

[simmone]

hello - please come to melbourne so I can pick your brain! I do zine workshops but am a paper fancier and always interested in seeing what magic other people create ...your book look beautiful :)

[Shelbyville]

Hey Simmone,
I was just in Melbourne a few weeks ago! Tried to organise a bookbinding class for when I was there, but just couldn't find a venue in time
:( so I had to cancel it.
I'm into zines too - which zines have you done?
Michelle.