The headband with reading ribbons
Sewing the one core, two thread head band, fixing the six reading ribbons at the same time
Sewing the one core, two thread end band
While the cotton strips are not punctured, they are firmly fixed to the spine
The French link stitch is my favourite sewing method
The start of sewing both signatures and spine-strengthening cotton strips
Punching new holes
Cutting the end papers
Before and after
Now I have signatures that can be re-bound
I decide to go for reparation rather than restoration and use Scotch tape
Tests to restore the outer paper of the signatures in a traditional way fail
The old glue can’t be removed from the fragile paper
The cover has fallen apart
A 1950s edition of Jane Austen’s six novels

Miniature book with classical Haiku’s

After the printing proces, the 5x6cm pages are folded into groups called signatures
Sewing the signatures and endpapers
The text block completed
The beauty of French link stitching
Glueing the spine with archival corn starch glue. Archival glue offers the bookbinder the opportunity to take the book apart without damaging it.
Sewing the one core headband with two beads of colours. As you can see, the core is just a plain piece of string. The reading ribbon has also been attached to the spine.
The headband is fixed in five signatures.

The head and endbands strengthen the structural integrity of the book in a highly ornamental way.

Wrapping the cloth around the cardboard covers and spine
Glueing the text block into the cover
The end result
The text block fits nicely into the cover
The end paper
he inside of the book with reading ribbon

Notebook

Stitching the signatures
Glueing the spine
Creating a head and endband from a ribbon wrapped around a piece of string
Glueing the reading ribbon and headband to the spine
Glueing the endband to the spine
Strengthening the spine with a piece of heavy black paper
Measuring the cover paper to fit the cardboard front and back cover and spine
Folding and glueing the cover paper around the cardboard parts
The end result
The end paper
A lovely looking notebook