Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Hardcover Pamphlets

Last week when I made that book cloth for the little winter book, I also did a bunch of other cloth at the same time. I've now finished a couple more hardcover pamphlet books using those fabrics.

I used an orange bandanna for this one. Orange pages inside and yellow handmade paper pasted down on the inside of the covers. A strip torn from the edge of the bandanna is tied around it.


This one has a geometric navy fabric on the covers. I found it in the bin of remnants at the fabric store. The pages are super nice Mohawk Super Fine paper. On the inside of the covers, I pasted some Argali handmade paper from India. The Knot of Eternity is printed on the inside of the front cover. In Tibetan Buddhism, this knot represents life in balance where everything is in harmony. It also represents the teachings of the Buddha, which are considered eternal, no beginning and no end.

8 comments:

BWK Art said...

Ooh that orange one is super cool! Crafty idea! :)

eb said...

I'll ask the question here. I was taught to apply the book cloth over the spine after clothing the front and back of the cover. I have found it easier to cover the spine first if the materials I'm using allows that. I notice you've been covering the spine first. Is there a protocol for deciding whether to go spine first or not?

eb

MyHandboundBooks said...

eb, good question, hmmm.
i was taught to cover the spine first. So the minuscule thickness of the paper/cloth that is lying on top of it, doesn't catch when you slide your book into place between two other books on the bookshelf. Now, most of the books I make are not likely being shelved in the standard way so, I suppose it shouldn't matter too much...

eb said...

Good. Thanks. This is pretty much why I started doing it that way too. And it's easier to line up the cloth so the overlap matches up front to back.

eb

MyHandboundBooks said...

oh yeah, much easier to make them match. good point.

it has always worked well for me, typically using paper on the covers with fabric on the spine. now that I've done these with fabric on the covers i am concerned about potential fraying along that exposed edge. it does have a paper backing, but i can still see the possibility.

Amy said...

I don't know if I've commented on your blog yet, but I've been lurking since the beginning of the year. So I thought I should come out of the shadows!

Hardcover pamphlets were the first books that I learned how to make. They'll always have a special place in my heart! ;) Your's are really great. I love the bandana one. Very cool.

Denise said...

Your work is fantastic. I've been visiting your blog for a few weeks and you inspired me to begin bookbinding. I made my first leather covers this week.

MyHandboundBooks said...

thanks amy :)
hardcover pamphlets were the first hardcover books i ever made, and i love making them! it was great to do it again.

thanks denise :)
glad you're enjoying my blog - the leather covers are a great way to get started, i hope you're having loads of fun!