Binding is a bind!

Well - it's finished and if there are any bookbinders looking at this blog, please visit another one right now! With hindsight I think my binding would have worked but for the thickness of the additions to each page. You can see from the photo below, that the signatures don't lie together neatly like flat pages would. A book of this kind obviously needs another type of binding - lesson learned.

I had to tidy up the spine with raised chain band worked from side to side over the binding stitches as they were not good. This meant I had two 'tails' of ribbon so I added a little key at the bottom and a fleur-de-lis made from Friendly Plastic at the top.

I found this little length of black chain in my bit box - I think it had linked the clasps of a cloak at some time. It looked just right for closing my 'door'.

I coloured the end papers by spraying them with Moonshadow Mists and Glimmer Mist to give them a simple lustre.

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I have decided that my book chronicles life in the ancient small town of Much-Fudging-on-the-Spine, and here we see the Lady of the Manor resting on her turf seat surrounded by her favourite plants and flowers. Sadly she appears to suffer badly with facial hair.

I needed a little light relief after struggling with the bookbinding and resorted to helping Poppy 'kill' her favourite old sock and leg of jogging bottoms - we recycle everything in our house. She does a very good impression of a sea otter, lying on her back and holding a toy in her front paws. I tried several times to get a good shot, but wanted another hand as I needed one to get her attention and two for the camera. Each time I tried to take a pic with one hand, I either missed the action - as here - or got a blurred image.

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My next book should be very easy and offer no challenges with binding, as I'm going to make a little cloth book for our latest great grandson from printed cotton fabric with images of farm animals etc. on it. His big sister will have a little bag featuring teddies and fairies.