Financial Investment: $-$$
Time Commitment: T-TT
Space Requirement: 0
Skills Required: none
After learning how to letterpress text or artwork that I might want to bind in a book, the next step was to learn how to make a book. So I signed up for the Bookbinding I class with Shanna Yarbrough at The Center for Book Arts (read my review of CBA here). This time I took a series of 10 classes held on Tuesday nights from 6:30 – 9:30 pm. The class taught how to make several types of books, including accordion, pamphlet, modified case, French flat back case, and English rounded back case. Because each type of book is very different and has varying levels of complexity, I’ve broken up the review for bookbinding into two parts: one for the simpler accordion and pamphlet books and one for the more complex “case” books. This entry will discuss accordion and pamphlet books.
The first class taught accordion books. If you have ever made a paper fan, you can make an accordion book. Because this type of book is relatively easy to make, much of our class time focused on understanding the different types of paper, grain direction of paper, proper methods for folding and cutting, and appropriate adhesives to use. One of the most important lessons we learned was that no matter what type of paper you use, make sure the covering, binder board (think chip board if you do any scrapbooking or paper crafts), and text block (pages of the book) are in the same grain direction to prevent bowed or misshapen books. After learning the key techniques, we made an accordion text block with paper-covered backing boards.
During the second class, we learned about different types of pamphlet books. Pamphlets, as you might imagine, are the simple books made from stacking a few sheets of paper and folding them in half. The folded edge serves as the spine, which is sewn to keep the pages together (trust me, anyone could do this minimal amount of sewing). What distinguishes one pamphlet from the next is the way the cover for the pamphlet is made. You can skip the adhesives by simply making a paper cover that is long enough on both ends to wrap around the first and last pages of the text block, and sew it on when you sew the pages together. Or you can make the paper cover longer on the back cover side, trim it to look like an envelope flap, wrap it around the closed book, and tuck it into a slit cut on the front cover.
We covered our pamphlets with backing boards, i.e., made it a hardback. We used one big piece of bookcloth and glued two pieces of binder board on with enough space in between for the spine. Then we lined the inside of the covers with decorative paper.
Below are pictures of both the pamphlet (left) and accordion (right) books that I made:
As you can see, accordions and pamphlets are relatively simple to make and don’t require a lot of materials, time, or space. Unlike some crafts where you are required to use special materials, the cost of materials depends completely on the types of materials that you select. You don’t have to buy many special tools, and you can use inexpensive materials for a simple book or use more expensive materials to make an elaborate book. You also have considerable control over the amount of time you want to invest in the project. For example, if you are pressed for time, you can make a paper cover instead of a hard cover. These projects are great for busy people because there are easy stopping points, allowing you to work for short increments of time, such as 30 minutes to an hour. Overall, I made each book during one 3-hour class, which also included a lot of instructing time. As for the amount of space required for making these books, the size of your average kitchen table is sufficient.
After learning how to make a pamphlet book, I used my newly acquired skills to make invitations to a party I threw for my husband to celebrate his birthday and election to the partnership of his law firm. Because of my busy schedule, I couldn’t make all 75 of the invitations I needed at one time. I was, however, able to assemble the unique, personalized invitation in stages. And it was all done on the “island” in our kitchen. Below are pictures of the invitation:
Stay tuned . . . my next review will cover the more complex bookbinding techniques.
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