| Sewn Board Binding (Online)

Learn how to make sewn board bindings - an amazing structure for artists working in a variety of 2-D media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, digital printing, and collage (it also makes for a great journal!)

Note: This workshop will be held in a live, online format utilizing the Zoom platform.
Class meets on Saturday & Sunday, Feb 8-9 from 1-4:30pm ET with appropriate breaks.

The sewn board binding is a light and versatile book structure that opens completely flat: an appealing structure for artists working in a variety of 2-D media—including drawing, painting, printmaking, digital printing, and collage. Its materials are also quite adaptable, making it a great binding to explore at home or with a small studio set-up.

Workshop participants will complete this structure, from text block preparation to covering the layered boards with decorative papers, over the course of two days. Following along with the instructor, students will sew the covers onto the textblock using a French link stitch, learn how to line a spine and build a fitted cloth-covered spine piece.

This workshop is taught online, and the instructor will provide resources and slides to workshop participants following the class. The sewn board binding is an intermediate-level binding structure; interested registrants should have previous experience cutting sections, sewing sections, adhering paper to board using PVA and a brush, and identifying grain direction in paper.

Students are responsible for sourcing the following tools and materials:

BOOKBINDING TOOLS

• Bone or Teflon folder
• Olfa knife 9mm OR X-Acto knife OR scalpel with #11 blades
  • for all knives: replacement blades (6-8 recommended)
• Awl OR pin tool
• Self-healing cutting mat (approx. 18″ x 12″)
• Round glue brush
• Smaller, flat glue brush
• PVA glue (½ pint)
  • Be careful about ordering PVA during winter months, as freezing temperatures break down the adhesive.
• Flat, straight metal ruler (12″ OR 18″)
• Metal triangle (45º/45º/90º degrees)
• Sharp scissors capable of small, neat cuts
• Bookbinding needle (at least 1)
• Sandpaper OR sanding stick (120- or 180-grit, one sheet)
• Small block of beeswax
• Pencil and eraser
• Paper or notebook for taking notes
• One or more book weights
  • A dense dictionary, a Tupperware container filled with marbles, a heavy and clean wooden cutting board, a brick wrapped in paper… any of these will do.

SECTION PREP TOOLS

If you have access to a Kutrimmer or boardshear for this workshop, then you may not needs these tools. However, if you are looking for a way to trim your sections and card covers to identical 6” heights without ‘heavy’ equipment, here are the items I’ll be using and demonstrating in class:

• 12″ x 6″ Omnigrid quilting ruler
• 1″ x 12″ Omnigrid quilting ruler
• 1-2 weights (see note above under ‘bookbinding tools’)

MATERIALS FOR ONE 4”x6” BOOK *** 

• 18/3 bookbinding thread, unwaxed
• Paper for the text blocks
  • Recommended: 70 lbs or 80 lbs text Mohawk Superfine
  • 4 sheets of 23×35” Mohawk will yield 10 sections
  • I will demonstrate sewing  with 6 section of 4 folios each
• Paper for endsheet
  • Hahnemühle Ingres
  • 1 sheet will yield enough sewn endsheets for 1 book
• Japanese-style paper for lining the spine
  • Sekishu (or Kitakata)
  • For a budget option, students may use some grain-long scraps of their Mohawk off-cuts
• 18-pt. card (for the covers, inside cover fills, and the spine piece)
  • Strathmore 400 Series Acrylic Pad, 9″ x 12″
• 13-pt. card (for the outside cover fills and for making a punching template)
  • Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board Pad, 9″ x 12″
• Book cloth (for spine piece)
  • Dubletta or Brillianta bookcloth preferred
  • Students may also used what is available in their own stock, provided it is paper-lined bookcloth, at least 5×9” grain long
• Decorative paper for cover
  • Choice of paste paper, marbled paper, or Chiyogami
  • For a budget option, Hahnemühle Ingres paper can be used here too
• Waste paper for glue guarding and glueing up
  • e.g., newsprint, kraft paper, printed paper headed for recycling
• Wax paper
  • Reynolds Cut-Rite or waxed kraft paper

As much as possible, these lists account for the minimum amount of materials we will use, while also providing a bit of extra to allow for re-dos. For questions about tools and materials, please contact the instructor at suzanneglemot@gmail.com, and copy registrar@mainemedia.edu.

*** STUDENTS MAY OPT TO PURCHASE A KIT OF ITEMS LISTED IN THE “materials for one 4”x6” book” ABOVE BY CONTACTING THE INSTRUCTOR DIRECTLY AT suzanneglemot@gmail.com. TO SECURE A KIT, REGISTRANTS MUST CONTACT SUZANNE UPON REGISTRATION, BY JANUARY 20, 2025.

OPTIONAL TOOLS

If you already have these at your disposal, or if you are building out your bookbinding practice):

• Dividers
• Punching cradle
• A pair of small flat pliers (recommended for anyone who might need the extra support with sewing)
• Natural rubber pick-up (also sold as ‘rubber cement erasers’)
• Round stenciling or tamping brush (to be used after placing the spine liner)
• PVA + methyl-cellulose adhesive mix

Optional-listed items are up to the student’s discretion: a nice supplement, but by no means imperative to have a positive experience in the workshop.

All images copyright Suzanne Glemot.