This wee book was created for my mum for her birthday. She wrote a collection of stories about our family adventures in our summer cottage and I bound them for her. She was thrilled to be 'published'! (I actually found that the printing and collation of the pages was the most challenging part of the whole project and once that was sorted the binding itself was just fun.)
It was an interesting project because the binding had to reflect the feel of the cottage to be sucessful. I decided that it had to be super tactile and 'friendly' and needed to be slightly imperfect and rough around the edges to capture the essence of the unconventional setting.
I used bundled stitching (which I would have loved to straighten up a bit and, in retrosect, should have left a wee bit looser) to give interest on the spine. An old button and short lengths of twine, thread and wool plaited together for the closure fastening, I liked the raggedy ends in the plait giving that slightly unfinshed feel to the tie.
The leather for the cover was specially cut from the edge of the hide to include the fluted and buckled edge so that it didn't look too 'pretty' and perfect and ruin the look that I was going for.
She loved it :)
What a wonderful present! A lovely book too - love the binding!
ReplyDeleteI made diaries last year & in 2009. Yes, the collating and planning of the layout is a NightMare!! But it's all worth it, when those books are finished and look wonderful! I made diaries for friends, as Christmas presents and they loved them - though one friend didn't register that I had made it; she said it was so "posh" that she thought I had bought it at Cavendish House (Cheltenham - super-posh department store!!!!). I think that was a compliment...
Great book - and the story on the first page looks great - your mum must be talented too!