First, we have another recycled/upcycled kid's book made into a blank book/journal. This cool vintage book is called "Tall Boy & The Coyote," and the illustration on the cover is charming.
As usual, I cut off the covers and trimmed the cut edge close. I covered the inside of the covers with patterned ocher paper and covered the cut edge of the covers with washi tape. I folded the signatures from white text paper, punched the holes, and bound the book with orange cotton thread with a single-needle coptic stitch, also called a chain stitch.
Lately I've changed this stitch a tiny bit. To make the chain stitch, instead of taking the needle around the stitch on the last signature down, I have been going down one more signature. This makes the chain a little bigger and more substantial and makes it easier to see the stitch pattern. Also, I never liked the look of the coptic stitch on the first and last rows, where you don't get any chain because of jumping up one signature. It always seemed too loose and simple to me. So I have started wrapping the thread around the basic stitch once at each signature. This makes it a little more substantial.
I think I will never stop making these recycled books into journals as long as I can find cool old books to use.
I like your idea for the stitches next to the covers.
ReplyDeleteYes, I hope you keep making these. They're are always fun just to see which books you have found to recycle. :)