Fabric, Paper & a Bundle of Fur

Hi Friends! I have slowed down in the craft room quite a bit over the past few months, but I haven't been completely dormant. Between sewing, making books, and training our new puppy, I've been busy. I've sewn my entire life, and my daughter is interested in learning now, so I'm teaching her with the help of a fantastic book called "School of Sewing," by Shea Henderson. It was written for adults who want to learn to sew, but my 11-year old hasn't had a problem with it at all, and the projects in it are super cute and fun to make! If you've wanted to learn to sew, but thought it was too difficult, I highly recommend the School of Sewing! Here are the projects we've worked on, so far:

I can't be around sewing without wanting to sew myself, so I pulled out an old book of handbag patterns and made this one:

It's called a Versatile Handle Handbag because you can easily adjust the length of the handles. This is the short length.

And, this is the long shoulder strap length. The pattern in the book ends up being more of a tote bag because the inside of the bag is just a big empty sack, so when the handle is adjusted for a shoulder strap, and there is any weight inside the bag (my bags always weigh a ton because of my iPad), the bag draws up like a drawstring bag would, and everything inside the bag just falls into a pile in the bottom of the bag, which I hated. To try to fix that, I created an unattached hard bottom with a lined zippered pouch divider sewn to it.

Still not exactly what I would like, but because of the design of the sides of the bag, I couldn't figure out a way to attach the pouch to the sides of the bag. As long as I have all my stuff in there, though, it works fine. As for the electric colors, I'm not sure how much I like them on this bag, but being my first handbag, it was fun to make and I learned a few new techniques in the process. Maybe it will work better as a summer bag.

I haven't made a card in awhile, but I have had a chance to work with paper. I needed to make a book to donate as a door prize for my daughter's bowling league, so I made one that I thought would be simple...and it would have been, if it hadn't been so long since I'd made a book. Getting the back cover on gave me fits, but I finally got it figured out. I definitely need to make a few more, real quick, before I forget how to do it again!

The book is 4.75" x 7", with 176 blank white pages, and a taupe elastic closure.

It is stitched in a rose-colored waxed linen thread, using Coptic Stitch and Gathered Long Stitch.

The inside of the journal is blank, but on the first page I stamped this great quote from a retired MFT Stamps set called "Own Your Story." 

Finally, I mentioned, back in November that we lost our Silky Terrier after 16 years. I was so sad, I said I'd never get another dog, but then, this guy showed up in my Facebook feed, looking for a forever home. I just couldn't resist...

Dexter is about 18 months old, and the vet thinks he's a PBGV/Terrier mix. (We'll know for sure once the DNA test results come in). He's just about the sweetest dog ever, but he is twice as big as Ozzy was, and he's still got some of that puppy hyperness at times. He is very short, but has figured out how to jump from a chair in our den onto the kitchen counters, he can open the doors in our house, he busted a lamp--twice, and just this week, he chewed up our tv remote control. But, he has the most expressive eyes, and can "talk" his way out of just about anything with them. He's also a snuggly lap dog, and loves getting scratched behind his big, floppy ears. All in all, the good outweighs the bad, and we are marathon-watching every Cesar Milan rerun we can to get this stubborn boy trained as quickly as possible. Wish me luck with that!!!

That's it, for now! Have a wonderful weekend, and a Happy Valentine's Day!

~Hugs,

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Gold Floral Casebound Book with Flat Spine

Merry Christmas! I hope you have been enjoying the holiday season! It is difficult for us to get everyone together at once, so we always celebrate Christmas several times before the New Year rings in, but the main event is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year will be a little different, though, as it's the first year that my daughter is in on the big Santa secret. It should be interesting.

In the meantime, there are those who have Christmas birthdays, who still need to be celebrated, and that's what this casebound book is for.

This book was a first for me. It has a hard flat spine, and it seemed much more difficult than a rounded spine because I had issues with getting the text block attached to the case in such a way that actually allowed the book to open! I ended up having to cut the first text block out of the case and make another, thicker text block. There is a lot of trial and error when you are a self-taught bookbinder. ;)

Size: 4.5" x  5.5"

# of Sections: 19, with 4 folios each 

# of Pages: 304

Stitches: Kettle, Coptic, French Link over Tapes

Cover Material: Canvas Spine, Chinese Pattern Paper, Cotton Lace

Ribbon Marker: Satin

Thread: Linen (textblock); Silk (headbands)

I made handsewn headbands on the text block using silk thread in red and white, and added an ivory satin bookmark. 

Because of all the setbacks on this book, it will be a couple of days late for my friend's birthday, but I think she'll forgive me. She's sweet like that! Thanks for stopping by, and have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

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Black & Blue Paisley Corduroy Journal

I am a very tactile person, especially when it comes to crafting. So covering a book in corduroy fabric was quite a treat for me.

Size: 4" x  5.25"

# of Sections: 15, with 4 folios each 

# of Pages: 240

Stitches: Kettle, Coptic, French Link over Tapes

Closure: 1/4" Elastic

Cover Material: Corduroy Fabric

Thread: Linen

It is bound with Coptic and French Link Stitches over grosgrain ribbon. I'm not sure I've mentioned it before, but I always wax my thread before stitching with it. It keeps it from tangling as easy, and helps the stitches, and especially the knots, to stay put.

I love the high contrast of the paisley designs with the black background.

The colored text paper matched the fabric design perfectly, and I already had it on-hand. That probably won't happen too often.

I usually sell all my handmade books, but this one might be a keeper, if only for the yummy covers!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous week!

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Puppy Paw Print Journal with Lined Pages

I finally made a book without having to look up any instructions at all! I used Kettle, Coptic, and French Link stitches on this one, but instead of parallel Coptic stitches, I stitched them diagonally to create an "X" on either side of the French Link stitches. I learned to do that during my week-long bookbinding bookcamp that I went to this past spring. (If you are interested in going to the bootcamp, I believe there will be another one this coming April.)

Size: 4.75" x  7"

# of Sections: 10, with 4 folios each 

# of Pages: 160

Stitches: Kettle, Coptic, French Link over Tapes

Closure: 1/4" Elastic

Cover Material: Cotton Fabric

Thread: Linen

This journal was commissioned by a friend. Her only request was that it have something dog-related on the cover. I found several fabrics with dogs on them, but the images all looked a little freaky, so I went with this cute puppy paw print fabric. 

I considered using white or black ribbon for the French Link stitches, but this lime green polka dot ribbon was calling out to me, and I liked the contrast between the red thread and green ribbon. Adding ribbon to the spine, then having to inset it into the cover, up to now, has been a chore because I was cutting the slits with a ruler and blade. But, I invested in 3 different sized, very sharp chisels, and now it's super easy to do. A few taps with a hammer and I'm done. The slits are much neater and the ribbon and elastic are much more secure than they used to be. Sage Reynolds is my first go-to guy for bookbinding videos, and he has a great one on insetting ribbon.

I think most people prefer writing on lines rather than a blank page. The problem I've had with printing them myself, though, was getting the front and back of each sheet to match up so that when the paper is folded the margins are equal in the center of the folio. After many, many hours, I finally got all the settings just right and so this book has lined pages. To coordinate with the colors on the outside, I made the lines red, and put a little lime green paw print in the corner of each page. 

I am NOT an expert on bookbinding, but I do have some advice for anyone who wants to give it a try. Don't give up if your books turn out differently than you envision. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to form stitches, how much tension to use, how to attach the covers so they aren't too loose (my biggest hurdle), how to punch the folios and covers, how to make bookcloth, and even how to cut bookboard and sections so that everything is square. I'm a competent bookbinder, but every single time I make a book, I learn something new and it is just a little bit easier than the book before it. Also, don't think that you have to run out and buy a bunch of equipment or tools. Except for my paper cutter (which I use every single day) and a diy book press (which I seldom use), all the tools I use to bind a book fit into a fairly small box that sits on my craft table. In my opinion, bookbinding is a relatively inexpensive craft, and if you have the urge to give it a try, do. It's quite enjoyable.

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Elegant Paisley Case Bound Journal

A case bound book is the kind of book most people are used to seeing. It's also the first kind of book I learned to make many years ago. I like case bound books because of the sturdy supported spines and more "finished" look, especially when you add in hand sewn headbands, which I've done in this example.   

Size: 4.25" x 5.50"

# of Sections: 12, with 4 folios in each

# of Pages: 192

Stitches: Coptic, Kettle, Long over tapes

Closure: None

Cover Material: Cotton Fabric

Thread: Linen (textblock); Silk (headbands)

I positioned the fabric so that the design would be centered over the spine. Also, it's hard to make out in the photos, but there is a tremendous amount of gold sparkle in this fabric. Everywhere you see a golden brown outline is actually gold, glittering thread. 

I sewed a basic headband (often refered to as endbands) to the top and bottom of the spine using olive green and white colored silk threads. Most headbands nowadays are just decorative--a strip of fabric with a pre-sewn headband along one edge that is glued to the top and bottom of a text block. A handsewn headband, however, actually serves to reinforce the spine of a book, and it looks pretty, to boot.

The spine of the textblock is not glued to the case. Instead, the spine is "hollow," so that the pages can operate independently of the case.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I hope you've enjoyed all the books I've posted recently. There will be many more to come in the future--I'm sure! ;)

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The Names of God--More Handbound Journals

The fabric I used for these journal covers are the names of God in a chalkboard style, The pages are blank inside. The books are identical except for the color of thread, elastic, and patterned paper. Two of them are for gifts, but I had extra bookcloth left over, so I went ahead and made a third one. 

Size: 4.75" x 6"

# of Sections: 10, with 4 folios in each

# of Pages: 160

Stitches: Coptic, Kettle, Gathered Long Stitch

Closure: Elastic

Cover Material: Cotton Fabric

Thread: Linen 

The patterned papers on the inside of each of these books is exactly the same except for the color. The polka dot paper covers the first and last sections just to add a little more interest to the spine.

The polka dot patterns line up on the outer sections, and I made sure to fold each of the polka dot folios down the center of a line of dots so that I could get as much color on the spine as possible.

If you are looking for 1/4" colored elastic, I found lots of different colors at The Ribbon Retreat. They have excellent customer service, as I accidentally ordered 1/8" elastic initially and they took it back for a store credit so I could turn around and order the 1/4" elastic quickly. This ribbon is much thinner than I am used to. It has a smooth texture and a looser elasticity than the thicker, ribbed elastic that I found at the craft store. I was afraid there wasn't enough spring to this elastic, but it actually works perfect for a book closure.

One more book left to share with you soon--a traditional casebound book.

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Floral Handbound Journal

For the binding in this book, I used Kettle Stitch, French Link Stitches, Long Stitches (Twisted), and Weaving. 

Size: 4" x 5.25"

# of Sections: 10, with 5 folios each (outer folio of each section is patterned paper)

# of Pages: 200, including patterned pages

Stitches: Kettle, French Link, Twisted Long Stitch with Weaving

Closure: None

Cover Material: Patterned Paper

Thread: Linen

Thanks for stopping by!

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Bookbinding Soothes the Soul

I mentioned in my previous post that I've been binding books for the past few weeks, but I haven't felt much like putting them on my blog until now. As I get the photos edited, I'll post them. There won't be much information beyond photos, size, and types of stitches I used. If you have any other questions about the books, just leave me a comment and I'll be happy to answer them as well as I can.

Size: 4" x 5.25"

# of Sections: 5, with 7 folios in each

# of Pages: 140

Stitches: Coptic, Kettle

Closure: Elastic, attached with eyelets

Cover Material: Patterned Paper

Thread: Linen (Faux Wood Book); Hemp (Newsprint Book)

Faux Wood Book - Covers

Newsprint Book - Covers

Faux Wood Book - Front

Newsprint Book - Back

Faux Wood Book - inside cover and first page

Newsprint Book - inside cover and first page

Faux Wood Book - Spine

Newsprint Book - Spine

Here's a look at the books I'll be posting to my blog soon. The tall lavender book with orange gathered stitches is the only one that won't have it's own post. It's a checkbook register exactly like this one except the cover and stitch color are different.

I'm entering this project in the following challenge:
Sweet Stamps November Anything But a Card Challenge

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