Coptic Headband Class

Well, life has been busy as my partner and I prepare to leave St. Louis and start our new life out east. Today, we disposed of two old desks, shredded old documents, and purged more things that won't make the journey with us. Despite these preparations, I am trying to squeeze in as much bookbinding as possible and have continued to fill my Etsy shop. I am wondering how quickly I will be able to being the creative process again once we get settled.

Last weekend, I took a class on sewing Coptic Headbands. It was great fun! I will miss my bookbinding teacher, Joanne. For anyone interested in bookbinding near St. Louis, I highly recommend you getting in touch with her. She is an excellent mentor and has been quite an inspiration. I have learned so much and am always motivated to learn as much as possible when in her creative studio space. Before working with her in 2006, I tried to make a couple of books, but didn't even know about grain direction or proper glues. It is fun to look back at those books now. Her instruction has been monumental for me; the knowledge I have gained about bookbinding has forever changed my life - it is like a rewiring of the brain.

Once I got the hang of this sewing technique, it was quite rewarding and didn't seem too difficult. Starting the process was the most challenging. It is very neat to see the finished product; I love the idea of using contrasting colors to really make the headband "pop." After the class, I replicated what I learned on another book I had recently sewn and was happy with the end result, even though the measurements were a bit off. The next one will be even better! I look forward to incorporating this technique on more structures soon. The details of this sewing are in the book, Headbands How to Work Them by Jane Greenfield and Jenny Hille. But, taking a class and learning from a professional is so much better (at least for me). It gives me the confidence that I am learning correctly.

Sewing a New Book

I spent some time this evening sewing a Coptic bound book. I cut the cover off of the 1940 book, The Trees by Conrad Richter. A heavy blue book cloth covers this book and it is still in relatively good condition considering it is 70 years old. When sewing a Coptic book, I like to cover the sections with paper in order to give it a decorative embellishment as well as to provide a small amount of room for growth in case the person who uses it chooses to add photos or other ephemera. The unsewn book has been sitting around for a while waiting for me to tend to it. (I teach second grade full time and has taken up the bulk of my week).

I love the feeling of pulling out my various colors of waxed linen thread, looking at them - trying to decide which ones would be just right for the project at hand. Tonight, I settled on olive green, blue, and red. While these vary from the braided thread used as a closure, I think the colors compliment the cover nicely. Sometimes, the thread pulls or gets tangled, causing frustration on my part. Not so this evening. This upcycled journal came together perfectly.

I think back to the first time I sewed a Coptic stitch book by following the directions presented in Keith Smith's book, Exposed Spine Sewings. I used cardboard and copy machine paper since I knew it was for practice. It didn't turn out too bad, but it wasn't something worth keeping. Putting it in my "give-away" pile at school made a little second grader very happy though! I have come a long way since then. I feel rather confident about this particular stitch and would like to branch out and try something new. I played around with the Celtic Weave a week or so ago. It didn't turn out right. With practice though, this too will likely become second nature one day.