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.

Runners Game

I just finished watching Zombie Death House on Netflix Instant Watch. I’m not entirely sure why, but I’m actually a little more lenient with 80s crappy horror flicks shot on film than I am with modern crappy horror flicks shot on film or video. Strange. Not a bad movie, certainly nothing to get excited about either. The zombie part of it doesn’t actually kick in until about halfway through the movie. After that, zombies are still much rarer on screen than you would normally expect from a genre film. They did manage to have some internal consistency with the zombies, as they were vulnerable to gunshots and other methods of destruction. The method of zombification was a virus, again, plausible enough. I gave it three stars on Netflix, it entertained me for 80 minutes or so, and I stuck around until the end. Good enough.

I’ve been reading The Art and Craft of Storytelling by Nancy Lamb. I’m about halfway through it. It’s an easy read and has some useful advice. I think it’s a good place to start if you’re looking for basic advice on writing. There are helpful hints for intermediate level writers too. She has an easy writing style that makes it a quick read. Most of the information in the book is also non-technical and almost non-pedagogical. More of a pick this, throw that, use sparingly approach to traditional storytelling. It’s been helpful to read about techniques I could use to plot out and use in my own stories. I’m thinking this will actually be helpful when I’m ready to start on my next novel.

I’m about 10% of the way done with the Yu Yu Hakusho anime series. It seems like the series isn’t quite sure where it wants to go at first. Some of Yusuke’s first enemies don’t appear to be continuing characters, but that changes in later episodes. That’s okay though, for a shonen series, I quite enjoy it. It can get a bit repetitive at times, but I like the “spirit” of the show. It’s not quite as optimistic as some other shonen series, which is a nice change.

I’ve also been watching Batman Beyond Season 1. What an excellent show by any accounting. When it first came out, I was definitely apprehensive about trying to future-ize Batman, but it worked well. In fact, I think Batman Beyond probably even outshines some of the early Batman animated series. Once I’m done with the first season, I’ll probably end up purchasing the remaining seasons. It is just that good.

Erica and I just finished up the first disc of season 2 of Corner Gas. This one is an interesting diversion from our normal fare. It’s so harmless, but still manages to be laugh out loud funny. I can’t recommend this one highly enough to people of all ages.