Friday, January 13, 2012

Bookbinding 101 Sewing Headbands Session 1


This is a demonstration of sewn headbands which features "one core with beads in two colors". It's one of the most basic & the easiest, yet pretty style of headbanding. As I had to work very slowly and tried not to cover the work with my hands or fingers for the camera, shooting this video was a bit more tedious than I thought it would be. No wonder there aren't many tutorial videos on sewing headbands on YouTube. Anyway, the speed can be a crucial aspect of how well the end product turns out (consistent speedy motions are important). The core can be unstable especially at the beginning, so don't get frustrated if you don't get a satisfying result the first time. Once you get to the first tagging, you don't even have to hold the core with your hands. In case I get inclined to do more tutorial videos of headbanding, I put the phrase "Session 1" on the video. If I were to do a next one, it'd be French double headband, but I won't promise you anything, Ms. A!
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P.S. ...Damn it! I did it again.. I misspelled "stabilize" on this video, didn't I !?! I'll make sure to check my English more carefully in the future.. (English is my second language.. in case you didn't know...) Sorry!

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for your posts on headbands. I really enjoyed it and am intrigued by the 'bamboo strip'. Is there a source where I can buy bamboo strip? I have used cord, leather, but never bamboo. Keep posting when you have time. They are great reference! :)

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    1. Am very glad you liked my video. Thanks for your kind words. As for the bamboo strip, it basically comes with commercial machine made silk headbands. Particular machine made headbands we get have the bamboo strip core, and we take it out because it's too stiff for a pre-made headbands, yet it's just perfect for one-core sewn headbanding. I'm sure you buy those machine made headbands as a bookbinder, so check if yours has a core. Anyway, once you use a bamboo strip for sewing headbands, you don't wanna use anything else! It has the perfect stiffness, thickness, and malleability! For your reference, we buy the silk headband from Talas in NY. (the link is listed under "Book Addicts" on the right side of my blog.)

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  2. If I wanted to sew a headband onto a photo album, would I need to tag every signature? Also, can I ask how you find the signature hole so easily with the book held closed? Thanks, these videos are amazing - the best I've come across :)

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    1. Hello,

      I've never sewn headbands on a photo album actually, but if I had to do that, I'd probably have to tag every signature because the paper is heavy.

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  3. Hello dear MHR. I'm Elisa from Italy, a self-taught (and still learning) wish-to-be bookbinder :-) Today I sewed my very first two-colour headband following your wonderful tutorial on youtube. I just want to THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the knowledge and the useful informations that you share on the internet. Thank you and many greetings from Italy. Elisa.

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