Reinventing the Slot and Tab binding

Back in July, I went to the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio to teach a workshop. The workshop was called "Reinventing the Slot and Tab Binding." I first encountered a slot and tab binding, many years ago, when I got Alisa Golden's book, Creating Handmade Books. I really liked how it came together. The idea is simple enough and once you get the hang of it, making a book with this technique is quite easy and great for folks who don't want to do a lot of sewing. It looks like it has signatures (sort of) and it opens up nice and flat.

However, I was never quite satisfied with the cover options and I didn't like how the spine tended to 'creep' as the textblock gets thicker. And since it was a fully exposed spine, this 'creeping' was, well, fully exposed. If you've ever made one of these, you probably know what I'm talking about.

So I decided to seriously look at the binding to see if I could make it more satisfying to me. In the end, I came up with a number of variations. I was most interested in finding new cover options. And because of the spine 'creep,' I also wondered if a little spine backing might give it a more traditional shape. I don't really care for exposed spines anyway, so it didn't bother me to cover it up.

So, in July I took all this to Cleveland and taught a keen group of students how to make some of these variations. We did a simple wrapped cover version that looks like a basic pamphlet. We did a thicker one, with the exposed spine, with soft paper covers. Then we did two hardcover versions, one with a flat spine and one with a forced round. Then we made a simple slipcase for our set of books. It was a lot to do in just a 2-day workshop, but most of the students got everything done.

It was a lovely weekend. The students were really enthusiastic and my time at the Morgan Conservatory was great fun, as usual! Here are some photos taken during the workshop.

Book #303

Hourglass Binding

Today's binding is another one that I learned from Alisa Golden's blog. I tweaked it a tiny bit to have individual sewing holes on the spine, rather than sewing through a slot, it is an attractive spine pattern either way.

Book #302

Folded Multi-page Book

The little book I made for today is based on the folded multi-page book that Alisa Golden devised and presented on her blog. It is a handy structure made from one sheet of paper and you can print your content all on one side of the paper then with a bit of folding and cutting - you get a booklet with seven page-spreads.

Book #206

Stick binding

This is another structure that I found while flipping through the book I mentioned yesterday by Alisa Golden. The technique is very similar to the Chopstick binding that I showed previously (and here is a tutorial for it). But this version works for binding a stack of loose sheets, rather than for binding a signature like the Chopstick books.

Book #205

Split Board binding

I came across this type of split board binding in Alisa Golden's book (Creating Handmade Books). It is different than other split board bindings that I've done, so here it is as today's binding. In spite of my poor judgement in mixing these patterns, the structure itself turned out fine!

Book #52

Teabag Book

Little notebooks made from teabag wrappers and boxes, in the shape of a teabag. I saw this idea in Creating Handmade Books by Alisa Golden.