#book binderies

[archivlibrarianist]

I can tell you it's absolutely necessary, but a dying art.

#library binding #i love that shit #that means those pages aren't fucking going anywhere #fun fact: many libraries used to do it in-house! #binderies #book binderies #book binding #libraries #books

[elizabethminkel]

Earlier this week I reported on the very depressing for-profit fic pirating happening in certain corners of fandom—but (somewhat coincidentally, timing-wise) I also had the joy of reporting this story on fanbinding, and the work of the @renegadeguild! Featuring the words (and fanbinds) of the brilliant @celestial-sphere-press, @butterfingersbookbinding, and @fanboundbooks (who also talked about Renegade on the most recent Fansplaining episode).

Renegade's binders are strong proponents of the non-monetized gift economy—they truly embody the spirit of fanfiction, in my opinion, both in the communal way they share their work with fic writers and each other, and in the DIY way they approach making books:

There’s a strong parallel between the amateur, instinctive nature of fanfiction and the act of fanbinding. While plenty of fic is penned by formally trained writers, much of it is not. Tiffo, who binds as Fanboundbooks, likens the reverse-engineering involved in teaching oneself both activities. As writers, people try to figure out why stories work. Fanbinders collectively share the process of learning to turn that work into a physical object—tactile, clean, often beautiful. Fic is largely unencumbered by the forms and structures of traditional publishing, and fanbinders approach their work with the same spirit. “People will often say, ‘How do I do this?’ or ‘What’s the rule for this?’” Tiffo says. “The answer that we always try to throw in Renegade is, ‘This is what other people have done, but know that there is no rule to your book—you can make whatever you want.’”

It's a shame seeing people conflate the bad actors of the pirating situation—many of whom don't appear to be in fandom and seem motivated by pure profit—with the work of fanbinders at large, and seeing people scared to try out fanbinding because of the recent news. Not-for-profit fanbinding is just as legal as writing fanfiction, and I don't speak for all fic writers, but if someone ever bound one of my fics, I'd be so touched I would almost definitely weep. 😭

#fanbinding #fanfiction #renegade bindery #fanbound books #celestial sphere press #butterfingers binding #gift economy #fannish crafts #atlas obscura #my writing

[mythrilthread]

Wonderful @marvinhere over at Renegade Bindery collected a volume of tumblr “folktales”.

Here’s my spin on it!

A three-piece Bradel binding featuring:

🦀 covers in all the fun shades of tumblr blue with the post that started it all on the back cover;

🦀 logo linoprinted on dark blue linen spine;

🦀 crab party on the endpapers;

🦀 my first attempt at sewing double core endbands;

🦀 edges painted to look like ✨space✨

🦀 custom bookmark because more memes is always a good idea, right?

#bookbinding #fanbinding #mythril thread books #tumblr #tumblr folktales #tumblr folklore #renegade bindery #tumblr stories

[justheblueberry]

I Wish You Were My Husband by Feynite

book & clamshell box for @towns-end-bindery for the Renegade California Mini Exchange!!! THE REVEAL!!!! wow its been so long since i started this it feels kind of unreal haha

this exchange sent me on a journey through so many lovely fics and new fandoms that were a delight to explore! i have Learned Things about svsss and honestly the more i hear the more excited i am to (eventually!!) finally read it

about the bind itself, it was a bit of a ride. i learned like 5 new skills in total, including:

- cover cutouts

- suminagashi edges

- my first book box!!

- chisel trimming edges by myself, which, um, definitely couldve gone better but it was fine after a few hours of sanding

- using REAL TOOLS???? lost count how many times i forgot i have a bone folder and made my book arts teacher take psychic damage

i fiddled with the typeset for several months, but in the end finished the book like a month early. so naturally my hubris rose from the dead and decided that making my first box would be a great idea!

i finished it with like 12 hours to spare before i was heading to the airport because i never learn

big thanks to fran for organizing this and congrats to everyone participating!!! WE CAME!!!

#fanbinding #svsss #my books #blueberry bindery #mxtx #scum villain #scum villian self saving system #bookbinding #ficbinding #handbinding #fanfic #i read this fic with only a vague fandom osmosised impression of what svsss was #and honestly if you told me this was the actual plot of svsss i would have believed you

[firebound-press]

Todays bind! Fools Gold, by @tigers1o1 !!

Personally, I absolutely adore the paper and bookcloth combination on this bind. I got the cloth a while back for free and I’ve been waiting for a chance to use it, and then my friend Cam got me this paper as a gift! It seemed way too perfect to not use!

This was a very exciting bind, because it gave me the opportunity to try something completely new, gilded edges!!

Although it didn’t turn out perfect, I’m still super proud of how clean it ended up. Plus, I personally think the flaws make it better :D

The typesetting here was very exciting for me. A few months ago Ty held a tattoo contest for the fic, and I couldn’t not use them when I saw the two finalist designs. So I went ahead and contacted the artists, and they both said I could use them!!

Title page design: @eldrigeonsss

Chapter header design: @sheeeeeeeepherd

Thank you both again for letting me use your beautiful work!

You can read the fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42798252/chapters/107512251

#guys I’m so proud of this book you have no idea #I think it’s one of my favorite books I’ve ever made #I love how the gold looks together and how it shimers #the bookcloth and the paper both shimmer and it’s SO pretty #plus on top of that this binding let me meet some really really cool people #and helped me unlock some super cool opportunities #so it’s definetly going to be one I hold close to my heart for a long time #also major shoutout to Indy and Ty for letting me borrow the red leather and the shells for the pictures #it worked out so much better than I ever could have hoped #fish n chips #jrwi show #just roll with it #chip jrwi #fish and chips #jrwi fnc #gillion tidestrider #ficbinding #firebound press #renegade bindery #fanbinding #bookbinding

[piscesmoonpress]

Art Heist, Baby! by otrtbs (@otrtbs)

When James Potter answers a mysterious ad in his local coffee shop, the last thing he expects is to be thrown into a world of white collar crime, but how can he resist when the mastermind behind the operation has dark hair and brooding eyes and promises wealth beyond James' wildest imagination? He would do anything for that boy named after a star, including stealing millions of dollars of fine art.

Pairing: Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom Fandom: Harry Potter

Disclaimer: otrtbs no longer allows binds of Art Heist, Baby!. This edition was first typeset and bound in May of 2023. Please do not use this post as a permission to bind Art Heist, Baby!.

Art Heist, Baby! was one of the very first jegulus fics I read, and eventually became my second-ever bind. The original binding for this fic was done over the course of a single weekend, which makes me cringe a little now—but I am still so proud of this typeset and the bind itself, despite its flaws.

Half-Letter | 219,117 words | 609 pages

Title and Drop Cap Font: Bodoni 72 Body: Adobe Garamond Pro Accent(s): Gill Sans, Futura Condensed

Typset by me in Word.

Designed by me in Illustrator.

Materials

Cover Bookcloth: Duo in Blue Jean HTV: Siser Brand in Gold Metal and Powder Blue Endbands: Mettler Silk Finish Thread Endpapers: Chiyogami Paper

Eventually, I found that the structure of my previous binding was less-than-ideal, and I decided to rebind my copy. Given that I couldn't change the typeset, I spent a lot of time deciding on a cover design, and eventually settled on using Ivan Aivazovsky's Ship on Stormy Seas (a painting synonymous with this fic) as inspiration.

The process of turning the boat from this painting into something that could be used with a single shade of HTV was difficult, but I eventually settled upon a design I was happy with after messing around in Illustrator for a couple weeks.

When I removed the cover from this bind, I also trimmed and painted the edges, sewed double-core french endbands (two-tone, to match the bookcloth), and reinforced the spine (though I couldn't do much for the pre-existing swell). Overall, I am thrilled with how it looks, and with how my original typeset fits with my more developed design style.

Thank you to Nat, for writing such a beautiful (and heart-wrenching) story. Art Heist, Baby! is free to read on ao3, here.

#jegulus #wolfstar #bookbinding #fanbinding #my books #marauders #ficbinding #james potter #regulus black #marauders era #sirius black #renegade bindery #art heist baby

[finalfrontierpublishing]

So it's been a while since i posted any books - mostly because i've been hiding my progress like a little sneak.

I just finished this bind last night of The Desert Storm by @blue-sunshine-mauve-morning, or really it's volume 1 out of like ??? 15, maybe. Please take whatever i say with a pinch of salt (I have had 0 sleep for more than 24 hours, and that tends to make me a little very sleep-deprivation drunk a.k.a. unhinged). Okay, on to thoughts! The Desert Storm was foisted onto me by @celestial-sphere-press who told me under no uncertain terms that I WOULD FUCKING LOVE THIS SHIT. Well, I did. This more than 1 million word epic about Ben Fuckin' Kenobi is pretty much god-tier fanfiction. It reads like a goddamn novel. I can never think of canon again without thinking that this good shit should be canon. I read it and then consumed half of it within a week, and I have zero regrets. @blue-sunshine-mauve-morning, i absolutely love you and love your writing. It is the best thing since sliced bread. It is better than sliced bread.

I also had the benefit of @celestial-sphere-press saying, hey would you want to use the typeset? MY GOD, i am grateful. I love this fic, i would have typeset it if it hadn't been typeset but Des did such a beautiful job that i am absolutely in awe and thankful that she and the author allowed others to use it. Look at it - it's so beautiful. I only had to think hey, i just gotta design the cover and et cetera and so the book happened.

Please also check out @celestial-sphere-press 's amazing post here and here, who is the only person i know who's started and is almost complete in fanbinding this epic, and is also making an author a copy of the entire series.

Some stats, if you will.

96215 words || 380 pages

Title font: Ghaomiec

I took some inspiration from starblight bindery's lovely desert scape as well as this amazing cover of Dune which i own. I love that the landscape emanates Dune vibes while being oh so Tattooine - just sand and heat, relentless loneliness and melancholy. This fic centres around Obi-Wan Infinite Sadness Kenobi so it needed SAD VIBES TM, which i tried to deliver in desolate landscape form.

Also thank the heavens for Renegade members, who in a masterful stroke of Group Buy Saves Money, managed to source extra-out-of-production colours of Colibri and help a fair number of us get really cool limited edition versions of bookcloth. I am now a proud owner of a lorge stash of Duo and Colibri of which i am now sitting on like a shifty dragon with a hoarding problem. Good luck getting your bookcloth now, Folio Society, ha ha (gloating)! This particular bookcloth is Colibri Copper which has been wholly stashed for The Desert Storm series. I am leaning on transitioning to Malachite for Rise and Fall when I get to it.

The front cover design was done with a stock image and converted to a PNG, which i then fiddled with and did some HTV magic with. It was remarkably easier to weed than expected. I tried something new and ironed the design on the naked bookcloth first before gluing it to the boards, which was a new challenge in making sure everything was aligned.

Endpapers are marbled endpapers (Renato Crepaldi) which I got from Hollanders, which perfectly fit the colour scheme of the bind. The only hiccup was as I was cutting, I realized the sheet was running in the opposite direction of his usual papers and half the size, and only yielded 3 A5 size endpapers and so my heart went noooooooooo. oh well. i guess i will use it for quartos.

Endbands are my favourite - silk in 3 colours in the french doublecore style (as i was binding this i did not have the mental capacity to handle the difficulty of 4 strands). the truth is i usually only can do 4 when I have higher brain function and am willing to spend 80% of my time unraveling it from getting tangled.

I also forgot to mention I had mild fuck-ups, I got glue on the front endpaper which I had to hastily remove with wet cloth, and the back square is preposterously bad but I'm ignoring it for now.

Anyway, i've actually managed to complete a few other binds which have not been mentioned here as they've all been gifts/ surprises or event books in some form. I am SO EXCITED, also because I am travelling in the latter half of July to San Diego and L.A. and I get to meet some bookbinding friends in the flesh. Renegade is fucking amazing y'all. I am ready to embrace these crazy lads who have enabled me for the last 1 year, even when i'm the solitary (1) weirdo from my country of origin in the server. Also... potentially bookbinding trip early next year??? I am enthused.

#bookbinding #fanbinding #renegade bindery #my books #star wars #clone wars #obi-wan kenobi #ben kenobi #ben naasade #infinite sadness #the desert storm #the ben naasade epic

[dragontreebindery]

Experimenting! Part coptic binding, part embroidered cover, all bees. Hoping to create other designs in the future.

#posting it on the right blog this time (: #bookbinding #books #book binding #book art #dragon tree bindery

[batjokewholaughs]

So I got in to bookbinding a few months ago and finally made a collection of all my batjokes stories. Since money is tight I told myself to stick to only supplies I already owned, so while these wouldn’t be my first choice of endpapers for this material, I still think the skulls are cute. The cover art was hand foiled with a foil quill pen and took a little under 3.5 hours.

Huge shoutout to everyone in the Renegade server for lending me their opinions and advice while I designed this little chonker 🙏🏻💜

#batjokes #batman x joker #batman/joker #batjokes fanfiction #batjokes fanfic #batman fanfiction #bookbinding #fanbinding #fan binding #book binding #fanfiction binding #fanfic writing #sleepy bat bindery #batman #the batman who laughs #tbwl #fic binding #fanfiction #fanfic writers #my fanfic #renegade #renegade bindery #my writing

[ohmightydevviepuu]

rebinding: valdemar. (books that blooded me)

i'm still practicing my case binding and struggling but im genuinely pleased with this series of paperback rebinds. collected from a couple of library sales over the past many years (i still have my original hardcovers, too), i've taken a near-complete set of mercedes lackey's valdemar series and begun rebinding them as hardcover for a binderary project.

this is a basic flatback style. i stripped the paper covers, added mull and endbands to the spines, tipped on endpapers, and created cases for each book. the series is divided up into (mostly) trilogies so i set on a spine color for each trilogy. i chose a single font for the decorations and i scanned the paper covers to preserve the classic 90s jodi lee artwork. the artwork was printed on iridescent sticker paper and attached to the covers a paper well technique from DAS bookbinding. on the back of each book is a small sigil i designed for the main character(s) of each series.

i'm about halfway through. wish me luck!!

**i say 'books that blooded me' in the spirit of a devoted fated mates podcast listener. a lot of mercedes lackey has not aged well--the larry dixon of it all is A Problem--but these books installed a lot of buttons in me and i still love them. there is a simplicity and sense of joy i get from reading them--still.

#fanbinding #renegade bindery #binderary #rebinding #mercedes lackey #books that blooded me

[the-furthest-city-light]

Hey hi hello I'd like to tell you about the wonderful gift my friend @swordsmans made for me.

I literally spent Thursday night just. Looking through it and turning it over in my hands. It's SO pretty and has SUCH A VISION in the making of it. Gyro's work is amazing. Just. Look.

The cover? The gold foil lettering? God. It looks so good on my bookshelf. And the DETAIL. They painted the edges of the pages guys, it looks SO COOL.

(excuse the low-quality photos, I have learned i am terrible at staging books, but just LOOK AT THESE PAGES.)

Okay and now for me waxing poetic about this.

When gyro first mentioned that they were going to start commissions for binding people's fics I was excited for them and also planned to commission them to bind one of my own fics. I knew I wanted to get a bound copy of their fic The Sea Makes Bones of Bodies as well, because if you haven't seen the typesets for that and the copies they've made you really should (here's my personal favorite of their copies). So I reached out and imagine my surprise when I discovered Gyro was already planning to do so.

Genuinely one of my favorite experiences in fandom is seeing people make art for their favorite fics and be inspired by other fanworks so when I tell you that I was BEYOND HONORED about this and SO PUMPED, like. I don't have words. I'm so grateful to have received such a lovely gift (it's on my bookshelf next to my copy of Rilke. Rilke.) and I keep running around with a huge smile on my face because I still can't believe anyone liked my silly Zolu fic enough to be inspired to actually bind it and now I have it in my hands.

I don't actually know anything about bookbinding except for what I've gleaned from Gyro but I did wonder how it would like. Feel in my hand compared to traditionally published books. I'm super careful with it because I love it so much but this thing is not going to fall apart at the drop of a hat. Also the book just feels nice in my hands. Weird thing to notice maybe but Gyro also picked a lovely font? I read the fic (IN BOOK FORM AHHHHHHH) and it was just as readable as it is on AO3 (though obviously this is way better/more special askdfjajjakkkiss).

If you are interested in fanbinding and the actual process Gyro used to make this, they made a post here. If you would like to request a fanbinding project their form is here. Gyro's Kofi is here as well. And if you'd like to follow gyro's fanbinding archive that would be here.

Okay! I think that's all I wanted to say. Gyro it was so lovely to have a front-row seat to the creation process and see how you made the book. Genuinely one of the best gifts I've ever received, thank you so much!!!

#bad blade bindery #fanbinding #zolu #book binding #spill your wine #gyro AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #I love it so much <3

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Fanbinding of Gilded Chain by Sroloc_Elbisivni

Gilded Chain by Sroloc_Elbisivni

The throne of Iacon's Primes is draped in golden chains. The glitter hides how strong they are--and how impossible to escape.

Fandom: Transformers - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Megaton/Optimus Prime Characters: Megatron, Optimus Prime, Soundwave, Ravage Words: 3,710

I typeset Gilded Chain for the 2023 Renegade Tiny Book Bang, way back in August. Another member claimed the typeset and bound me a fabulous tiny book. However, while all of that was going on, I was also struck with a vision of a book in gold chains. It took me a while to puzzle out how to make this happen, but here we are now. This is now the second copy of Gilded Chain I have sitting on my shelf!

Here are some exterior shots. I embedded the eyepins in layers of thin cardboard, so they were sunk down into the covers instead of above/below/beside:

The endbands match up well with the chains despite being thread:

With a name like "Gilded Chain", I had to go ham with gold every place I could fit it in, which also includes the endpapers, the frontispiece, and the interior title:

On the inside I wanted to continue the them of ostentatious luxury, so the dropcaps are very elaborate. And the textbreaks are thematically appropriate chains:

So, this is a tiny book, letter-octavo sized. I have a terrible time telling how big are books in photos, so I'm experimenting with some comparisons:

Obviously the ruler is most accurate, but the shell is aesthetically appealing :)

I'm thrilled to have pulled of this cover! There was a lot of fucking around and finding out. @sroloc--elbisivni has their copy and has graciously allowed me to share with everyone online. Thank you wonderful author! I greatly enjoy this story, hopefully a bit of fanart tells you how much!

Also located on A03 here.

#book binding #my books #Cat's Paw Bindery #Gilded Chain #sroloc--elbisivni #transformers #fic rec

[nocturnus33]

The meaning of mistletoe by Endrina, first volume of The secret language of plants. @llendrinall I have read this charming story several times. The voice of the narration, with its fairy tale reminiscence, is something I really like. Endrina is a great author, it is worth reading their novel length fics.

Typeset by Lindsey P. For those inexperienced in fandom, this story can be read for free at AO3.

What I like:

It's quite a simple binding, but something in it remind me of the old editions of my childhood. Reading it give me a special kind of joy, it's both, the comfort of this story and the childhood-like feeling this tome brings me while holding it

What I could do better:

I had problems with the guillotining of the edges, but went ahead [I had already lost a lot of material with a failed first printing]. I couldn't say what happened, but - for me - that mistake gives a Je ne sais quoi to the edition that I love. I don't know why, but when I was a child, back in the 70's, I had many books with the same feeling. The paper was a bit thicker than usual, and the edges weren't perfectly cut. I didn't realize, until I sat down to read this edition, that this binding conjures up memories of my childhood.

Special thanks: During the process, I had a severe case of printer hiccups (Or binder's brain hiccups, to be more precise) but @getfuckedblr hold my hand and helped me.

@llendrinall 

[If I learned to bind, you can do it too. It's not that difficult... ok a little at first, but it is doable. Don't buy fic binds, ok? It spoils fandom's fun]

#fanbinding #ficbook #ficbinding #bookbinding #fic binding #fic binders #renegade bindery #fan binders #fan art #endrina #fic books #fic book #fanfic bookbinding #fanfic binding #my workshop #my progress #my stuff #amateurbinding #fan bind #fan binding #fanbook #fanbind #fanbound #remus lupin #severus snape #harry potter fanfiction #little harry #gen fic #AO #ao3

[jabbage]

I had a go at binding this lovely tiny typeset of the Raven by @renegadepublishing typesetter Aiden! Although I've done it larger than the typeset was designed to be, this is still the smallest book I've tried making, a teeny little sexidecimo! <3

This was my first time using endpapers that I'd marbelled myself. I bought some really cheap marbling inks intended for kids, so I'm pleased they worked out ok!

It's bound in dark navy bookcloth, and the design on the front and back are acrylic paint applied with a stencil.

Here are some work in progress shots:

#bookbinding #renegade bindery #tiny book #the raven #edgar allen poe #miniature #book binding

[bluevelvetbindery]

Catching up on Binderary workshops today and this is what I accomplished! So pleased with this lil’ fella! I see many more tiny books in my future!

#bookbinding #tiny book #tiny things #blue velvet bindery #binderary 2024 #renegade bookbinding guild

[drangercore]

Love and Other Historical Accidents by @pacific-rimbaud​

Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy never intended to blow up their life's work, but that's rather what they've gone and done. Now they're trapped 200 years in the past, with a broken Time Turner, a missing snuff box, a handful of overly-eligible daughters, and a House-elf in a cable knit cardigan. It will require the combined power of their keen intellects to get them home, if they'd stop arguing long enough to use them. As it turns out, history is just one damned accident after another.

Fandom: Harry Potter

Relationship: Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy

Art by @gingerhuneybee​, @jjuuppiter​, @jaxxartbox​, & yours truly

My first fanbind! 

L&OHA is an impeccable story and is so very dear to me. This was the fic that made me go “I want that on my shelf!”, so here we are. 

keep reading for more binding info and to see my gushing on the fic.

QUICK SPECS

153,854 words | 571 pages | 5″ x 8.5″ 

Binding Method: 3 Piece In Boards Bradel  Body Font: Adobe Caslon Pro Decorative Font: IM Fell English

I am very proud of this book, having accomplished many firsts with it. My first book that I rounded and backed, sewed double-core endbands on, painted the edges, and used toner reactive foil and HTV on!

ON THE STORY

Sighs. What more can I say? It’s simply brilliant. A unique multifaceted story with incredible dynamics, clever foreshadowing, great character studies of Draco and Hermione, and such beloved original characters. It’s comedic and refreshing but it also takes on grief and goodbyes, and heartbreak. It’s fucking romantic and also So nuanced. I dislike stories that spoon-feed every little thing about the character, so the parlor tricks on this one? Ate every crumb of it. It was filled with implications and was misleading in the best sense. You’ve got to be an astute reader to catch some things the first round (which I definitely wasn’t). 

While it doesn’t entirely shy away from typical lovey-dovies, the regard for mundanity and the inconsequential, I just find more inherently romantic. The exploration on time travel and the vivid prose further underscores the depth of PR’s talent. She captures so eloquently, the mind of an extremely logical person in a very illogical experience. I saw myself in Hermione so many times. The story demands to be read again and revels upon doing so. Pacific Rimbaud is such an incredible writer *sobs* all her works are simply a masterpiece. 

That said, this beautiful story deserves to be turned into a physical book.

DESIGN PLAN (or lack thereof) 

This is my first fanfic project and my third book overall which I must say was quite a leap considering my very little binding experience. I think the demon small niggling part at the back of my head got the best of me and positively thought she could make a relatively fastidious book despite the lack of skill. BUT nothing can stop me when I am overly enthusiastic about something, thus began my 2 month research, soaking up every gobbet of binding info in reach. As far as my book binding journey goes, gathering supplies was the hardest part lol. Bookbinding is not a common hobby in the Philippines so it was tedious to to look for materials and/or to settle on alternatives.

I credit 70% of the 4 month stretch of this project to my indecision. The novelty and sheer excitement with a new hobby, I think, divested me to properly conceptualize heh. I redid my typeset 1 billion times because I kept switching softwares: Word→ Pages→ InDesign. I probably have 8 versions of the typeset that will never see the light of day. Anyway, I did finally get the stuff done. Here’s my little design dump:

Nothing symbolic about the design really. I just worked around elements I thought were appropriate with the regency era and time traveling aspect: vines/ flowers and the time turner. I tried to reflect PR’s elegant writing in the book so hopefully I did it some justice. I added my fave works for this fic too and even drew fanart myself, here are some of them:

BINDING

I watched DAS bookbinding religiously during my research phase and I knew then that I wanted to someday follow his in-boards 3-piece bradel tutorial, but it wasn’t supposed to be so early on in my binding journey. One look at this book however threw me off course. It was incredibly ambitious of me, so I guess I deserved all the stress I endured in the process. I was supposed to trim the edges in between glueing the spine and rounding/backing, but I only had my poorly sharpened Php145 wood chisel to finish the task. That and nursing the finger my chisel wounded took enough time for the glue to dry, so I was fiddling with a stiff textblock the entire time after. I learnt along the way that a blow dryer and bone folder will be your best friends (and plenty of patience). I’d also like to apologize to my neighbors if you heard any hammering at 1am 😳 

The covers were... finicky. For some reason, midway, I decided to make either covers differently, and all to the good because the one made following DAS’ tutorial ended up slightly warping. DAS’ was with two 1.25mm boards glued together, while my experimental one was with a single 2.5mm board of which I peeled layers off of to reduce its thickness in half as needed.  (see pictures below for reference)

A lot of how the book looks like now is either born out of impulse or a desperate remedy. The book in turn is very gold. Chapter headers were impulsively foiled with gold laser reactive foil (so much for illustrating the headers only to cover them up haha *eye twitches*). 

I accidentally stained the edges while smoothing with black sandpaper so I covered the mess with an admix of Sakura acrylic paint in black and Liquitex acrylic ink in iridescent gold (Paint order: 1 layer gold- 2 thin layers black- 3 layers gold).

 I am very proud of my sewn endbands as this was my very first attempt at doing a double-core. I used DMC cotton threads in cream (712) and gold (E3821). Below is a close-up because why not. (as you can see, I had some flaking on the paint, luckily this was on the bottom edge so I fixed the issue on the more visible sides.)

I don’t like the bookcloth selection where I’m from (if there’s anything at all) so I made my own with pastel blue eco-ramie cloth, flour paste, and 80gsm paper. I ordered my fabric online and the shade was too icing-like. It looked tacky so I bleached to lighten. The white cloth also came from the same fabric which I bleached till it paled to white.

Titling was one of my biggest worries because majority of binders I saw were using a cricut to cut HTV. I almost entertained the idea of cutting it manually or even painting or embroidery, but to my luck, I found a local shop that offers vinyl ! cutting !! service !!! I sent them my design and they cut and weeded the vinyl for me. I chose white for the title and metallic gold for the vine detail. I messed up applying the word “historical” though, but let’s pretend i did it on purpose for the vintage feel.

Four months of faffing later, I have this story in corporeal form! Overall, I’m overjoyed with the outcome and I’d like to thank PR for the opportunity to have such a wonderful story on my shelf (and free to be read by anyone!)

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! 

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