
Piercing
the holes in preparation for sewing.

Stitching
Pattern
|
- Jog all the pieces of text paper together by tapping them
on a table surface so they all line up at all corners. Now
fold this packet of paper in half. You have created a signature.
- Fold the cover paper as you did the text pages (it
may have to be scored to crease well - The Scor-it Board
is an amazing tool for scoring paper) and wrap it around the
outside of the text pages.You have created a small booklet!
- Traditionally in bookbinding, the holes are pierced before
the book is sewn. Open the booklet to the middle page. Along
the spine "trench", use a pencil to mark three dots.
- Put one dot in the middle, 4 1/4" from the top, one
dot 1.5" from the top of the book (the head) and one
dot 1.5" from the bottom (the tail).
- Hold the book together firmly (or lay the book in a book
cradle, butting all the pages up to one end). Use an awl
to pierce holes through all the pages and the cover at the
dots.
- Thread your needle, single strand, no knot at the end. You
may begin stitching from the inside or outside. If you begin
on the outside, you'll have tails to attach charms and trinkets.
Leave about a 3" tail.
- Begin stitching at 1 and continue following the illustration.
Stitch through both the cover and the pages at the same time.
When you have finished stitching, make sure you have one thread
on either side of the thread that runs along the spine. Tie
these in a Reef or Square knot. Basically, secure it so it
doesn't come apart. Voila! You will never need another staple!
- If you have used a paper that is a different size by 8.5
x 11", then adjust the holes that are near the head and
the tail, so that they are evenly spaced between the middle
hole and the end of the book.
- You will notice that along the fore edge (the opening edge
of the book) the pages will "creep" ahead and show
outside the cover. To have all the pages align with the cover,
hold your ruler along the edge of the cover and use an X-acto
knife to cut off the offending text pages!
- Decorate and fill your book!
|