Monday, December 26, 2011

Bookbinding 101 - Sewing w/ Cloth Tapes

OK, so last night, I asked one of my friends to let me use his cell number for this YouTube ordeal. He was kind enough to help me out. (Thanks, Mr.S!!) Here's the video of sewing with cloth tapes. I made this video specially for people without any knowledge of sewing books to easily understand and see the details of the basic sewing process as much as possible, so I had to place the camera very close to my hands while recording, as a result, I couldn't work smoothly.. I apologize for that. Anyhow, I'll make a few more videos of different sewing methods when I feel like it next time. Then I'll make one for sewing headbands for Ms. A. (Oh, by the way, this video, again, is unlisted on Youtube for now, so only people who visit my blog can see it.)
---UPDATE---
I just changed the status of "Unlisted" to "Public" on YouTube after being asked to do so. I might change the status of other video I've made to "Public" as well. But for now, I hope this video is useful for beginners of bookbinding.

14 comments:

  1. Hello from Vienna, Austria! Just recently I found your videos on Youtube, then your blog, so happy about this discovery! I feel "at home" watching your videos - clear and professional, enjoying the silence during your demonstrations, now words really needed, the pictures are showing it all. Lot's of thanks for this great work - and, please continue giving precious basic binding tutorials! Best wishes!

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    1. Thank you very much for your compliment, Elisabeth. I will continue to make video tutorials as far as my time permits. As I have been very preoccupied with work as of late, I haven't been able to create a new video. But I hope to do so soon. Thank you for your patience.

      English isn't my native language, so I'm always insecure about misspelling and grammatical errors, especially for those tutorials I'm making.- I don't want people to get confused because of my language insufficiency. But I'm glad to hear that my visual demonstrations are clear enough for viewers to understand what I want to explain. Thanks you for your comment. :-)

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  2. See, spelling mistakes not only by you. Of course I meant "no words really needed" :o) After all - do not worry about spelling mistakes, as I said, the pictures are showing it all!

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  3. Your way of explaining things is amazing. I began making leather tobacco pouches and bracers but some time ago i got interested in book binding using leather. I wonder if you could tell me what kind of glue you are using and how and if headbands are needed in a bookbinding... Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge for this art with us.

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    1. Hi Texas,

      We normally use a glue called PVA, but it's not a Elmer's glue. We buy it by the gallon, so I'm not sure how it's sold commercially, but it should be labeled as bookbinding glue. You should be able to find it at any craft stores.

      Headbands are necessary though some of those mass produced modern publications often omit them for the sake of reducing the cost of manufacturing. The importance and the purpose of headbands are explained on my sewing headband video.

      I have made a couple of videos on sewing headbands, but inexpensive pre-made headbands are commercially available in various styles colors.

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    2. Hi again, Texas,

      I thought I mentioned why headbands are necessary on one of my videos, but I guess I didn't. Sorry about that. Well, first of all, the initial purpose of the headbands is to prevent dust from getting inside the signature folds over time, so they used to be strictly practical elements of a binding. But, as the craft evolved as more & more towards art, they became decorative and became a significant part of the art of bookbinding.

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  4. Hi MHR. Thank you so much for your responses here and on the other post.You have helped me a lot more than i thought. Keep up the magnificent work...

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  5. What a fantastic video! I stumbled across your site after looking for one on skiving and have slowly been making my way through your posts. You do some fabulous work and I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the "how to" videos to help me with my own bookmaking. I certainly hope you find the time to make more of these. They really are better than most others I've seen out there and they really supplement what one can find in books on the subject.

    Thanks so much.

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  6. Hi, greetings from Argentina... Its strictly necessary to use linen tapes? I had a couple of book sewing in automatic machine, that dont have the tapes, I thought to glue the mull and then the covers... you think its the same strength in spine?
    thanxs

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    1. The answer is no. Needless to say, tapes make the hinge stronger.

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  7. I don't do enough sewing to remember the procedure every time. But after tearing down, guarding practically every sheet and completely resewing an old book, this video was immensely helpful. I referred to it over and over. It's the clearest and best of its kind. Thank you!

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    1. I'm glad to hear that, and thanks for your kind word. ;-)

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  8. hi ^^ can i still do this even if i don't have the sewing frame?

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    1. As a matter of fact, yes. It's hard to explain in words here, but you can probably figure it out.

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