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minhyebindery · 2 days

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This was my first time binding an incredibly long fic, Descent into Perdition by @dreamsofspike-blog. This is one fic separated into 4 volumes. I sent this off to a mutual friend because I wanted to practice this bind before trying again with the final copy. For the repeat of this fic I am definitely going to split this into 5 volumes which I think will make it a little more manageable.

I learnt a lot from this run, volume 4 ending up the best but the others aren't too bad. It's easy for me to focus on the imperfections, especially after all the time I spend looking at them and I do want them to be perfect. However, I think I have to focus on the good things and be proud of how far I have come in my book binding journey.

For those in the Good Omens fandom I matched each volume to associated colours for each of the characters. Blue for Aziraphale and then black (for those who have read the fic you'll know why), purple for Gabriel and red for Crowley. The symbols on the front of the book match certain items or themes within the book.

I love being able to wrap the packages ready to send off to the recipient and add little personal touches here and there. I hope it brings a smile to my friend's face when they get to open each package.

I've just ordered a finishing press from Affordable Binding Equipment, I can't wait to get it so I can properly round and back the books. I've been using two wooden planks with some clamps and I just haven't been able to achieve the tension I need to round and back properly.

A few notes for future me:

Don't glue the spines if you aren't going to back them until later (much later) it makes it a lot harder -> hairdryers are your friend

Glue your endpapers closer to the end of the board otherwise you end up with that gap

If trimming the ends take into account that the board will then be shorter

Sometimes you make mistakes...make sure you have enough materials to redo bits and pieces

I think these volumes could've benefited from zigzag endpapers but maybe that is something to add next time

(I did fix the purple headband as I noticed it was lifting a little)

#bookbinding #book binding #fanbinding #fanfic binding #good omens #fic binding #aziraphale #anthony j crowley #archangel gabriel #ao3 #fanfic #fan fiction #archive of our own

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havendance · 2 days

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I took inspiration from @fancyfade and tried out binding some single issues together into a book! My end goal is to bind all of my Huntress comics together, but for a test run I picked up a bunch of issues of Azrael for 50c each on the philosophy that I can give this to my little brother who likes Azrael.

The cover's a little uneven and there's definitely room for improvement where I joined the text block to the cover, but it's a real book and I'm proud of how it turned out.

More pictures/notes on the process below the cut:

I mainly used this tutorial which fancyfade recommended. I knew this first one was going to be more practice/proof of concept so I didn't want to spend a ton of money on it. I did buy the bookbinding ribbon and the PVA glue recommenced, but I used cardboard instead of bookboard for the cover. I did layer a couple types together to make it sturdier though. I had trouble finding/figuring out what sort of fabric should be used for the mull that supports the spine, but I saw some people on reddit suggesting cheesecloth as a substitute so I went with that because it was cheap and I could find it at the supermarket. I sacrificed a old stained sheet my mom had lying around for the cover. (A non-stained portion--the smudges you can see are from the glue.)

Here's the text block all sewn together. I used some extra embrodiary thread to sew them up.

Here's the block after I glued on the mull and some paper to secure the spine. The cheesecloth shed a bit, but it got the job done.

And then here's after attaching the cover while waiting for the glue to dry. I'm putting my No Man's Land omnis to good use! (Though I did end up switching them out for my Sandman omnis later because I wanted read the NML ones.)

#the cover looks more blue in person than that first picture #book binding #dc #batman #bats + birds + affiliated #azrael #dennis o'neil's poor little meow meow #jean-paul valley #comics #stuff i made #carthago delenda est

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thebeautifulbook · 4 months

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Embroidered book covers

#beautiful books #book blog #books books books #book cover #books #rare books #embroidered #embroidery #book design #book binding

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alysvolatile · 8 months

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Want to fanbind? Need davy boards/book boards and low on funds? I have an excellent hack for you:

Repurpose shitty books

"But!!!" You may say, "no book is shitty! All human experiences are worth putting to paper!"

You're right! But, also, Counterpoint:

I went to my local thrift shop and got these for the low price of $5 for all 10. ("Getting into politics?" The lovely ladies behind the counter asked me. "In a manner of speaking," I replied.)

Once I got home, it was easy to turn them into this, their component parts:

("Please stop saying you're skinning them," my partner begged. Too late!)

[EDIT TO ADD: Here's a guide! Also on my tumblr. Also - when thrifting, bring a piece of paper folded or cut into the minimum size you need for boards: this way you can make sure you're getting big enough material!]

While these are just book boards, diligent deconstruction can even yield headbands, I'm pretty sure - I'll report back on my next trial run. [EDIT TO ADD: yup, you can!]

I cannot overstate the delight I have in giving these covers new life for binding fanfiction, particularly the queer kind.

Happy binding!

#adventures in fanbinding #fanbinding #fanbinding on a budget #reduce reuse recycle #bookbinding #book binding #the art of book butchery

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californiastatelibrary · 5 months

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This partial spine repair, done by our wonderful Preservation department, is so soothing to watch! The book is wrapped in a bandage at the end to further distribute the PVA glue and to apply gentle, even pressure as the glue dries.

#books #book repair #book binding #bookbinding #libraries #librarians

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roses--and--rue · 1 year

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Victorian gift book c. 1850s-1860s with inlaid mother of pearl.

#i love these #i only have two #they are rare and fucking expensive #antiques #covet #antique books #antiquarian books #victorian books #book binding

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heaveninawildflower · 1 month

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'The Paradise Garden' (circa 1625-circa 1675) by Johann Arndts.

Book binding- gold-plated silver, on wood, decorated with a double eagle, enamel ornaments with turquoise and amethyst stones.

Rijksmuseum.

Wikimedia.

#book binding #books #decorative #decoration and ornament #17th century

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haxkattpress · 1 month

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Away Childish Things by @letteredlettered

I'm so excited to finally share this bind of one of my all time favorite fics! Thanks to lettered's generous binding policy, I decided to go all out.

This bind has a foiled cover and spine, hand sewn silk endbands, and thirteen custom chapter headers. It was also my first time rounding and backing.

You can find more pictures and information about my process under the cut.

For the cover and spine, I recreated the design of Beasts of the Field (1902) by William J. Long.

I wanted something that captured both the whimsy and maturity of the story, and this cover fit my vision perfectly. It also gave me the opportunity to recreate another antique cover from the public domain.

Unfortunately, the design was a bit complicated for my Cameo 4, so I was unable to fill the lines in. You can also tell that the foil did not adhere properly near the bottom, so the flowers are lighter than I would like them to be.

Because of the trouble I was having with my Cameo, I decided to foil the spine by hand. I deeply regretted this decision two hours later, and it took me four hours to finish foiling. My wrist still hurts!

Sewing the headbands was my absolute favorite part. I was encouraged to try them by a lovely binder on Instagram, and I ended up completely addicted. I splurged on some fancy silk thread so I could give this fic the royal treatment it deserves! I think they look like beautiful little caterpillars.

As for the rounding and backing... I'm not going to talk about it. Nightmare. Lots of nervous sweating. Emotional agony. Next topic!

I worked on the typeset back at the beginning of January when I had some time off, and it took me a solid week of obsessive editing to complete. My sister suggested that I use Harry and Draco's patronuses for the chapter art, but there unfortunately aren't many public domain illustrations of deer and foxes playing together.

It was at that point that I also decided that I wanted the animals to match the respective ages of Harry and Draco and the tone of each chapter. For the 13 chapters I ended up editing 25 different illustrations together. The bulk of these are taken from vintage versions of Bambi and Reynard the Fox. It's possible that a few stock images from 1980s nature books snuck in there, but I did my best to keep them all pre 1925.

I'm not a skilled editor, and some of these are worse than others, but I'm quite proud of what I was able to cobble together. On the final page I put a young fox and deer running off together. I wanted it to seem like Harry and Draco's inner children had been freed.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that this bind took me about 4-5 months to complete! I started in early January, and went wildly off track learning how to round, back, and sew headbands. And then I was hit by some killer creative block that only lifted last week!

There are still many things I could improve on, but I'm so proud of everything that I learned and accomplished with this bind! A big thank you to lettered for inspiring me with such a wonderful story. <3

#book binding #fic binding #fanbinding #fanfic binding #drarry #away childish things #harry x draco #my binds

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somemaycallthisjunk · 2 months

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I'm an artist, and my friend who is obsessed with Skyrim (the reason why I even play the game) had a birthday this month. I was scrolling online to see if I could order something for them and found the cheap, made-to-print spiral notebook version of the Oghma Infinium and thought... I can do that, but better. So I did.

I took a few creative liberties and obviously it's not EXACT but my friend thinks it's cool and I think it's cool so. There it is.

progress pictures from Snapchat (please excuse the typos) below:

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eyesaremosa1cs · 1 year

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#book cover #cover design #book binding #decoration #decorative #victorian #mother of pearl #antique #art #antique books #19th century #flowers #designs #aesthetic #whimsigoth #whimsigothic #gothic

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bamsara · 10 months

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First attempt at book binding my own fic, Solar Lunacy; ARC 1, Chapters 1-13. Aprox 185,343 wordcount, newer chapters not included.

I messed up and made the font size and margins smaller than the average book, so doing the actaul book will be thicker, but I had to squish the current signature sizes into this hardcover I yanked and upcycled from the thrift store. I used fabrics that I had lying around from making my Sun & Moon cosplays.

It's not perfect but it's good for a test bind! Now to actually fix the text block and make a decent hardcover. Eventually.

#Solar Lunacy #book binding #fan binding #doodles #<<< my creation tag

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knaveprints · 7 months

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An illustrated edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 2022

Moving concertina book with digital illustrations and gold leaf.

Another one of my book projects that i'm finally posting. While there are certainly things I would adjust now, under the time constraints of a uni project i'm very happy with this work. Also unfortunately there is one illustration you can't see with these photos, but i'll post the image later.

#my art #sir gawain and the green knight #illustration #arthuriana #the green knight #gawain #books #book making #book binding #medieval #medieval literature

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thebeautifulbook · 1 year

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Fifteenth century heart-shaped songbook Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu.

#beautiful books #book blog #books books books #book cover #books #illustrated book #old books #book binding #book design #songbook #15th century

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dearamleo · 2 months

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Sneak peak of a Snowbaz bind I just finished 😊

It’s not a pairing I typically read but holy fuck was this story just insanely beautifully written. And the art on top of it??? Stunning.

@artsyunderstudy was kind enough to allow me to bind it and I’m so happy to have it on my shelf. Thank you! 💚💚

#snowbaz #simon snow #baz pitch #book binding #fanfic #fanfiction

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sometiktoksarevalid · 1 year

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#no cc #music only audio #book binding #song of achilles #madelline miller

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mothdogsart · 1 month

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So excited to share my latest bind! This is a Good Omens fic called Pray for Us, Icarus by Atalan/@brightwanderer 💐

I went a little nuts with the floral designs in this one. The cover was so much fun to put together, and I somehow managed to match the bookcloth color to the headband color perfectly. I also made the chapter headers look like Aziraphale was gathering his bouquet from Crowley throughout the years:

I can’t add another photo on mobile, but Part 7 has two wine glasses with apple slices 🥰

Technical details follow ➡️

Fonts: Glamore (title) and Sabon (body)

Cover material: Allure bookcloth in Mudpie

Dust jacket image: Abraham van Beijeren, Creative Commons usage

Endpapers: Renato Crepaldi

Text block: Hammermill 70lb Ivory

Designed in Canva and Procreate

The fic can be read at http://archiveofourown.org/series/1448647

❗️My binds are not for sale. Authors can request gift copies.❗️

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