Last week I completed a short online bookbinding course with SB Libris in Bendigo. Our project was to create, from scratch, a hollow back book – not something I’d tried before.

Having created our signatures (13 using 4 sheets in each) we proceeded to stitch them together. Marks were made, holes punched, needle and thread prepared.

I’m showing the stitching done by our tutor, Simon, as he very helpfully demonstrated it using contrasting thread so we could easily follow the steps.

We learned how to round the spine, case it in and add decorative headbands, before moving to our covers and spine.

I’m not showing progress shots and giving all the information as this course is part of Simon and Belinda’s business and it wouldn’t be fair to share their tuition here.

However, I do want to show how beautifully my book turned out. The spine is covered with a velvet-style book cloth, with the main boards covered in some printed paper I bought in Italy a few years ago. I’m still considering whether to lightly satin varnish the front and back to give more protection to the paper and longevity to the book.

The course runs periodically and you can contact Simon or Belinda Dart via the website to find out the next dates. It was fun, the instructions were excellent and I’m thrilled with the result.

Resources:
https://www.sblibris.com.au/