#Stitch #Text #Block #Case #Book #Binding
Hello! It’s Jennifer from Sea Lemon A few years back, I think it was in like 2012, I uploaded a video on how to make a text block for case binding Many of you have used that tutorial for your casebinding projects
And also a lot of you have mentioned that it’s kind of hard to follow The video is sped up and it’s really not that easy to see the stitching i have since then improved my editing and video quality so moving forward, I plan to do more casebinding projects in the future
And I want to link back to this video to help you understand the stitching portion of case binding You can still refer back to the past video but this video will have a more in-depth focus on just the stitching and binding method itself
Kettle stitch binding is most commonly used for case bound books and the stitching portion is done before the glue is added to the spine to make the entire text block There are many variations of kettle stitch binding and this is sort of
My own variation which i found works well throughout the years I’ve been bookbinding it helps the book stay flexible so its easy to open and lay flat My variation is very similar to coptic stitch binding so if you’re already familiar with that, most likely you will find this easy
As i mentioned before this tutorial is just on the stitching portion of making a textblock and if you want the specific page and, uh, hole measurements and all of the stuff going into making the complete book, that will be in another tutorial specific to that book project
And I have all of these book projects in this bookmaking playlist right here and you can apply this stitching to any of the casebound book projects in that playlist and this list will continue to grow as I add more book projects to it Alright, let’s get started
With my pages I already folded in half and grouped into signatures with all the binding holes made I’m going to stitch the signatures together with regular sewing thread Then, I’m going to double thread a regular sewing needle I prefer a thinner thread like this when I’m case-binding
Because you have the glue and the cover going over the spine So you don’t really want a bulky text block to estimate the amount of thread I like to work with about 2 feet of length at a time Otherwise, more than that just becomes really tangled and unmanageable
It’s okay to run out of thread while you’re stitching your book And I’ll show you how to tie that off and fix that once we get into the binding Tie a knot at the end of your thread And start with your first signature on the bottom
Keep the other signatures in the same order so that you can place them on top when you’re ready to bind them on Sew through the first hole on that signature And out the second Then, through the next hole If you notice your thread tangling a lot
Don’t get too frustrated, just stay patient and go slowly and untangle it. If you pull slowly, you’ll notice that it doesn’t tangle as much You will run into tangles and if it really frustrates you You might want to consider waxing your thread before you bind with it
The bee’s wax will smooth over the fibers so that it will sew a little easier and it won’t tangle as much Continue sewing through the remaining holes You want to pull the thread enough so that there is no slack on your lines of thread
But not too much that it will rip through the holes of your page The amount of tension is kind of a thing you just learn through practice and experience And you’ll get the hang of it once you start binding a lot more
When you reach the last hole, go through it as you did with the others and return it to the previous hole on the inside and you’re going to weave back through the previous holes until you get to the very first one
This is just like saddle stitch binding where there is a line of thread between each binding hole When you get to the first binding hole knot on the end, return the needle back through it and tie a knot on the line of
Thread next to it so you’re just looping the needle underneath it and then returning it back around to make the knot. Then, return the needle back to the outside and pull on the thread until the knot from the inside pulls to the
Outside so then you should have both knots on the outside of the signature then add another signature on top and stitch through the first hole and back out the next one just like you did before but this time you’re going to sew the needle behind the thread below it
And back up behind the thread next to it so you’re stitching a loop around that binding hole below it Then, return the needle back into that signature. Pull the thread through and then repeat that same process on the next binding hole. Going behind the thread underneath it,
Behind the thread on the other side, pull the thread through and back into the signature. Repeat that same process on the rest of the holes on that signature this can depend on your preference but some people find it easier to bind with
The pages all laid flat on a table you can also hold all of the signatures up and bind like this if you find that easier I tend to do a little bit of both I start on the table and then sometimes hold it up like this
Either way it’s up to you when you reach the last hole pull the thread through and go underneath that thread alongside of it just like you did with the others but this time you’re going to return the needle back into a new signature
And from there you’re going to stitch the entire row of binding holes on that third signature. Return the needle back to the outside and you’re always going to go underneath the previous signature stitch so in this case it’s the second
Signature stitches so it’s not those lines of thread it’s the stitch right above those. Return the needle back into the inside of the signature and repeat that on the next one. Sometimes the needle can fit through the stitch just like this and you don’t have to flip through the pages to find its
Way out if you have a curved needle that will make the looping round process a lot easier but as I’m showing here you can also make it work with just a regular straight sewing needle. here’s a close-up of that one more time so going behind the previous signature stitch pulling
The thread through and returning the needle back into the signature. When you reach the last hole sew through as you did with the last ones. Go behind the previous signature stitch, pull the thread through and return the needle into a new signature and continue on just like you did with
The previous signature and always looping behind the previous signature stitchh When you get to a point where you don’t have a lot of thread left and you’re still binding your book usually around this length, I like to tie it off
On the inside, make a knot on the line of thread next to your stitch, Pull it toward the stitch so that it’s on the end right there and then return the needle back to the outside. You want the knot on the outside so pull that thread
Until you feel a little pop and you can trim that piece of thread off. Double thread your needle with new thread. Tie a knot on the end and return the needle back into that same binding hole where you left off and continue binding on
That signature. You can tie off your thread and start with a new threaded needle for as many times as you need to. It’s okay to have those little ends of thread on the spine of your book. When you reach the last signature continue
With the same binding process and when you get to the last hole, pull the thread through, loop the needle behind the previous signature stitch, back into that signature and tie the thread off in a knot on the inside of the signature.
Return the needle back to the outside and pull the thread all the way through until you feel that knot pop to the outside so it’s nowhere on the inside of the signature. If the ends of the thread on the outside of your book are a little
Too long, you can trim those but don’t worry too much about the length because they will be glued down to the spine of the book and now you have a text block with a Kettle stitch style binding
From here, you can add glue to the spine and continue on with the case binding process and don’t forget that you can apply this to any of my case bound projects and you can find all of those in that playlist. There should be an annotation up here and I will also
Include that link in the description below. Give this video a like if you found this helpful and if you follow me on my social links, I would love that and I would love to see your project pictures with a hashtag Sea Lemon. I love seeing your pictures you guys are like
Bookbinding machines ,it’s crazy and I love seeing it so follow me on those and more bookbinding projects are on the way so make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss any of those .If you want to jump into another binding project,
Check out one of these right here. Links will be in the description below. Feel free to comment below what book binding projects you want to see on this channel and I will see you guys next time.
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