Ren the Ghost

Second meetup of the bookbinding for beginners workshop is over. Only four left *cries*

I had a great time. This week I've been plagued by a migraine which honestly haunted me today too, so I was really worried I wouldn't be able to go. I popped painkillers right before I ran out, lol. Anyway, I made it! Last time (which has already been a month, how) we folded A4 papers into signatures, two sheets into quarto size. I did 12 signatures this way. 

We cut off the end with guillotines (which was terrifying!) and then we strapped it together into a block and sawed the holes. Which I find delightful. Like, I've been wondering how you get the holes into the same place, and you saw. That's awesome. I ended up a bit behind last time, because I'm a detail-oriented perfectionist, so I was the only one that didn't manage to file down the three middle holes for the thicker yarn. But I caught up today!

So today I finished filing the holes. Then we strung up three course threads in a big frame, and we fitted the three threads into the the three center holes. We sowed them into the signature as we sowed it all together. (I don't know the terms for any of this stuff in English, this workshop is not in English, lol.)

Anyway, we sowed it at all together, then we glued down the ends of the big thread onto the front ends, I guess they might be called? And now they're in blocks to dry until the next appointment. Which is a while yet *cries again*

I think we might be gluing the spine or something next time? Really don't know. I've done the mature thing and not looked up anything about bookbinding for the workshop. You know, so I can go into it with no preconceptions, and just enjoy the process :)

Like, I don't know, it's really fun? I've been wanting to get into it properly for a long time (shout-out to Renegade Bookbinding Guild) but there's so many moving pieces to get... And to be honest, it's been really fun learning in a group, even though I'm too socially anxious to speak to anyone. But also, this is a Guild that's holding these, and they've got all these cool old equipment! Very cool! Scary! But cool!

I'm super excited for the rest of the workshop.

One day, I'll have my favorite fanfics on the shelf! <3