On Tuesday I found a few old posters at work, I asked the representatives about them, if they were to be used again all said no and that I could have them. I knew that at least one of the posters was at least 3 years old, the other at least 3 seasons old. I knew in advance that they wouldn’t be used again. Bringing them home I tried to figure out what I was going to do with them. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to glue to them- one was a thin sheet of plastic and the other typical vinyl coated ad glued to thin foam core. Neither of which would take glue well, I knew it was going to have to have Coptic stitching to use these posters.
SO I cut them all up, somewhat randomly to 3.5x5.5 inches and then punched a series of 4 holes in each cover. I also matched up the covers with some recycled backer board (very much like book board) that I had saved from packages of tags also from work.
I expected that I wouldn’t have a chance to work on any of these books until Friday, when I was to have my 2 days off. Instead I caught my significant other’s cold and I have been sick and I’m still ill. It’s one of those head colds where concentration is difficult and “stuff” comes from sinuses. Let us not talk about that. Let’s talk of pleasant things like Coptic stitching.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done any style of Coptic stitch, other than long stitch. I’ve been quite caught up in this recycled thing. So I’m out of practice and on the first 2 books I made, it shows. The first one I made was a standard 2-needle sewing done twice. The first set of stitching went well and looked great. I started the second set and it went well until the last signature. Where I forgot myself (James Bond Double OH Days of Christmas on Spike- my favorite cold weather TV marathon) and pulled in the wrong directions with too much tension. The combination of DayQuill and James Bond made me want to find a bad guy to toss it at to distract while I got away… (Only partially kidding, DayQuill does make me a little loopy.) I patched it up and cursed the fact that I had tied off the other set of stitches already, because if I hadn’t I would have been able to simply remove the bad signature and attach the cover. Ah well. See some pictures of my mistakes below.
The next mistake I made was when I decided to attempt a particularly difficult Keith Smith stitching where you attach the covers to each other first and then stitch on as if you are sewing onto cords. Instead of attempting this sewing with a single cord I attempted it with a double cord and a pack. Here again I blame the DayQuill for giving me a sense of ability far beyond my 2 year lay off from a stitch. It’s far better to practice a stitch a few times before attempting it on a cover you like. It’s also better to practice on easier stitched before attempting something so… Difficult. (Before anyone leaves a message scoffing at the difficulty of said stitch I implore you to go take a dose of DayQuill, fill your nose with mucus, smack your head with a hammer and get back to me after attempting any stitching.) Again check out the picture below. I realize now looking at the picture that though I wanted to do a loop and pack I didn’t pack as I had intended. Go figure.
The next 4 books were very successful 2 single needle coptics, one with a larkspur and braided linen book marker, one double needle stitch twice on the spine and a particularly interesting spine with black leather “split tapes” with a stitch and pack on them. The leather is then stitched onto the cover. For all the work that book was it’s my favorite. I love the binding and it just looks great. The red on black is a great combination and the dense heavy stitching is fantastic as well.
I fell in love with the book with the coffee cup and coffee beans. I managed to punch the holes on it upside down but still I love the cover and I’m keeping that one for me, a little feel better soon gift to myself.
Each is filled with 200 pages of Wausau opaque in ivory, unlined, acid free paper. I cannot vouch for the archival or acid free nature of the covers. I did test the backer board and it is lightly acidic. The stitching is all done with hand waxed Irish linen thread, unbleached but dyed. The 3 books without imperfects will be up on etsy later today and I’m deciding what to do with the 2 books with imperfections. I’m considering putting them up on eBay as a set. Or maybe something fun.
These books look awesome, including those in the next post (I also looked at the extra pictures on flickr).
Posted by: Swan | December 20, 2007 at 11:25 PM