A friend of mine makes the most beautiful paper and was kind enough to make these sheets for me. Now, because they are so special , I am afraid to try and make them into a book in case I mess them up. I 've started with an embroidered and beaded cover.
The paper is quite delicate and can't be fiddled with too much.
I used a vintge?(20 years old) pattern to make this waistcoat, sleeveless jersey thing but it didn't come out exactly as I expected. Not surprizing as I changed the collar, sleeves size...pretty much everything except the actual stitch pattern! I think I may just add some sleeves as the original pattern. If all else fails Kitkat obviously things it would make a great blanket!
I 've seen this idea of using old envelopes to make a book on a couple of sites, one of them being myhandboundbooks, and find it fascinating. I think we are so conditioned in our ideas of what a book should look like. I showed the finished product to one of my friends and she said "It would have been lovely if you hadn't used the window envelopes!" Well that's the whole point! Anyway, to take you through the process I started with a pile of old window envelopes and cut them into a workable size. Then comes the stitching. I used an ordinary 'in-and-out ' stitch and read the instructions afterwards only to find out that you must have an uneven number of holes!
Then I attached the cover to pieces of board. I still haven't quite got the corners right. I have an old atlas I bought at a secondhand book shop that I used for the cover. (I know you shouldn't cut up books but as I'm recycling it into another book I figured it's sort of acceptable.)
The pages, or signatures, are then attached to the cover. This is the tricky part and I'm sure there is an easier way than sticking, pulling apart and re sticking three times before the book will open and close properly, I just haven't worked it out yet!
Finally, my hand bound, hand cut, hand stuck, recycled notebook. If I had to sell it at this moment the price would be about $100.00!
