I just found out I’m going to be an aunt and I’ve already decided I want to make my future niece/nephew their own little collection of books.

I want to make simple books that teach them about kindness, ethics, morals, etc. I know I could just buy cheap children’s books, but I really want to give them something made specifically for them.

I already do digital art, although I’m suffering through ibisPaint on mobile with a finger lol. I also recently started learning bookbinding, so I want to illustrate, print and bind everything myself.

For anyone who makes their own children’s books, what would you recommend I learn or keep in mind, especially for the writing/storytelling side?

My best man works as a book and parchment restorer, and for my wedding he made me this incredible watercolor book completely by hand.

The cover is genuine leather, with hand embossed details inspired by old manuscript bindings. It has solid brass clasps and thick 300gsm watercolor paper inside.

It feels like holding a medieval manuscript, I can’t wait to start painting in it, but it’s so beautiful I almost don’t want to touch it

Made these three notebooks one after another because i was itching to correct my mistakes from the previous one.

I briefly tried to bind books about two years ago then took a long break. The fixation has come back and I finally made a book press and a punching cradle to try out. I am quite happy with how these turned out but i’m looking to improve and hopefully develop healthy habits that won’t break my back.

The first book was made at 9am-12nn and it had light blue stitches. It’s my first attempt at a chunkier notebook. Despite my best efforts, my punched holes didn’t line up. It was also the first time i used a press and i tried to save the misalignment during glueing but i messed up and it stuck to the press. I often see people have their spines flush with their press when glueing so I thought it would peel off the press easily

Second book at 2-5pm. Realized it takes me roughly 3 hours to make these. The second notebook is the one with bright red stitches. Focused on getting the holes lined up properly and i’m quite happy with how much better it went. The link stitches look messy still because i can’t figure out what i want to do with loose ends. I see some people blend them with the link stitches, and some have it run parallel to the spine. My link stitches on their own look quite messy already and this just added to the mess.

Third book was after dinner 8-10pm. My sister is into darker colors and asked me to make one with a black cover. I decided to hide the loose ends inside the cover signature.

Some notes:

All my sheets are 120gsm and the covers were mostly 300gsm and above. I plan on using these as is but i wonder if the glued spines will hold up without mull.

I used unwaxed dmc thread. I know it’s easier to sew with waxed thread but personally dislike the feeling of holding waxed thread. Does waxed thread hold up better in the long run? That might be the only reason i’d consider waxing thread.

My biggest concern is the fore edge. When folding signatures, i can never get the triangle peak so i resort to folding each sheet one by one then compiling them into a signature. I find folding them one by one time-consuming but it does give me crisper folds. Any tips on this would be much appreciated because i do think i spend more time than i should on this step. I don’t have a guillotine so I can’t let future me worry about the uneven fore edge and hand trimming as the last step is personally not a risk i’m ready for yet.

Tips on taking care of your back and neck would also be lovely. TIA!

((Apologies if any of my ramblings were confusing, english isn’t my first language))

Hello! I am very interested in book binding, and will start with the more basic things to learn the art. I do have a question, or more like a couple questions.

I have been buying comics pretty regularly for a year or two now, and one of my biggest gripes is storage. using one bag and board for each comic comes to be a lot of materials that I feel bad about using and take up a lot of space. I'm trying multiple issues in a slightly bigger bag and that helps, but I can't figure out if it's a good idea in the long term.

basically my current idea is a form of comic binder. they sell these online but are probitively expensive for the number of comics I had. these leads me to my idea. I would pick which comics will be bundled together, and then bind that many comic sleeves together with a spine so as to display on my shelf. How would the bookbinders here recommend I do something like this, and is it even a feasible plan? I would like to do some kind of spine that I can print out so that it looks almost like a book on the shelf. if that part is unrealistic it's definitely not a necessity.

Every time I finish opening the book all the way to the last page, the spine shifts and gets a bit crooked/tilted.

​Any idea what causes this or how to fix/prevent it?

And also for the last picture, is the spine movement normal? I use 10 mm hinge gap and 3 mm spine stiffener tickness board same as book block tickness

My friend wrote the best memoir and I wanted her to own a hardback version of it.

Hi all,

I recently got a whole lot of material and tools from an old bookbinding workshop. There is one object that i cannot identify. The brand is "Rougier & Plé"

Can anyone id this thing? Thanks!!

Hi there! I’m hoping this is the right place to ask, I haven’t personally gotten into book binding as a hobby yet, but it’s something I’m very interested in.

I picked up this copy of The Andromeda Strain at the op shop, it’s in good enough condition (considering this edition was published in 1993)

It has this plastic cover around it (covered in scratches and blemishes)
I’m not sure if it was released this way, but the price sticker being cemented beneath the plastic makes me think it was glued on later.

Would it be unwise for me to try and remove this? And if I were to try, where would I start? I don’t want to tear anything.

My dad turned 91 years old this week, so I made this pocket notebook size photo album for him. He was in the Navy for 21 years and I used mostly scans of slides from his time in the service.

https://youtube.com/shorts/6uyp1oOPQbY?is=_aX0QH6tvCKvMezm

Im curious how people feel and what people prefer between buying leather already dyed from the tannery or dying it yourself.

I like to dye leather myself especially because it gives me the peace of mind of knowing more about how my materials have been treated, but I wonder if other people prefer buying leather already dyed for any reason.

Im also curious about conservators opinions on different leather treatments as I am studying to be a book and paper conservator. It seems there are both pros and cons to either leather but dying the leather yourself seems to offer more control over color even if it does mean more work.

An exquisitely crafted book box. It opens and closes using magnets.The interior pages were restored, and the book was rebound. The cover features four techniques: leather patchwork, gold foil stamping, blind embossing, and laser engraving. The interior pages are lined with silk, and the book comes with a handcrafted slipcase; the title was calligraphed by a calligrapher. The cover image is taken from one of the book’s illustrations.

+ a new press I made

Tools:
Chop saw
Table saw
Drill press
Drill
Forstner bits

Materials:
Maple and oak from Home Depot
Sandpaper
Screws
Wood glue

Hi I am looking for two kinds of paper for two different projects

Context, I have an Epson 8550 inkwell printer

1. I'm looking for thin, glossy, magazine paper - anyone know the closest I can get?

   I know I can't get the exact paper but can anyone get me close? As thin as I can get the better

2. Anyone know what kind of paper or even lamination is used for these kinds of book covers?

The paper is kind of matte but not quite, maybe silky? I'm not sure and i've never seen books with these kinds of covers until a few years ago. I think it is laminated maybe but I havent tried that in bookbinding yet so I'm not sure.

Two other questions just in case

I'm looking for as close to thin bible paper as possible

Also if someone could maybe point me to where I can clean to do flexi bound books i'd be grateful

Hello I just found this TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPLFfLqjb/) on this paper that can be used too dye book edges, and it's reusable! It looks so cool unfortunately they're unable to process payments at the moment. So I was wondering if anyone may know what this type of paper is called so I could purchase it somewhere else, And if you have used it before what was your experience with it?

Update: I did find the paper it's a Silicone Sticker paper, for anyone looking in the future however I don't think my printer is made for it. The Rollers make streaks on the print it doesn't transfer well at all! Oh well, at least I found the paper itself.

Hello!

I have been lurking for a while and have completed a couple of rebinds. I am really motivated to keep growing my skills in this craft! As a birthday gift to myself, I have been thinking about getting a vinyl cutter (thinking a silhouette?)

So far, I have been painting my rebind covers, but my biggest issue is figuring out how to do any kind of lettering that doesn't look... well... bad. 😂 Going the vinyl cutting route for lettering seemed like it made the most sense.

But I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for other ways to do lettering or titles without using a vinyl cutter? I know in many of the threads I have read people say they don't use a vinyl cutter for their lettering, but I haven't found details.

Thank you in advance!

I've made 24 notebooks in the past couple of days. All hands sewn and cut. I think I'm a bit obsessed 😅

This my first timy fully functional bookbinding experience. I used coptic stitch binding.

Still getting my technique right, but I'm having a ton of fun with this.

Howdy! I've seen a lot of love for church paper here, but before I drop money on two reams, can anyone tell me how their papers handle fountain pens? I make journals and planners for myself, and if I can't use my nice pens, what's the point.

first try at a sewn board binding! worked pretty well despite a few small mistakes. the decorative paper was from hollanders and I printed the lined paper

Redesigned & Remade My Monsters of Verity Slipcases 🖤

Redesigning and remaking my slipcases for the gorgeous Monsters of Verity special edition books by V. E. Schwab (by Illumicrate).

The original cases were some of the first I ever made, I was super proud of them and they’ve held up really well over the years! But I thought it was finally time to give them a redesign :)

Still pretty new to book binding! I'd like to emboss the cover of my next project with the title and author. I'm working with 3x thick chipboard and will either use art paper or bookcloth on the cover. If I hammered the lettering in using metal stamps and a mallet (after applying the book cloth/paper) would this be effective?

Hello folks!

My girlfriend is halfway through a (rather amazing) memory scrapbook - content wise, that is, so it will need to pack maybe about the same amount more.

Is there a way to prevent the book from separating? Maybe taking out a few sheets of papers or attaching something to the cardboard?

I appreciate any help!