Recycled notebook tutorial part 2

Time for the second part of the bookbinding tutorial.  Today it is all about coptic binding.  The process is not very difficult but it requires some attention.  If you are ready, let's begin.

Attaching the front board to the first signature

1. Begin with the first signature.  Pass the thread through the first hole, from inside, leaving a tail inside the signature (you will use it to tighten and secure your stitches.)

2. Pass the thread from outside into the first hole of the board - the needle should come out between the board and the signature.  

3. Before tightening the stitch,  pass the needle through the loop.
Insert the needle back into the first hole of the first signature

4. This is how it should look.  Tighten your stitch and knot together the tail and the thread

5. Insert the needle into the second hole of the first signature

6. Repeat step 2 

- pass the thread from outside into the second hole of the board (the needle should come out between the board and the signature)

- pass the needle through the loop

7. Continue in the same fashion until you reach the last hole of the board.

8. After looping the thread around the board and onto itself, insert it into the last hole of the second signature.

Adding signatures

9. Insert the needle (from inside) into the second to last hole.

10. On the outside pass the thread (right to left) under the stitch connecting the first signature and the board.

11. Insert the needle back into the second to last hole of the second signature.

12.  Repeat steps 9 and 10:

   -from inside into the third hole

   -pass from right to left under existing stitch

   -back into the third hole

13. Continue until you get to the last hole.  After pasing the thread, from right to left under the stitch, insert it into the first hole of the third signature

14. Pass the thread through inside, into the second hole of the signature.

On the outside, pass the thread from left to right, under the stitch.

Continue stitching signatures together.  You will be travelling: from the first hole to the last (up-down) on the odd numbered signatures and down-up on the even ones.

When travelling up-down, the thread is passed from left to right under the existing stitch.

When travelling down-up the thread is passed from right to left under the existing stitch.

Attaching last signature and second board

15. This is the trickiest part of the binding.  In my example, after finishing the last stitch of the 4th signature I need to attach both the board and the 5th signature.

16. Instead of going into the first hole of the last signature, insert the needle, from outside into the first hole of the board.

The needle should come out between the board and the signature

Pass under the existing stitch (left to right) and insert the needle into the first hole of the signature.

17. Pass through inside into the second hole

18. Pass under the stitch (left to right), then loop around the board.  Before inserting the needle back into the second hole, pass it through the loop on the board. 

 

19. Repeat steps 17 and 18, until the last hole is reached:

- Pass through inside into the third hole

- Pass under the stitch (left to right), then loop around the board ...

20. ... loop through the stitch on the board  and pass back into the third hole 

 

21. Here is another illustration:

- through inside into the hole

- under the previous stitch (left to right)

- loop around the board

- through the loop

- back into the hole

22. You should end up with the book spine that looks like this.

23. After the last stitch, the thread ends up inside the last signature.  Loop the needle under the binding thread, tighten the knot and cut the thread. 

 

 

24. Your notebook is done!


















25. It is normal to see small spaces between signatures.  If your binding is too tight, put your notebook under press for 24 hours - the string should stretch a little bit. 

Notes: 

• you might find it easier to use a curved tapestry needle instead of the regular straight one
• make sure to tighten your string, while stitching 

Feel free to contact me or leave a message with questions, comments or simply to share your projects.
Happy bookbinding!

Recycled notebook tutorial part 1

Before getting into all the nitty-gritty of the tutorial it is helpful to learn a couple of terms.  Our notebook will have 2 main parts: boards and textblock.  The term "textblock" comes from bookbinding and refers to all the leaves/pages inside the book.  Leaves are grouped together to form signatures.  The book in my example will have 5 signatures with 3 folded leaves in each (total of 6 double-sided pages per signature).  If I managed to completely confuse you with the terminology, take a look at THIS IMAGE, illustrating different parts of the book.

Now we are ready to start with the tutorial:

1. PREPARE YOU SUPPLIES

You will need the following tools:

• cutting mat (optional, but helpful)
• ruler
• x-acto knife or scissors
• pencil or pen
• needle and thread (used in the second part of tutorial.  you might find it easier to use curved, tapestry needle)
• awl (could be replaced by a thick needle, a knitting needle, or any other spiky object)
• glue (not shown on the image)

You will also need:

• one-side printed paper (15 sheets)
• small cardboard box
• decorative paper for the covers

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2. FOLD PAGES

You need to fold each one-side printed paper in 4, so that the printed side gets "hidden" inside.  To do so, first fold the page widthwise (printed part inside) and then fold it once again to make a 4 1/4x5 1/2 square

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3. ASSEMBLE SIGNATURES

When all your future pages are ready, separate them in groups of 3 (five groups in total) and put one page inside the other, as shown on the picture.  You should end up with 5 signatures.

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4. MAKE COVERS

Using the cardboard box (mine was from my favorite cereal), cut out rectangles for the notebook's covers.  I usually make mine slightly larger than the actual pages: 4 1/2 x 5 3/4

Next, measure and cut out rectangles from the decorative paper to cover the boards.  You will need 2 pieces for each board: one same size as the page and another one slightly larger (~1/2 inch each side)

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5. WRAP BOARDS

Glue bigger decorative paper pieces to the cardboard pieces.  Cut out the corners, as shown on the photo.

 Wrap extra paper around the edges and glue it.  Once glue is dried, glue the smaller decorative papers on the other part of the covers.

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6. MARK SIGNATURES

It is now time to decide where you will be binding signatures.  My book has 4 stitch columns so I spaced the holes equally ~1 3/32 in.  You do not have to be that precise and you do not have to space your stitches equally either.  What you have to do, is mark each signature at exactly the same places (otherwise your notebook will be a little bit crooked).  The best way to do so is to use one of the signatures as a template.

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7.  PIERCE SIGNATURES AND COVER BOARDS

Using an awl pierce signatures.

Next, mark and pierce cover boards. 

Once again, use one of the signatures as a template to decide where to pierce each board.  In my example, I left 1/2 distance from the board's edge.  This distance is completely arbitrary and you can decide to make it smaller or bigger.

Your textblock and boards are now ready to be stitched together.

UPDATE: here is THE SECOND PART of the tutorial

Blogger 101 tutorial - Design

Design is the most fun part of the set up. It helps to have some idea of how you want your blog to look but it is OK to just play around with the settings.

Let’s look at Template Designer

First, browse default templates that are offered on Blogger. Preview them on your blog to find something you like

Now switch to Background tab. Clicking Background image will launch a window with images that could be put as a background on your blog. Clicking Main color theme will help you to choose the main color for your blog. You can also choose from one of suggested themes.

Next tab (Adjust width) allows you to specify the width of your blog and its columns. Keep in mind that in 2011, most screen resolution are higher than 1024×768 (http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp). Also, leave some empty space on the page - you don’t want your blog to look too cramped up.

The fourth tab is Layout:

Here you can choose where to display different sections of your blog.

Finally, a wide range of Advance settings allows you to choose your blog’s font and color, link colors, post footers colors, and other elements on your page.

Click “Apply to Blog” (top right corner) and return “Back to Blogger”.

Back at the Page Elements section you can edit or add elements to your blog.

If you are moving things around (simply by dragging boxes on the page) or editing existing elements, make sure to preview the page before saving it.

Your blog is now set up and you are ready to write posts and add pages.

Happy blogging!

Blogger 101 tutorial - Settings

Settings tab is where you might want to head out first and check what information you can display or customize. There are 9 sections under this tab: Basic, Publishing, Formatting, Comments, Archiving, Site Feed, Email & Mobile, OpenID, and Permissions.

Although it is important to familiarize yourself with all of the settings, first 3 tabs are especially useful. Here are some settings you might want to pay attention to.

Basic

 

Title - remember I've mentioned that you can change it? Well this is where you do it. (Title is not the same as the address of your blog, so even if you change the title here, the address will stay the same)

Description - a short description of what your blog is all about. Some bloggers like to have it on their pages; others prefer to leave it blank

Remaining basic settings are explained by Blogger, feel free to leave them “as is” for now.

Don' forget to "save settings"

Publishing

Here you can change your blog’s address or point Blogger to the domain you have registered.

Formatting

Double-check the time setting for your blog and make sure it corresponds to your time zone.

These are all the settings you need to worry about for now.  As you get more comfortable with Blogger you might want to look through the rest of the tabs.

Blogger 101 tutorial - First Steps

1. Blogger is one of Google services so you need to get a Google account. You can begin at http://www.gmail.com and follow the link "sign up for a new Google account".
UPDATE: If you do not want to get Gmail email account and prefer using your existing email (not-Gmail) for your blog you can sign up for Blogger account HERE

If you already have an account with Google, you can simply log in.

2.http://www.blogger.com is where you access your "Dashboard". Once you are logged in with your newly created Google username and password you should be able to see "create a blog" link on the top right.

3. Now you need to find a title for your blog (it could be changed later on) and select an address for it.

4. After clicking "continue" you will be prompted to select one of design templates. I like to begin with a simple layout and modify/adjust it later.

5. You are ready to start blogging, but there are still some settings that you might want to go over.

Clicking "start blogging" will bring you to the "new post" page: