Obi Book

I made this for a friend's birthday recently.
The cover is a vintage silk obi, the signatures sewn into the fabric with waxed thread. Red silk ribbon around it and two types of paper for the signatures; a delicate, mottled parchment paper and a lovely smooth, cream, 160gsm, archival paper.
She loved it :)




I've got a few of these made in various sizes and fabrics and am still making more, the problem is, sewing the signatures into the silk is a time consuming process as I don't want to leave any marks on the silk (so no pen/pencil marks), just the pages and the thick, sturdy silk obi. I use a small template for each one, but it still becomes a somewhat trial and error to get the needle through in the right spot, sort of thing.
Maybe one day, i'll come up with an easier, faster way. ^_^
I'm planning on selling these on either Etsy or Artfire in the near future (or when I have more stock).


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Finished 'Mum Book

As promised in the previous post, though a little later in the evening than anticipated.

Finishing up the binding and tying that badboy off!

Book photo!pr0n! XD

Little bit of scale, it's actually quite small and cute ^^

My only reall little issue with this book is that the bindings ended up slightly looser than I'd have liked, and the fact the covers are attached just by the tapes is a little disconcerting.
Still, I'm really happy with the colours and the visible threads look really pretty.
I've already started my next book project but since it's a little bit of a secret, I won't be able to show any progress photos until the very end.
Thanks for keeping up with my bookbinding shenanigans!


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Japanese Stab Bound Mothers Day Gift

A little late with the photos of this but I gave it to my mother right after I finished it, then realised I'd forgotten to take photo's of it. By the time I did remember, mum had already stashed it away where she hides all the random things I make her.

This past mother's day, I wanted to give mum something handmade. I decided on a Japanese stab bound book with vintage silk covers and silk thread for the binding. The signatures (the bundles of pages) consisted of off-white, acid free cartridge paper interspersed with earth toned sheets of handmade textured paper.
I wanted the whole thing to last a long time so I made sure everything I used was archival or acid free, including the paste.

The silk I used had a gorgeous embroidered chrysanthemum.

Mum, of course, loved it, even though it wasn't till after I gave it to her that, in my haste to get it done on time (it was still late by the way), I'd forgotten to add the endpapers... very much an F in book making there.
Still, she didn't want to give it back so I could add them, she said she loved the way it looked as it was, it gave it a more authentic 'handmade' feel.
Mothers. Gotta love them. XD


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My Back Decides to Hate Me.

I'm a little more housebound than normal since yesterday, I've gone and stuffed my back up again it seems.

A few years back (first year of uni, if I recall), I had a small household accident involving a certain puppy that landed me jarring my back badly and ending up in hospital a little later with a slipped disk (bulged disk is another term I've have thrown at me).
After months of physio and relearning proper postures and sitting and back exercises I was well on the way to a good recovery.
Until yesterday.
I honestly have no idea why it's started going downhill again but there it goes; dull aching yesterday and today full blown lower lumbar pain in the same place as before.
Dammit, curses and all manner of cussing. I really don't need this now that i'm trying my damnedest to get organised for starting my own business.

So i'm hobbling around as straight backed as i can, stuffing towels behind my back when I sit and generally just not sitting too long at all as it becomes unbearable after about 10 minutes.

Still, the show must go on, so to speak, at least until (god forbid PLEASE) the pain gets to the point I need intravenous doses of morphine again, like last time, so I can sleep and puke my guts up all night :/

Speaking of shows, I have managed to be somewhat productive today, no crafts or arts though, just not feelin it today.

Here's a snapshot of my room right now, silks all over the place as I get them cleaned and unpicked properly and ironed (eventually) then sewn.

AND..... *drumrolls in my head*
MY SPOONFLOWER FABRIC!!! XD
I've been waiting for this to get here for ages and it finally arrived today! My design looks GREAT on the cotton, i'm so happy with it!

Also, these are two more of the wonderful fabrics I've gotten from from the Sew, Mama, Sew, fabric swap:

From Kelly

From Sarah:

I heart fabrics. ^^