LAW 31 THE ART OF MAKING BOOKS

This winter i decided that i was going to spend time learning new book making techniques. For years i made and taught Japanese book binding techniques; i was however ultimately unhappy with the way the books opened, using stab binding techniques did not allow the books to open flat.

This one is sold!

 So i went on the web and did some research, found some, tons, of interesting sites and taught myself both the French stitch binding technique and the Coptic stitch.

The Bold Buccaneer

Since we live on a boat and have lots of friends who sail i thought, why not make blank books that could be used for Captain's Logs? Cool idea huh?

Who could resist a mermaid?

Fate stepped in when a large piece of Marine blue Sunforger cloth came floating down the river. Mungo fished it out of the drink and i have been making book covers out of it ever since.

Or this little beauty who wants you to look into her mirror

I have to admit that the Sunforger cloth came with its own special challenges, the biggest being that PVA glues do not like to stick to the fabric. It took way more time and trouble than it was worth. Once more Mungo came to the rescue. He found TearMender; an all natural latex based glue that has been around since the 30's. It works wonderfully. I recommend it highly. It appears to be available only on the web.

Wanting to personalize the books; i mean after all, just how many blank blue books could i make before i got bored, i decided that i would find interesting marine themes and hand embroider the front covers. Thus keeping my interest in the projects and fulfilling my personal need and interest in fine handwork.

I hope you like the images, almost all of them are available for sale: feel free to contact me, or check out my Etsy site, gailelwell @ Floating Empire Works.

Enjoy
more later,
Morgainne