Book Binding Workshop

Today I had my book binding workshop in a small group of 6. We were taught how to make three types of book; pamphlet stitched, stab bound and concertina. I found the workshop extremely fun while at the same time quite relaxing, I really enjoyed the process of creating each book. I thought each process was simple and easy, however I found the concertina method the hardest.

The first book binding method that we did was the pamphlet stitch, which I found the easiest. When creating the pamphlet book, we were also taught how to use a bone folder to create neater creases than using just your hands to crease. Furthermore, we used a sample sheet to create to create our measurements on where to create the stitch holes; one in the middle and then 2 more (half way between the middle mark and the top and bottom). This method would be useful for binding a small zine for example, instead of a book with loads of pages as the stitching would be too difficult for a thicker book.

The second book binding method was the stab bound, this method was my favourite as I enjoy stitching in general, it involved the most stitching out of the 3 methods. I also just liked the way it looked in the end; handmade, textiles-y aesthetic. This method involved the most measurements/stitch holes (5 in total), also when stitching it was important to remember to not retrace your steps as thats where the pattern can go wrong. However, no folding was required for this method which I actually preferred because it was neater and folding can often go wrong and need trimming.

The last method we learnt was the concertina, this took the longest as there is more steps and we actually made the hardcovers ourselves using grey board and special book binding paper. This method involved no stitching, just folding and glueing, I prefer to stitch as it gives me a neater result that glueing, its also messier. However, in my opinion this method looks the most professional and sleek when its finished, I think it'd be useful if thats the type of publication aesthetic you're aiming for. I also think the concertina method is the most fun when done because of the way its opened and viewed; double sided like an accordion.

These are some of the sample books that were displayed for us to look at in the end and maybe try out in the future if we wanted. These were my 4 favourites.