My first Coptic stitch book

I am starting work on my first Coptic stitch bookbinding project. I am using Hollander’s “Complete Single Sheet Sewing Kit”. Almost everything you need comes right in the box. In fact, this may be a good kit to start with because it even includes four sewing needles and an awl. Very useful tools for any bookbinding project.

Here is a first shot before I get started.

I ended up using the awl I purchased from Hollander’s a while ago. It’s thinner and has a better handle on it. Ome thing they don’t mention in the instruction book is that you need something to punch all these holes on. I flipped over the box that the kit came in and used that.

This entire book is composed of two covers, two flyleafs, and twenty single pages. A rather short book, but that’s becausd the paper used in Coptic binding style books has to be much heavier so that it doesn’t tear.

One of the problems I’ve had with threading the needles for bookbinding is getting the heavy duty waxed thread through the eye of the needle. I found an easy way to fix that now. I used my bone folder to flatten out one end of the thread and since it’s waxed, it stays flattened and slips right through. A helpful hint for those just getting started.

The first holes sewn through the cover.

Unfortunately, there is not much to see as the work continues. Maybe when I have about half of the book assembled, I will take another picture. So far it is a lot of threading through the paper in a simple but careful manner. I did not use the thread they sent with the kit because I wasn’t fond of the color. The covers are white, the flyleafs are black, and the pages are off-white. The thread with the kit was purple, but I have an off-white thread I use for binding folios that I thought would look nicer.

This is the flyleaf, the cover and six interior pages done. The spine braids aren’t looking too bad for my first attempt.

The completed spine:

The front cover:

The inside front cover:

The inside back cover:

Finally, the interior:

And that’s a wrap. Let’s hear it for insomnia, jet lag, and Lemon Chiffon Rooibos tea.