Woven Paper: "No Sew" Book Binding

anna.platztwells.art

Oct 30

I came across this binding in Aubusson, in France. While Aubusson is known for tapestries, I found a small bookbinders; Atelier 'Au Livre à Dorer' and took a look at their creations. The atelier restores old books but also sold notebooks with wooden covers, tiny books on bookmarks and some interesting bindings.

One I attempted to recreate was this woven binding. It seems fitting that weaving should be involved due to the historic fame of the town's tapestries. I am not sure whether I recreated the original method correctly, but this is my version of the book I saw. This binding might have a name I do not know, please let me know if you have seen it elsewhere!

The binding requires no sewing, only strips of paper to hold the signatures together. I have tried making this book with white paper to become a notebook, but I think it is more effective in colour, with contrasting covers, signatures, inner spine pieces and binding strips. The colours I chose are autumnal, unifying the book with a visual theme, but, if I remember correctly, the book I saw in France was green, yellow and orange.

First, I prepared my paper, with three signatures, two pieces of paper each. I think the small amount of pages works in the context of this visual book, as it is more an exploration of colour, weaving and binding then anything else. This would change if I were to incorporate a theme or story.

The covers are the same paper weight as the rest of the book, folded to become single page signatures in and of themselves. Using A4 paper, and avoiding scraps, I used the width of the page and cut each section at 7.5cm. I also needed pieces of paper for the insides of the book, three strips 2cm wide. The binding strips I used as 1.5cm in width, but I did not measure the length. With three inner strips at 2cm width, I would need at least 6cm for the inside, with a minimum of an extra 2cm for each cover. The total would be 10cm, but I prefer to keep the pieces longer so that there is room for the spine, the margins of error and to fold dogears at one end to make weaving easier.

I used a metal ruler and a scalpel to cut the pieces, and a bone folder to sharpen my folded edges. For those who may not be familiar with a bone folder, it is a piece of equipment useful in bookbinding to crease, flatten and fold. An alternative when folding can be to use the handle of a pair of scissors; I find using the edge can achieve a similar crease.

Once the pieces are ready, I measured out the placements for the spine. Opening up a signature, I measured along the crease, creating evenly spaced marks for 1.5cm placings for the binding strips. I find that holding all the signatures, squeezing them together and using a pencil to sketch out the markings is the quickest way to transfer the measurements without having to remeasure on each signature. These markings also went onto one cover for the initial placement of the binding strips. On the signatures, I cut into the 1.5cm long spaces, making sure to cut all the way through thoroughly to leave a clear opening.

I begin the binding process by gluing the binding strips to one cover, evenly spaced. This keeps them in place and allows me to push the signatures up against the cover while weaving. I folded tabs at the ends of the binding papers to make the next step easier: pushing them through the slots of the first signature. I pulled the strips of paper all the way through until the signature is flush with the cover.

Next, I inserted my inner spine pieces, the red pieces of paper. These are to hold the binding strips in place. I folded the long binding strips around the spine piece, making sure that the red papers edge sits in the inner fold. Then, all three binding strips go back out of the slots on the signature. The folds in the binding strips should allow them to fit around the spine piece and hold it tightly in place. I had to make sure to adjust the red paper before threading all three strips as it became wedged in place once the binding was complete! No wiggle room like with thread.

Then the process repeats. The binding strips go through the slots in the next signature, around another inner spine piece and back out of the signature and into the next. This continues until all signatures have been woven together. Before gluing the end pieces to the back cover, I trimmed off the folded ends of the binding pieces as they can get quite tattered during this process. Carefully aligning the cover with the final signature and applying glue to the freshly trimmed ends, I pushed the whole book down on top of the binding strips.

The final book has this unusual two-toned spine with the paper weaving through the signatures. I would like to experiment with this binding further; what would it look like with many more signatures, as a thicker book? What would happen if a message, theme or story was applied to this bookmaking method? Or different materials, like found text and images, or scrap paper? I think these questions could push the binding towards finding various applications and possibilities of this book-form.