2020

Books Galore 1!
4 days
9-12 March 2020
Mon-Thurs

Accordion books

Coptic binding

Japanese stab binding

Perfect binding

We’ll start from first principles so that whatever you make will have a high quality finish. We will cover at least:

• Understanding how to select suitable papers, boards and fabrics for making books and how to use simple book binding tools and techniques.
• Creating a wraparound, paper covered, notebook with torn edge pages.
• Folding an accurate accordion fold book and fitting easy end covers.
• Stitching a single signature, hardback book. This will be covered in book cloth created from hand-dyed/printed fabric.
• Stitching a multiple signature, open spine hardback book using the fascinating Coptic form of binding, again covered in hand-dyed/printed book cloth. We’ll use both the single needle and twin needle methods to give lovely patterns across the exposed spine.
• Stitching at least one variation of Japanese stab binding. This is another open spine binding with a variety of beautiful stitch patterns. The covers for this were traditionally made from paper but this variation uses hard back covers covered in fabric, with a hinge to allow easy opening.
• Learning the third method, perfect binding, will not only let you make books from cut sheets such as computer prints  but you’ll also have the basic skills to rebind/repair your favourite paperback books.

With a maximum of 5 students you’ll get lots of one to one support. This will be backed up with group demonstrations and detailed class notes.

The class will run from 10.00am to 4.00pm each day.

Maximum students: 5
Cost: £300

Books Galore 2!

27-30 April 2020
4 days
Mon – Thurs

A Crown Book

Secret Belgian Binding

Long stitch wraparound journals

Drum Leaf Binding

• A blizzard book  – a folded book to contain business cards.
• A crown book – a variation on the blizzard book with removable pages
• The secret belgian binding – this gives a book which opens completely flat, and has a cover which will turn back on itself making it ideal for  sketchbooks. The cover pieces and the spine piece are woven together with a crisscross effect. The signatures are then sewn on to the weaving. Fascinating.
• A long stitch binding where there is a wraparound cover and the signatures are sewn through the cover.
• A Drum Leaf binding – this is a binding where each pair of pages is a spread with no stitching in the centre, making it a lovely way to display art work or photographs.This one will have a case binding (a hard back).

With a maximum of 5 students you’ll get lots of one to one support. This will be backed up with group demonstrations and detailed class notes.

The class will run from 10.00am to 4.00pm each day.

Maximum students: 5
Cost: £300

2 days
30-31 May 2020
Sat-Sun

You need no prior knowledge of colour mixing or dyeing – everything is taught from scratch.   All the techniques you learn here can be done comfortably at home and require no specialised equipment – most can be achieved with a bucket and some gloves! The dyes we use are cheap and easy to obtain.

If there is time at the end I’ll also do a demonstration of printing digital images on to fabric using a home inkjet printer.

With a maximum of 5 students you’ll get lots of one to one support. This will be backed up with group demonstrations and detailed class notes.

The class will run from 10.00am to 4.00pm each day.

Maximum students: 5
Cost: £150

Five days
22 – 26 June 2020
Mon – Fri

Some images from last year’s course. Click on an image to see a bigger version.

by Marisa Almeida

by Janet Taylor

by Bill Jefferson

by Gwyneth Wilson

by Denise Brown

Over the five days you will have four tutors, each bringing their own speciality to the mix. You will start by creating your own decorative printed fabric and converting it into book cloth, with me. You will then create a range of your own hand-marbled papers using traditional methods, with Jill Sellars, and then go on to learn how to make and print your own linocut illustrations, with Belinda Hazlerigg. You will then hand-sew your own unique book, with Glenn Malkin – a specially printed copy of ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll’ – illustrated with your own linocut prints. Finally you will bind your book and create a bespoke case for it, also with Glenn, using the book cloth and marbled paper you made earlier in the week.

So exciting! There will only be five places on this unique course so book early if you’d like to participate.

Maximum students: 5
Cost: £450