What was I thinking…

…saddle stitching and coptic stitching? Talk about belt and braces! As it turns out though, using two types of stitching to sew a fabric book together isn't quite as ridiculous as it seems, but more about that in a moment.

Any way, I've finished my first coptic stitched book, and while it isn't perfect, I'm pleased with the result. I now have a book, that when open lies perfectly flat. This will make life a whole lot easier when I sew samples into the book, and more user friendly for anyone looking through the book.

The book
I based on a bodice
–the more you put in,
the more you can let it out!

As was the case when I made a book based on a bodice, making the eyelets was by far the trickiest part–punching holes through card and fabric requires a lot of strength and teeth grinding. To stitch the signatures and boards together I was advised to use waxed thread, I thought about dental floss but it was too fine, although the minty fresh smell was quite appealing. However, it just so happened that I had a reel of sailor's whipping twine in my possession that did the job perfectly, so perfectly I'm dreaming up ways to use it on other projects.

Had this book been made with paper and card I would have pierced holes in my signatures before stitching. This way you know that from top to bottom, all layers have exactly the same distance between the holes, which gives the book a neat and sturdy finish. Unfortunately you can't really do that with most fabrics as they tend to fray so my signatures weren't pre-pierced meaning the result is a bit more wobbly and uneven than I would have liked. But, if I'd used a temporary stitch, then the holes for my coptic stitching would have been perfectly aligned, and I could simply whip out the temporary stitching when I was done.

Perhaps then, two types of stitching on a coptic bound book isn't so daft after all? 

Elizabeth,

x

PS: Apologies for only showing glimpses of the book, but it's a big beast and I need more space if I'm going to take photos that do it justice. That's the problem with blogging, once you start, you have to become a photographer too!