I began a frenzy of notebook binding a couple of days ago. Today I have a little collection of handmade Japanese stab bound books.
I got the inspiration from a back issue of my favourite magazines Oh Comely:
Alice Morby wrote a piece on Japanese stab binding, turtle pattern. It rekindled my love of making books. I took a course on fine bookbinding a few years ago and loved it but haven’t done anything since, until now…
First I made this notebook with a pad of parchment paper and hard card i’d scavenged from around the house. I covered the card with some beautiful paper from one of my colouring books.
I very carefully unwrapped the board and cut it to the right size so it sits nicely next to the stab binding. I glued the first page to the cardboard and placed it in between a couple of very heavy board games and left it there over night.
Next I made a little notepad from a round poster and an early draft of my novel. I trimmed the coaster to fit the notes and glues it the same as before to the front. I trimmed the excess paper from the notes and pressed it.
For my third notebook I tried a variation of the turtle pattern. it ended up a little messy but it’s nice nonetheless. I used thin card, by this time I’d run out of thick card to ferret out. I covered the card with fabric, using fabric glue, it would have been better if I used bookbinding Pva glue because it’s Ph neutral and wouldn’t leave marks.
The final notebook I made is similar to this one but with the simple turtle pattern and thick cartridge paper. I covered it in a jaunty nautical print. I’m sure there are much better ways to fabric bind books which i will look up at some point but for now I’m very happy with all my notebooks.
