After my mica book workshop with Daniel Essig, I’ve been inspired to play a little with some new books. I had some handmade Thai mango paper from Dick Blick. I made several covers with this paper awhile ago, and finally had the courage to do something with them. I used the coptic stitch to bind these books:
The paper on the inside cover of this first book came from wrapping paper from a gift purchased at West Side Judaica Gallery in Manhattan.
I really like the organic look of the second book. The inside cover is a copy of a photo of a fossilized shell. It was printed on an inkjet printer on card stock.
Also, some months ago, I had taken an online workshop with Sue Bleiweiss, and never quite finished all the projects. I was intrigued by the piano hinge binding that was her last lesson, and wanted to try it. So I did, a little belatedly. Here is a photo of a book with piano hinge binding, using bamboo skewers to hold it together. The cover is the same handmade Thai mango paper and the pages are sheets of a colorful paper from a scrapbooking paper pad I found at Michael’s.
I think this would make a nice mini photo album. However, I found that the hinge itself didn’t seem very stable, and the book had to be handled carefully. I wrapped some fine cotton around the ends of the skewers at both the head and tail of the binding, then applied some PVA glue over the cotton to hold it in place, but because there were no true sewing stitches to hold the binding together, it turned out to be a bit delicate.
Then I wanted to incorporate some weaving into an ultra-leather blank journal. I picked out some images I thought represented my secret muses: Calliope, muse of eloquence and epic poetry. She is always seen carrying a writing tablet. Then there’s the the cute and fun loving Betty Boop. My faithful companion of 25 years has always professed a secret love for her! And lastly, Peter Max‘s interpretation of the ever mysterious Mona Lisa. An eclectic trio, no?
Using fine cotton (10/2 pearl cotton), I warped three small windows on the book’s cover. Then with narrow strips cut from a copy of each image I wove a weft through the cotton warp. The binding was a long stitch that I modified with a “cinch” around the center of each section:
Enough of the playing! Now I have some weaving projects to attend to as I am preparing my handwoven items for fall shows and fairs. This is the bamboo scarf with warp floats that is awaiting her turn on the loom.
Filed under: book arts, Fiber, Handwoven, Memphis, Weaving | Tagged: bamboo yarn, book arts, coptic stitch, Daniel Essig, handmade book cover, handmade paper, handweaving, handwoven scarf, long stitch binding, loom, Memphis, piano hinge binding, Weaving, woven | 2 Comments »