Book Binding – Parchment Block

In front of me, I have a pile of parchments that I'm going to turn into a parchment block. This will form the basis for the cover that I will be binding the next turn.

These parchments from Sal are all close together in size, I need to fold each one in half, that will give the overall page size. I then put four folded sheets together like this, one inside of the other. Into a mini booklet.

These booklets are going to be stitched together, so I need to mark where the holes will go. I now measure a couple of fingers width each side and mark the points all the way to the ends

I need to make sure the holes line up, so I'm going to use the edge and mark along the spine where the holes are going to be on each booklet. It's important to keep the booklets in the order you first arranged them, that way the holes will line up when they are stitched together.

Start on the outside of the booklet, and with a needle and cotton thread through to the inside, and then back out the next hole. Keep going till the last hole, then when you reach then, go back down so it appears to have a continuous line of thread, even though it weaves in and out.

When you get back to the hole you started on, make a loop, thread the needle through and make a knot. Next I lay the second booklet on top, thread from the spine to the inside of that one.

From here it's a little more complicated, I pass the needle from the inside, through the next hole up and back out to the spine. I loop around the first set of thread to hold them together, go back through the same hole to the inside and work up to the next hole.

Each booklet gets joined together, and the one before at the same time. That way the book will remain flat when it's finished. The last booklet is the same as the others, until the last hole.

When you have gone through, make a loop, thread the needle though and pull it into a knot. You can then carefully pull the knot through the hole to the spine so it won't be seen when the book is open

It's very important to line the booklets up at this stage, as I'm about to glue the spine together. The thread is the first part of the books strength, the glue the second. You can use a small wooden press to hold the sheets in place.

While the glue is drying. I have on the table some thicker parchment, two sheets are the same size as the parchment I folded at the start. The third sheet is the same height but about 1/3 the width.

I need to fold the two sheets in half. these will form the front and back inside covers, adding more strength and give me something more substantial to fix the leather cover to.

The final stage is to reinforce the spine. Puts the small er sheet of parchment on the table and lines the spine of the book in the centre. The book on it's edge rising from the table.

I fold the edges up on either side, that way the book will keep its shape. I need to make sure the folds are crisp and straight.

Now can apply another coat of glue to the spine and the inside of this sheet of parchment. Finally for today. I put the whole thing back into the press and leave it to dry.