Hello! It's Jennifer from Sea Lemon
A few years back, I think it was in
like 2012, I uploaded a video on how to make a
text block for case binding
Many of you have used that tutorial for your
casebinding projects
and also a lot of you have mentioned that it's kind of hard to follow
The video is sped up and it's really not that easy to see the stitching
i have since then improved my editing and video quality
so moving forward, I plan to do more casebinding projects in the future
and I want to link back to this video to help you understand
the stitching portion of case binding
You can still refer back to the past video
but this video will have a more in-depth focus on just the stitching
and binding method itself
Kettle stitch binding is most commonly used for case bound books
and the stitching portion is done before the glue is added to the spine
to make the entire text block
There are many variations of kettle stitch binding and this is sort of
my own variation which i found works well throughout the years I've been bookbinding
it helps the book stay flexible so its easy to open and lay flat
My variation is very similar to coptic stitch binding so if you're already familiar
with that, most likely you will find this easy
as i mentioned before
this tutorial is just on the stitching portion of making a textblock
and if you want the specific page and, uh, hole measurements and all
of the stuff going into making the complete book,
that will be in another tutorial specific to that book project
and I have all of these book projects in this bookmaking playlist right here
and you can apply this stitching to any of the casebound book projects in that playlist
and this list will continue to grow as I add more book projects to it
Alright, let's get started
With my pages I already folded in half
and grouped into signatures with all the binding holes made
I'm going to stitch the signatures together with regular sewing thread
Then, I'm going to double thread a regular sewing needle
I prefer a thinner thread like this when I'm case-binding
Because you have the glue and the cover going over the spine
So you don't really want a bulky text block
to estimate the amount of thread I like to work with about 2 feet of length at a time
Otherwise, more than that just becomes really tangled and unmanageable
It's okay to run out of thread while you're stitching your book
And I'll show you how to tie that off and fix that once we get into the binding
Tie a knot at the end of your thread
And start with your first signature on the bottom
Keep the other signatures in the same order so that you can place them on top when you're ready to bind them on
Sew through the first hole on that signature
And out the second
Then, through the next hole
If you notice your thread tangling a lot
Don't get too frustrated, just stay patient and go slowly
and untangle it. If you pull slowly, you'll notice that it doesn't tangle as much
You will run into tangles and if it really frustrates you
You might want to consider waxing your thread before you bind with it
The bee's wax will smooth over the fibers so that it will sew a little easier
and it won't tangle as much
Continue sewing through the remaining holes
You want to pull the thread enough so that there is no slack on your lines of thread
but not too much that it will rip through the holes of your page
The amount of tension is kind of a thing you just learn through practice and experience
And you'll get the hang of it once you start binding a lot more
When you reach the last hole, go through it as you did with the others
and return it to the previous hole on the inside
and you're going to weave back through the previous holes until you get to the very first one
This is just like saddle stitch binding where there is a line of thread between each binding hole
When you get to the first binding hole
knot on the end, return the needle back through it and tie a knot on the line of
thread next to it so you're just looping the needle underneath it and then
returning it back around to make the knot. Then, return the needle back to the outside
and pull on the thread until the knot from the inside pulls to the
outside so then you should have both knots on the outside of the signature
then add another signature on top and stitch through the first hole
and back out the next one just like you did before
but this time you're going to sew the needle behind the thread below it
and back up behind the thread next to it so you're stitching a loop around that binding hole below it
Then, return the needle back into that signature. Pull the thread through and then repeat that
same process on the next binding hole. Going behind the thread underneath it,
behind the thread on the other side, pull the thread through and back into the
signature. Repeat that same process on the rest of the holes on that signature
this can depend on your preference but some people find it easier to bind with
the pages all laid flat on a table you can also hold all of the signatures up
and bind like this if you find that easier I tend to do a little bit of both
I start on the table and then sometimes hold it up like this
either way it's up to you when you reach the last hole pull the thread through
and go underneath that thread alongside of it just like you did with the others
but this time you're going to return the needle back into a new signature
and from there you're going to stitch the entire row of binding holes on that
third signature. Return the needle back to the outside and you're always going
to go underneath the previous signature stitch so in this case it's the second
signature stitches so it's not those lines of thread it's the stitch right above those.
Return the needle back into the inside of the signature and repeat
that on the next one. Sometimes the needle can fit through the
stitch just like this and you don't have to flip through the pages to find its
way out if you have a curved needle that will make the looping round process a
lot easier but as I'm showing here you can also
make it work with just a regular straight sewing needle.
here's a close-up of that one more time so going behind the previous signature stitch pulling
the thread through and returning the needle back into the signature.
When you reach the last hole sew through as you did with the last
ones. Go behind the previous signature stitch, pull the thread through and
return the needle into a new signature and continue on just like you did with
the previous signature and always looping behind the previous signature stitchh
When you get to a point where you don't have a lot of thread left and
you're still binding your book usually around this length, I like to tie it off
On the inside, make a knot on the line of thread next to your stitch,
Pull it toward the stitch so that it's on the end right there and then return the
needle back to the outside. You want the knot on the outside so pull that thread
until you feel a little pop and you can trim that piece of thread off.
Double thread your needle with new thread. Tie a knot on the end and return the needle
back into that same binding hole where you left off and continue binding on
that signature. You can tie off your thread and start with a new threaded
needle for as many times as you need to. It's okay to have those little ends of
thread on the spine of your book. When you reach the last signature continue
with the same binding process and when you get to the last hole, pull the thread
through, loop the needle behind the previous signature stitch, back into that
signature and tie the thread off in a knot on the inside of the signature.
Return the needle back to the outside and pull the thread all the way through
until you feel that knot pop to the outside so it's nowhere on the inside of
the signature. If the ends of the thread on the outside of your book are a little
too long, you can trim those but don't worry too much about the length because
they will be glued down to the spine of the book
and now you have a text block with a Kettle stitch style binding
From here, you can add glue to the spine and continue on with the case binding process
and don't forget that you can apply this to any of my case bound projects and you can find all of those
in that playlist. There should be an annotation up here and I will also
include that link in the description below. Give this video a like if you
found this helpful and if you follow me on my social links, I would love that and
I would love to see your project pictures
with a hashtag Sea Lemon. I love seeing your pictures you guys are like
bookbinding machines ,it's crazy and I love seeing it so follow me on those and
more bookbinding projects are on the way so make sure you're subscribed so you
don't miss any of those .If you want to jump into another binding project,
check out one of these right here. Links will be in the description below.
Feel free to comment below what book binding projects you want to see on this channel
and I will see you guys next time.