Welcome Back
For those with long memories, you may remember I have made a case bound book a long time ago. This is my first voyage into real book cloth though and I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Case bound book, my first try with book cloth.
The covers are made from off cuts of mount board, the book isΒ A7 in size and has 80 gsm text weight paper. I followed Sage Reynolds instructions for constructing the case and this is my first successful spine gap. I have always struggled to allow sufficient space for the spine. I struggled to hold everything in the right place to measure as Sage showed in his video, but it was well worth the effort.
This book was a triumph of ‘What if…’ I didn’t have mull to line the spine so I used thin cotton bandage π turned out ok, I learnt to use a thicker end paper or apply less glue. This was my first book that was sewn onto tapes, or in my case organza ribbon π I even had a go at a wrapped endband. I used the method shown in Peter Baumgartner’s video and wrapped book cloth around a cotton cord. This taught me I needed to cut my finished head band closer to the book than I did, but for a first attempt it was worthy π

Here is the book with some embellishment added π
These A7 sized books are perfect for practicing techniques, they are fast to sew, use minimal resources and you learn a lot in the process. They also will make perfect gifts at Christmas, they are small enough to pop in you pocket, so really useful.
Links
Β
There are a couple of excellent channels on You Tube for book binding that I highly recommend for anyone trying this kind of binding for the first time.
Sage Reynold’s.Β Sage’s videos are awesome! He has such an efficient workflow and his passion for the subject shows in the care he takes with his projects. I’m linking to the main channel, but the video’s I used for this bind were the ‘Making a Case’ one’s.Β There are also video’s on how to sew signatures.
Peter Baumgartner. Peter’s videos show the entire process from start to finish including the sewing, I used the method for the sewing but didn’t have spine cloth so finished my book using Sage’s method.
Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon
Billie π
Congratulations! It looks awesome.
Thanks π
I’ve a lot to learn, but I’m encouraged by the results so far. I enjoy learning, so it will be a whole new path to explore now I have cloth.
Best wishes and thanks for your comment π
Billie π
your book really looks wonderful and it doesn’t look like a first try at all! Love the cloth you used, very appropriate for the fall season. Is it possible for you to share a photo of the book from ‘above’ to show the headband? It must look so nice. I made headbands with fabric on my #49, looks really cute π
Hi Dymphie
Thanks for your encouragement π I’ll have a go at photographing the book from above. See if I can get a picture up for monday.
Good news my trimmer arrived yesterday afternoon π as you say it was well worth the investment. More details on Monday’s blog entry.
Hugs
Billie π
So you made it, congrats! The book looks really tidy, and I like the cloth you used. Was it commercial bookbinding cloth or did you back it yourself? Anyway, looks like good work!
I agree with dymphie and would be curious to see the headband.
Hi Buechertiger
Thanks π I’m still not entirely sure about the spacing on the sides of the spine, but it is enabling the book to function well, so maybe it is correct????
The cloth was comercially produced bookcloth, and I used my teflon folder that DH bought me the other Christmas on it. WHich worked fine. I want to get the box maker tool in the same material, like Kiley has.
Will do my best to get a photo of the head band up for monday.
Hugs
Billie π
how cool your trimmer arrived, easy cutting is so nice π