I started binding in July 2023, so I'm certainly no expert, but in case you're interested in what I use to create my binds…
I use Adobe InDesign to typeset and Illustrator for graphics
I print on an old Canon laser printer for black and white and a Canon Pixma ix6820 inkjet for color
I am the proud owner of this gorgeous finishing press and this plough and these backing irons from Affordable Binding Equipment.
I purchase my shortgrain paper from Church Paper (for folios) and the long grain paper I use for quartos is just whatever (nothing special)
I use this legal paper for legal quartos.
I love my punching cradle and guide that I got off etsy.
I use this thread (that I wax with beeswax) for sewing signatures, but this is also good.
I like this linen tape.
I love this cardstock for endpapers (Craft Consortium ink drops) but I collect pads of 12x12 cardstock in various designs from craft stores as well as paper from Paper Source and specialty sellers.
I get precut bookboards from Hollander's. I cannot recommend this enough. I got the .10 thick board.
This is the printable canvas I use.
I use these tools for spacing and squaring when creating covers
Everything gets stuck together with this glue. (GET THE POINTY TOP!)
I have an old Silhouette Cameo for cutting vinyl and applying foil to bookcloth (with this pen)
I use this foil quill for freehanding and this foil.
I apply laser toner foil with this Scotch laminator
If I am going to laminate, I use this soft touch laminate.
I have a thermal binding machine from Amazon and I use these glue strips with it
I have this guillotine (but I don't recommend black for visibility reasons) I give up on guillotines. See plough, above.
I have purchased bookcloth from Hollander's, Colophon, and Amazon. I don't recommend the Allure line if you are decorating with HTV or paint.
When I sew endbands, I use Gutermann silk or Soie Perlee.
Get this heat and bond if you want to make your own bookcloth
I make ribbon bookmarks with charms like these and these crimps.
I get positive feedback and help and kindness from @renegadeguild
Caveat: These are just the tools and supplies I use. I am not an expert. I'm a hobbyist who is relatively new to it. Some of the things I use might be "wrong" but every book I've made works, so who cares?
If you want to see what it looks like when I bind something, here's a short video.
Recently finished reading Split and I absolutely love it! And decided to take a look at what else you had and saw you do bookbinding. I've been interested in trying my hand at it, but I don't know where to start. Any tips or videos you recommend?
Hi anon!
I'm so happy to hear you like my story! Split is one of my favorite things I've written 💜
So I'm still relatively new to bookbinding myself (I started a little over a year ago) but here are some resources that helped me get started!
So first of all I'd recommend checking out @renegadeguild here on tumblr as they have complied a ton of resources for bookbinders (particularly those of us binding fanfic!). Particularly helpful to me was How to Make a Book by Armoredsuperheavy which is a step by step guide from initial download of a fic to final construction. Renegade also has a discord you can join with a lot of experienced binders (and other beginners!) who will share their tips and tricks to help answer your questions as you go along. It's a very welcoming community so I'd highly recommend it!
For videos DAS Bookbinding on YouTube is a great resource with videos on different techniques you can use for different styles of binding. There's videos on all the basics to get started so it's great if you're more of a visual learner!
There's also Sea Lemon on YouTube. She does a lot of other crafty things besides bookbinding but her bookbinding videos are great for DIY and binding on a budget, so it's great for beginners!
In my soon-to-be ongoing series of "components of bookbinding", here are some options for thread and a discussion of why different options might work better or worse for your book.
Thread is used to sew signatures together. The thread used for bookbinding needs to do several things:
Be small enough to thread into a needle to poke through the signature holes
Be large enough so that it doesn't slice through the paper after repeated page turnings
Be strong enough so that it doesn't break when subjected to wear from the paper after repeated page turnings. If you are using a binding that leaves the threads exposed (such as Coptic binding), this goes double
Let's start off with S-tier bookbinding thread, and then discuss what's possible to skimp on. (note: None of the links are affiliate links. I am not making money on these recommendations. Links are provided merely for illustration purposes.)
This is Irish Linen Bookbinding Thread, from Talas (a well-respected bookbinding supplier).
Linen is used because it is an extremely tough, long-staple fiber. Linen withstands wear much better than cotton. This particular thread comes pre-waxed with just enough wax to make it strong and prevent it from untwisting, but not so much that it's sticky to work with. It comes in multiple thicknesses. However, one spool of this will set you back between $13 and $24, and while it will last you a while, that's still a pretty hefty chunk of change, so let's look at alternatives.
Alternative #1: Sewing Thread
Sewing thread is a very common option.
Pros
Commonly available, even at places like Walmart
Significantly cheaper
Many people already have some
Cons
Varies widely in quality, and therefore in durability. Cheap polyester thread is not going to hold up to nearly as much wear as high quality cotton thread
Thinner than much bookbinding threads. I'm not going to get into thread weights here (I looked it up to try and give some recommendations but it turns out that thread sizing is bonkers and kind of complicated) but because it's thinner, it has the dual problems of potentially cutting through your paper, and wearing out sooner.
Does not come pre-waxed.
Some solutions for these problems
Double or quadruple your thread when you sew with it. Luckily, unlike other types of hand sewing, it's very easy to sew in short chunks, knot in new pieces of thread, and hide knots where they can't be seen, so you don't have to use long, tangly, unwieldy pieces.
Wax your thread. You can buy straight up chunks of beeswax for pretty cheap (plus it has lots of other uses!), or you can buy those little "thread magic" or "thread waxer" items at craft stores.
Don't buy the absolute cheapest thread. I know this is a post about cheap thread alternatives but it's better to buy one spool of good thread than a big box of dogshit thread. (ask me how I know)
Alternative #2: Embroidery Floss
Pros
Also commonly available
Thicker
Comes in lots of fun colors, which is nice for exposed-stitching binding styles
Can also be used for making your own decorative endbands, embroidering your covers, and other fun bookbinding-related activities
Cons
Not as cheap as sewing thread
Not necessarily manufactured for tensile strength since embroidery isn't usually put under a lot of stress
Unwaxed
Solutions
Make sure you only use cotton embroidery floss, not rayon or wool
Make sure to wax it with beeswax
Alternative #3: Waxed Dental Floss
Make sure that you are getting thread based dental floss, NOT plastic based dental floss!!
Do NOT get this stuff:
The stuff you are looking for will say "waxed" on it.
Pros
Cheap
Readily Available
Already Waxed
Manufactured to stand up to abrasion
Cons
May be hard to find unflavored
Archival Quality unknown, potentially not the best
Long term strength unknown - while it is meant to stand up to quite a bit of short term abrasion via the teeth, it is also a one-use product in most cases.
Solutions
Know what you're getting into
Use for beginning and testing purposes, so you can get the hang of skills before committing more expensive materials
hi theo! Your evitative bind is gorgeous, do you share typsets? all of the binds on your page are awesome<3
hihi!! im so glad you enjoy ehe :D
I don’t post em publicly bcs im scared someone might nab them and try to resell them (saw it happen once and it freaked me out lol), but i dont mind sharing, so I’ll dm you the google drive i have with all my typesets :D
Disclaimer: I am so, so average at this hobby, maybe even below that denomination, too, but I've been asked a couple times about it privately/via Discord so I figured I could help some people out by providing them a link to get them started.
Before you begin learning how to bind a book, it's a good idea to collect all the resources you will need in order to fulfil the process from beginning to end. Below, I'm going to try and structure a tiered list of equipment you're going to need, from essential to optional. I'll also add explanations of purpose where necessary. Because y'all are international, I'm not going to link to sites - but any store that caters to bookbinding should have these items available to order! Just make sure you're searching specifically.
Essential resources:
Don't skimp out on these - seriously. Not worth it. Where I can, I'll provide self-made alternatives, but these things should definitely go on your 'must get before I begin' list.
Bone folder (after you fold your signatures, crisp up the fold by pressing the edge over the crease. It'll flatten the fold and make it easier to press).
Book press (you will need this at multiple stages of the process, essentially to flatten everything up. I went for a traditional one, but you CAN use two boards with clamps, anything that you can essentially clamp the book tight between).
Awl (kinda a needle on a stick - used to poke holes for sewing into each signature. I'd recommend getting a proper one, most aren't too expensive! Some binders saw their holes in, but it's a bit risky for first-timers!)
Punching cradle (a device that has equidistant holes to guide your hole-poking, so that every signature is punched in the same place. PLEASE get this).
Waxed linen thread (make SURE it is waxed, which will prevent the paper ripping when you sew it. I recommend 25/3 weight linen thread, usually in a 'natural' or 'cream' colour).
Paper (make sure it is SHORT GRAIN, will explain later. I recommend 80gsm paper in a 'sand', 'natural' or 'cream' colour, as white paper tends to look IMO not quite right, especially for fiction. I honestly just use printer paper!)
Book board (Davey board is preferred, but you can use grey board, chipboard or cardboard. It needs to be thick enough to resist flexibility - I use 3mm Davey board for the covers and either cardstock/1.8mm Davey board for the spine. This can come pre-sized or in larger sheets).
Book cloth (again, recommend actual cloth designed for binding as you'll experience issues with regular old cloth if it's not prepared for the process. It'll be backed with paper or starched to prevent glue seepage).
Glue (acid-free PVA glue. Specialty 'bookbinding glue' is the easiest, but honestly, as long as it's acid-free PVA, it should be fine).
Glue brush/es (something to get the glue spread quickly, as it dries FAST).
Mull (a loose-weave cloth used to reinforce the spine after sewing/gluing).
Cardstock (for reinforcing the spine after mull + assembling the cover/spine case. Get a few sheets, you'll be surprised where this is needed!)
Might be a good idea:
Premade endbands (the little cloth bits that stick up on either end of the spine inside the book? Yeah, they make the book look pretty and hide the gluing).
Ribbon (if you intend to add a ribbon bookmark).
Linen tape (for thicker volumes. You sew it against the textblock to add more stability to the bind).
Cork-backed ruler (to cut book board in a straight line - you can make your own like I did with adhesive cork and a metal ruler).
Beeswax blocks (for bookbinding, extra wax to wax the thread goes a long way!)
Box cutter/knife (for cutting book board to size).
Hinge gap sizers (available on Etsy, used to space the spine board from the cover boards).
Book cloth corner cutters (also available on Etsy - comes in sizes to match your book board width so you can ensure you're cutting the right amount of fabric off the corners before folding them over).
Bookbinding sewing frame (entirely optional, but it means you can leave your hands free for sewing the text block up).
For aesthetic purposes only:
Guillotine (for trimming the pages to the same size after gluing, makes the book look professional. One with a large sheet capacity is best. Don't skimp on quality here. You can also just go to a print shop that offers this service!)
Cricut/Silhouette/Vinyl cutting machine (for creating iron-on designs on your book cloth after making the casing).
Cutting machine mat (whoever makes the machine will also make a corresponding mat, this is to hold the vinyl in place so the machine can cut it).
Iron-on vinyl (you want heat transfer vinyl, NOT permanent vinyl; HTV is ironically the more permanent of the two. So many options for colours here, and it is possible to layer different colours!)
Heat press machine (to heat press the vinyl to the book cloth - I personally recommend the Cricut Easy Press Mini because it is much smaller than the standard, giving you more control/ability to target parts of the cover).
Vinyl weeding tools (to pull off the excess vinyl around the design after cutting).
Ribbon clamp and O ring (for adding charms to the end of the ribbon bookmark. Make sure the clamp is the same width as the ribbon).
I collected all these things before I began, and it made the process a lot smoother. Please note these are all things I recommend, but if you are only experimenting or starting out, please feel free to use resources you have on hand! It took me a few months to compile everything, and it's important you have a space to store all this (it definitely piles up). Please feel free to let me know if there's anything you think I should add!
