Monday, June 29, 2009

Coptic Stitch

I have had these signatures made for some time, but I didn't want to bind them into a book until I figured out exactly what I wanted. The pages are made from recycled brown paper bags, and the cover is mat board covered with handmade paper.

Recently I read about coptic binding, and inspiration struck. The thing that intrigued me the most about coptic binding is that the book opens flat when it is used. I also liked that the edges of the signatures showed.

Here is the book opened out, so you can see how the pages look. I love the texture and irregularities in the paper bag pages!

4 comments:

Rosemary@semo.net said...

This is wonderful. I love what you've done with it. I recall you talking about coptic binding, and it is really quite beautiful. Tell me what you did with the paper bag to create the texture. Did you seal the paper in some way? Are you planning to use these books? Rosemary

Karen Stiehl Osborn said...

Thanks, Rosemary! I was quite pleased with the way it turned out.

The pages are made by cutting brown paper grocery bags down to the size you want. Then I crumpled them up into a ball and soaked them in a sink full of water for a half hour or so. I don’t remember the exact length of time. Then you squeeze the water out and hang the sheets to dry. Once they were dry, I ironed them to make them flatter, but they still retained a lot of the texture. They’re not sealed, and yes, I plan to use this book.

Anonymous said...

Karen this is fabulous!

Leslie said...

Fabulous book.