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I created this rebinding of Olhai os Lírios do Campo (Look at the Lilies of the Field), a novel by Brazilian author Érico Veríssimo.

The embroidery is my way of expressing the protagonist’s inner struggle: choosing between an honest, authentic life, even if a simple one, and a life of luxury and social status built around appearances.

The novel’s title is inspired by Matthew 6:28–34, in which Jesus points to the lilies of the field and the birds of the sky as reminders not to be consumed by worry over material needs. I incorporated these elements into the design: a field of lilies and a single bird in the sky. I chose soft, muted gray tones and natural, unbleached cotton to give the composition a melancholic, understated feel.

Over this first composition, I added a frame covered in glossy navy-blue fabric. A layer of sheer fabric sits on top, embroidered with an ornate vase holding a single withered lily. While the lilies in the field are flourishing, this lone, withered flower represents Eugênio himself: as he pursues wealth and social advancement, he becomes increasingly disconnected from himself, ultimately finding neither the happiness nor the fulfillment he expected.

The sheer fabric acts as a veil between who Eugênio could have been and who he has become. The truth is right in front of him, yet somehow remains beyond his grasp. Will he be able to lift the veil by the end of the story?

I also made a clamshell box to house and protect the book. The lid features a sculpted relief of the façade of the Solar dos Câmara, a landmark associated with Porto Alegre’s upper class during the era in which the novel takes place. It represents the world Eugênio longs to enter, a world he gains access to through his marriage to Eunice.

I wanted the cover to feel delicate and poetic, while the box has a more restrained, classical aesthetic.

I had my doubts all the way through whether this would work out, but in the end, it all paid off. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

This is a recasing I did of The Butcher's Masquerade as a tribute to Prepotente (my favourite character). I made this to donate to an online charity auction taking place in November and collaborated with becca.bird_artwork – her Leyendecker inspired fanart is just incredible!

The hardcover case features Becca's artwork as inlays. I particularly love the slipcase, too. It was my first time including an integrated bookshoe in the slip case which is definitely needed for such a chonky book!

I'm super happy with how this came out and I hope you like it :)

Hi!
I have been rebinding paperbacks into hardcovers for some time now and I have run into an issue where cloth either looks gorgeous with a lot of color variation but the HTV gets lost in it, or the cloth color is just FLAT. I saw this post on Instagram that got me thinking ( I know it's not a good source but it gives me ideas). This looks somewhat like a version of a quarter bound case but the front and back covers get glued on top of the spine cloth. It gives a partial slip-case look which I really like (at least in theory) and allows for a more subtle cloth on spine for more readability with a more colorful cloth at the front and back for texture/looks. I understand that it introduces a cloth-on-cloth adhesion with potential de-layering with time, but I am not sure if I'm overthinking it? I really don't like the look of traditional quarter bind with a genuine 1/4 of the book width spine piece coming onto the front/back covers).
Can you think of other benefits/issues with this kind of construction? Do you like it overall? Any other workarounds or alternatives? I am attaching the screenshot of the original idea where they do it paper-on-paper as well as some AI mock-up of what cloth version of this could look like. We are talking about a personal library with books being read only occasionally. Any advise is greatly appreciated!

Hello, I'm trying to bind the favourite fanfic of one of my friends for her birthday. It's the first book I am binding and I'm right now a bit unsure if I can continue like this or should use another type of yarn for the binding.

I used embroidery thread. Since it is a quite thick yarn I separated it and I think I used 4 of it's threads to bind 11 signatures. Now it seems a bit loose to me. I tried tightening the thread every so often but the book now can be moved quite easily from right to left/ up and down.

I am planning on binding it into a hardcover book. Do you think it will gain all its stability by the cardboard i use for the spine and cover or should I sew it again and use a different yarn?

Hi all!

I like to make my own booklets and journals. I recently tried printing my own dotted paper and struggled a bit do make it on Photoshop and did not find any good enough downloadable patterns.
So I decided to create my own dotted paper generator. It has many templates and it is pretty customizable. I have decided to open source the project and share it with the community, as I think it can be helpful to others!
I'm open to requests, suggestions and constructive criticism!

Dotted can be found on: https://dotted.rfcstudios.com.br/

And the source code is hosted on github: https://github.com/Fabioapp200/dotted-paper-generator

This was vibe coded, but I manually tested most of the functionality and reviewed the code myself. It needs to account or registration, has no ads or trackers and it runs locally on your browser or phone.

Hope y'all enjoy

So I’m looking for a Christmas gift for one of my daughters. She is really into bookbinding right now, and I’d like to get her a book teaching her how to do it.

She’s made a few small notebooks with a pamphlet stitch, and she’s in the process of making one that used kettle stitches. The thing is that I’ve watched tutorials and then taught her how to do it.

She’s 9, and has a bunch of (much) younger siblings. In other words: if a tablet is out the toddler or 4 y/o come over and make it impossible to do anything. I also want her to be able to reference back whenever she wants without a screen time limitation out on it.

What physical books would you guys recommend for a girl who wants to try everything she can get her hands on?

Kia ora

I'm a new Zealand based artist who's learning bookbinding and on the hunt for good tools/equipment, preferable from New Zealand based suppliers. I'm looking for things like guillotines, book press, clamps, embossing tools, nippers etc. I've already searched TradeMe and marketplace to no avail.

Any good recommendations are much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I've been scowering through here for days before I remembered I could actually post something. I've bound a bunch of books and have finally decided that I hate the bright white copy paper (92 brightness, 20lb). I got a ream of 500 11 x 17 sheets for $17 bucks and it was great for a while, but now I can't stand to look at it.

I've looked into Hammermill's cream and ivory 24lb, but apparently they changed how they color it 2 years ago and now it's too yellow? I've seen Springhill And everything is so expensive, I'm not looking to drop 50+ bucks on a paper I don't even know I like the color of. I have a paper guillotine so I've been looking into 11 x 17 papers, but maybe there's a 8.5 x 11 gem I've been skipping over? I've been looking into Springhill's cream as well but now I'm too scared to drop that much money without a second opinion.

What do you guys get? How much does it cost you? I'm located in the US by the way in case that affects it.

(Oh, and pictures/links would be greatly appreciated <3)

I promised my friends personalised notebooks/journals for their birthdays, and this is the first one I've finished. It has a few mistakes, but well, I'm still learning (started bookbinding back in April)

My friend's favourite colour is orange (sunset orange, to be more specific), and I went with that. Her birthday is tomorrow, and I can't wait to give it to her 🧡 I hope she likes it!

Hi!
I want to get into bookbinding and I was wondering how to measure/cut the cardboard for the front and back cover of the text block so it has that typical “overhang” (I hope you guys know what I mean, haha)
Do I just add a few millimeters to the top and sides of the cardboard after measuring the size of the text block?

I’m wondering how much people stock up on glue before the cold sets in. I’m in the midst of starting a (very) small bindery mostly for hobby’s sake and gift giving and started with 16oz of PVA around August and am now down to about 5 or 6. I’m anticipating ramping up production but at the same time don’t want to go overboard. What do ya’ll suggest? Are there any other materials I should get because of temperature or supply concerns?

https://youtu.be/oYF3_UabiZ0?si=gcgT_xd6xVxjSg8U

Hey, I'm looking at binding my first hardcover book. In the attached tutorial at 5:14 he mentions a material for the spine cover, is this the same as mull/ scrim which I have seen used in other projects.

If not then what's the differences?

Hi everyone! I wanted to get an advise on bookbinding cloth/application techniques.
I am making my own cloth so i don't have to limit myself with what's already available as backed fabric, but it's been difficult to find something that has texture and has the right amount of color variation to have depth. For example, i loved Essex Homespun texture, but any HTV was getting lost in the color variation. Their solid color line however just looks FLAT with 0 color variation. I am not sure if there are other available cloths out there that are not expensive, available in the US that would fit the criteria I am talking about? I am very texture/feel oriented and any book cloth that I have tried so far have not had enough texture for me.

Hi I'm looking for binding tips and recommendations for making a flat open book using thick paper.

I'm a complete beginner who hasn't done any book binding before. I want to make a notebook for drawing/painting that lays flat. I'm planning to use thicker paper so that it doesn't bleed.

It seems like coptic style is pretty beginner friendly amd lays flat. I'm wondering if this is still good for thick papers as well. Thank you!!

Hello

I just got my boxset of the Lord of the Rings illustrated, and noticed this on the second volume.

I added in the comments a video as well. I am not sure if it’s a defect or not, and if I should return it.

I guess you guys know better so that’s why I posted here.