Instructions:

1. Take your handmade paper (removed from the fabric) and carefully fold it in half, then using a ruler tear it down the crease to form two sheets of paper. You can also cut it on the fold. 

2.  Fold these two pieces of paper in half and set aside.

3. Once you have folded all 32 sheets of paper, stack them in groups of 3 – one inside another.  These are known as signatures.

4. Using the guide, mark your holes in the centre page with a pencil.

5. With the awl/skewer/needle, carefully punch holes through all three sheets of paper ensuring that the paper doesn’t move while you are punching. Go slowly, with homemade paper as the fibres can pull and tear. If it does tear and you think that it is going to effect the binding you can reinforce with a small piece of washi tape or glue (this is unlikely to happen). Ensure all signatures have holes in them and set aside.

6. Take a binding frame and the string.  Tie the string onto the top of the binding frame (see the marking) then at the bottom. Repeat 6 times at each marker.

7. Pick up your paper signatures and line them up against the string. If need be nudge the string sideways to better fit the holes in your signatures.

8. Take your embroidery thread (or binding thread), and split the thread into two lots of three.

9. Thread into the needle and tie off one end to the first string on your binding frame.  Leave the tail of the thread hanging, these can be tidied later.

10. Starting from the outside, push the needle through from the back into the first hole and around from front to back into the second.

11. Loop the needle around the string on the binding frame and go back into the same hole.

12. On the inside, thread the needle through the next hole coming out the back again. Loop it around the string and go back into the same hole. Repeat until you reach the end.

13. Loop the thread around the string twice then add the next signature and push the needle from the outside in, through the first hole.

14. Repeat until all the signatures are sewn in. When you run out of thread, tie the end off on the closest string and start the next piece of thread there as well.

    Notes on sewing:

    • Don’t lose the tail of your thread. Check often that it is short enough not to get caught.

    • Ensure your stitches are tight around the string but not tight enough to rip the paper. Avoid loose loops. 

15. Once you have sewn in all your signatures. Cut the string at the top and bottom of the binding frame and remove your now bound pages.

16. Carefully trim the edges of your string until they are all the same length (4cm on each side is a good length). Cut any long threads but keep a bit of thread there, at least 1cm.

17. Split the fibres of the string to make them flatter.

18. Using the glue, put a liberal amount on the spine of your pages. It needs to ‘fill the gaps’ without soaking through to the pages. Use your finger or a paddlepop stick to evenly disperse.

19. Place the strip of linen over the glue ensuring that the sides are even and any stray threads are contained (the string will still show on either side, ignore this for now). 

20. Press down into the glue and add more glue if required, the linen should be fully coated in glue with no lifting edges. (If it overhangs at each end, this is fine this can be trimmed when dry).

21. If the string from the binding is sticking out, take a small amount of glue and gently stick it to the page.  Be careful as the paper is fragile and the glue can tear or soak through and stick multiple pieces together.

22. Set aside to dry, with the spine up so that it doesn’t stick to anything. If you feel that the glue is going to seep through to the first page, you can put a sheet of plastic between the first two pages on either side.

Linen: cut to approximately 6cm x 15cm