- Ursula Jeakins’ instagram and site.
- DAS bookbinding – professional bookbinder in Australia
- Nik the Booksmith – lots of lovely and unusual book projects
- Lovely tutorial on how to stitch single section books, includes saddle stitch (also known as ‘Pamphlet stitch’), dot dash and chain stitch (which we did in the class). The Sea Lemon YT channel has a lot of bookbinding resources and a playlist is here.
Books I like:
- The beautiful book by Rachel Hazell with 15 different techniques (if you’re going to only buy one, this is the one I would go for.)
- The art of the fold by Heidi kyle and ulla warchol
- Quick Leather Binding – Non-adhesive binding Volume 5 and Non-adhesive Binding Volume 1 by Keith A Smith (Keith has a few books on bookbinding – I have managed to get hold of secondhand copies on World of Books).
- Craft Binding by Linda Oriss (lots of lovely ideas).
Some of my favourite and regularly used papers and suppliers:
- A4 KHADI PAPER (Please note that this is an affiliate link which will give you 10% off your first order with Jackson’s and I will receive a small commission which does not impact the cost for you).
- Tomoe River paper – for those calligraphers or fountain pen aficionados
- Paper pad of decorative cover papers from Hobbycraft (don’t forget about wallpaper samples, if you can get hold of them.)
- Recycling box items like cereal boxes
Tools and equipment:
- Pencils
- Binding clips
- Self-healing mat (I get mine from ebay here but you can also buy them in Hobbycraft and the Range).
- Metal ruler (we used these ones)
- Craft knife/scalpel – I really like the Swann Morton Handle no.3 with a 10A blade but you can get cheaper ones from The Range or Hobbycraft.
- Bone folder/paper folder or creaser
- Size 15/18 bookbinding needle or can be bought here but I really like the size 1 needle from the Korbond needle pack which you can buy in Tesco
- Fiskars 3-in-1 Corner Squeeze Punch Well Rounded – I could not find the same one as mine available in the UK but this one or this one look like they do the same thing.
- Wooden-handled awls
Thread
- Waxed French linen thread (fine) available in lots of lovely colours here
- Waxed cord in lots of lovely colours here
- Thicker thread also used for jewellery making here and here
- I brought three different types of thread to class with me Meisi Super Fine, Meisi Original and Fil au Chinois Linen – all available in lovely colours and ready-waxed.
- Don’t forget you can wax your own embroidery thread – I got wax here
- Another lovely Etsy shop for thread and supplies is Stuff for Making Books
Tips:
How much thread to use? For a single section book and saddlestitch, you will need 2.5 times the length of the spine. For Dot Dash stitch you need about 3 times to be comfortable tying off. For chain stitch, give yourself 5 times the length of the spine.
Remind me how to make the jig (for getting your stitches on the spine)? There is a video here at 8 mins in, the instructor shows you how to make the jig.
Shephard’s Bookbinding supplies at this site and if you want to have a go at making your first hard-cover text book, take a look at this it’s an instruction sheet (£3.00) on how to make the the book, which becomes the content of the book. There are also accompanying videos on their site for free.