Brenda Gallagher – Design with scraps to make a hard cover cover long stitch journal

Instructor: Brenda Gallagher

Number of Days: 2 Days Skill Level: Intermediate Material fee: $15 Maximum Number of Student: 12

Workshop Description:

The class will be a combination design and bookbinding class. The first day students focus on design. We will study a collection of design examples and sketch thumbnails bringing final designs up to full size. Final designs will be created using scraps of decorative paper adhered to Japanese paper.
After designs are complete, we will coat the back side with a polycrylic glaze to protect the fragile paper and prepare it for covering. The second day we will construct the book; covering the bookboard covers with our designed papers and choosing design elements such as colored pastedowns and fly sheets to coordinate with designs. Holes will be drilled in boards and leather. Paper for the pages of the books will be folded into signatures and punched according to the sewing plan. Bookblocks will then be sewn directly into leather spines. Finally, cover boards will be attached to leather spines. 

Materials/equipment to be provided by students:

Pencil, ruler, designers curves or design templates, sketch paper, bone folder, awl, small triangle, scissors and X-acto knife, glue brush, any scraps of decorative paper, leather or binders thread.

Materials Provided by Instructor:

Leather for spines, bookboard for covers, Japanese paper for cover paper, Polycrylic sealant, paper for pages, colored paper for flysheets, glue, waxed linen thread, ribbons for bookmarks. Prerequisites:  Thread a needle and wax the thread Determine paper grain & match the grain of different components of a book Fold paper using a bone folder and assemble signatures Sew a kettle stitch Glue up paper or cloth to cover binder’s board Use a Dremel tool Simple sewn text block for codex book

Instructor Bio:

Brenda Gallagher is a graphic designer, book artist, and design fine bookbinder. She is an enthusiastic teacher of letterpress and bookbinding for students of all ages. Brenda is also a graduate of the American Academy of Bookbinding in Telluride where she earned a diploma of design fine binding. Website: www.brendagallagher.com