In the hot and unbearable Summer of 2023, I thought of
making a Comfort Journal using already painted papers and fabrics.
Instead of binding the book and then working in and on the
pages, I left them loose and worked on each page spread at a time. This made
for a lot of signatures of varying thicknesses. I had planned on using 6” x 6”
canvas boards and using my usual sewn-over-tapes binding method. But as the
pieces evolved, I thought of using a leather cover and doing a long stitch
through the spine. So I cut a thick piece of leather and fused denim from an
old pair of jeans inside. But the result felt too bulky and inflexible.
My next idea was to use upholstery leather and to leave it
unlined. The color combination with the ---teal?—Irish linen thread looked beautiful
but before adding a concho closure, it felt too floppy and unstable. Could I
could save it by using a leather belt or strap to hold everything together? No,
I didn’t like either the look or the feel.
So, back to my favorite binding method because the pages
needed to be more rigid. Sewing the signatures together would also tighten and
compress the spine. To keep the first and last pages as they were, I needed to
add end papers [so I would not glue the first and last signatures to the covers]
Sewing up the signatures but before gluing the canvas
boards, I realized I had forgotten the “tapes”! Would I have to cut away all the
Irish linen thread, remove all 10 signatures, and re-sew the whole book again? Could
I weave the canvas “tapes” up through the threads of outer spine? It took some
doing--using a paint palette knife, jewelry pliers, and lots of patience--but I
was able attach the tapes, finish the sewing, and then glue the covers on.
Two days of weighing it down, my book press consisting of
two heavy volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary, I was happy to see the
results. The book held together well.
The long and winding road to complete this book made me
declare the book complete. But I may yet add a decorative cover of crochet
around it, like a book dust jacket.
