A while ago I made a 'secret belgium' bound book for a friend's birthday. I found the binding a bit tricky, but after receiving some helpful comments on different ways of construction I had another go...
This time I sewed the book block first using plastic strips as tapes, then constructed the cover around the book block hooking the thread under the plastic strips and connecting the whole lot together at once (thank you Mary!)
I must admit though, I still found it a bit tricky :) And although this time the cover seemed easier, the pages feel a bit wobbly... Perhaps a mixture of the two methods should be my next experiment; sew the book block, use it to sew the covers to the correct tension and then sew the pages to the spine and tighten it all up... third time lucky?
3 comments:
Hi Sarah,
I'm glad things are improving for you, Belgian-wise!
I'm not sure how you would accomplish the third experiment since the cover threads hold the book block as well (the Belgian secret! ;-)
All I would say is that this structure takes some practice to get the tension right. When I'm sewing the cover to the book block I pull on the thread as hard as I can. Books can always loosen up, but it's nearly impossible to tighten properly after it's done. Are you using waxed linen thread? That's nice and strong and "grips" the covers quite well.
The spine thread will still hold the pages, I'm just going to try sewing it through afterwards with a curved needle then tighten it all up... just an experiment :) And yes, practice is in order!
And I was just using any old thread I had to hand, perhaps I need to invest in the proper stuff...
it looks lovely! so glad you tried it again this way - i learned to do it like this and after doing several of them, i can get them quite solid and snug now. i think the real secret must be in the practicing!
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