Making books using hand made paper with Gail Stiffe.

 

 

In our next class with Gail Stiffe,we learned how to make four types of handmade books using our hand made paper and any other paper that we had.  We were aspiring to create something as nice as these ones by Gail:

 

 

 

For the first book, we chose a handmade sheet we liked and photocopied it onto book cloth to use as the cover. (Book cloth is available from Nordale ).

 

Next, we cut out a strip of Canson paper and folded it into a concertina form.  This was to be the pages of the book.

 

 

Then, we cut a line and 2 squiggles across the inner pages (not the first and the last page) of the Canson paper using a stanley knife.  We would later insert handmade paper into these slits.

 

 

The next step was to check the stiffness of the book board ( available from Zart) to show the grain and mark the direction of the grain across the whole board.  This avoided the final book bending, as we could cut the book cover with the grain.

 

 We then measured a slightly bigger size than that of the concertinaed Canson paper and cut out the book covers from the book board using several cuts to get through the board. 

 

 

 

 

 Now we had the covers for our book.

 

 

We made a glue by mixing cornflour mixed with water to an icing consistency,  and then mixing it with EVA, acid free glue, in a 50:50 ratio.  This glue can be kept in the fridge if you don't use it immediately.

 

We cut out the book cloth to be larger than the book cover card.  We next glued the card and then pasted on the book cloth.

 

 

The cloth was cut leaving a 1 cm margin around, but with  the corners cut  off  at a 45 degree angle. 

 

After this, we glued the back of each side of the cover paper and roll folded each side over, doing opposite sides first.

 



 

The Canson pages were then glued to the inside of the book cover, protecting the pages with old magazine papers.  The pages were pressed firmly on to the covers.

 

The final step was to weave strips of handmade paper into the slits we had cut into the pages.

 

Next, we pressed the newly made book between heavy books to flatten it.

 

This is my creation.  I may leave it as is or embellish it further.

 

 

For the second book, I used a mixture of my handmade papers and some papers that Julie  kindly donated.

 

This time, the book was kept together with thread  (6  times the length of the book) which had been pulled through wax to make it easier to use.  Gail made us templates which we used to mark the 5 sites of the holes 1/2 inch from the sides and clamped onto the cover and pages. 

 

 

 

We  then used an awl to make holes in the book for the thread to pass through, using an old phone book underneath to protect the table.

 

And then, we took off the template and the front cover but left the clamps on, followed her instructions to thread the pages neatly together using a needle, then reincorporate the cover. I need to try this again to make sure I absorbed the threading method.

I will use this book as an artist book because even though I used embossed papers, the pages are of a  plain colour.

 

The third book was similarly assembled using thread which had been waxed, and a template, but this time, we used 2 threads, marked 2 holes 2.5 cms from the edge of each side.  Once again, I need to try this sewing method again.  I think I'll embellish the strings of this book and use it as an artist book.

 

 

The final book was made using a concertina made of Canson paper and the scraps of  handmade paper sewn on to the Canson.  I need to do more work on this one to finish it off.  Pictures to come.

 

 I really enjoyed this course and learned a lot, thanks to a very good teacher in Gail, and the support and encouragement and humour of my fellow students, Julie, Marisol and Teresa.  Don't our books look great?