bookbinding classes

Slipcases

Our slipcases are five-sided boxes into which you can "slip" your album or book. They add a valuable layer of protection against dirt and dust, and can coordinate nicely with your book's design. Our slipcases come in five sizes, all the same cloth colors as our albums and books, and can be ordered with or without a personalized plaque. 7x7 book with slipcase slipcase edge detail10-Square-Slipcase

Well then, what are clamshell boxes? {Contact us to enquire about custom-sized slipcases.}

 

Kids Bookbinding Class

Moms and Daughters Make Journals

We had the pleasure of hosting a class for a wonderful group of eight-year-old girls and their moms last weekend at HSS. The girls started by folding pages for their books, then picked out papers to decorate the covers. Once the decoration was done, they punched holes then sewed signatures (groups of folded pages) into the covers. With their finished journals, the moms and daughters will be able to write notes, thoughts, ideas, and secrets back and forth. We're so proud of how well the girls did, and loved watching them connect with their moms as they learned something new.

Thanks for joining us, ladies!

moms and girls

bookbinding class decorating materials journal spine journal with cranes journal with animals journal with bow

finished journals

Bookbinding Class

Learning to make books at HSS

Yesterday we had the pleasure of teaching bookbinding to a wonderful group from Wieden+Kennedy (graciously hosted by Yahoo). We made a sewn text block that attached to the decorative cover via ribbons sewn onto the spine. Here are some of the steps we went through to make the books:

Class members prepare materials. bookbinding_class_portland

Paper is folded into signatures (six signatures of four sheets each.)

folding_signatures

Holes are poked with an awl into each signature where the thread will be sewn through.

signatures_with_holes

Class members sew signatures with waxed linen thread.

sewing_signatures

A lovely example of the finished text block:

finished_text_block

A decorative cover is scored and sliced to create the slots for the ribbons to go through:

scoring_cover_ ribbons_through_cover

Ribbons are then pulled through the book spine, and tied into knots or bows to hold the book together.

tying_text_block

The class, with Michelle and assistant Kortni show off their finished books!

class_finished_books

Have ideas for bookbinding classes you'd like us to teach? Let us know on our Facebook page or send us a message on Twitter.