Workshops / Workshop 4
Bookbinding for beginners
Fold, pierce and sew a pamphlet notebook with a three-hole stitch, and learn why a sewn book lasts.
In brief
A book is folded sheets of paper held together along one edge and, usually, protected by a cover. Sewing is what makes a book strong. A pamphlet notebook is the simplest sewn structure: one stack of folded sheets and a three-hole stitch through the fold.
What it is
Bookbinders use a small set of words. A sheet of paper folded once is a bifolium, which makes two leaves (four pages). Several bifolia nested inside one another make a section, also called a signature. All the sections together form the text block. The fold edge is the spine; the opposite edge, where you turn pages, is the fore-edge.
| Structure | How it is held | Opens flat? | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pamphlet stitch | One section sewn through the fold with a three-hole stitch | Yes | A first notebook; booklets |
| Long stitch | Thread runs along the spine and ties to a flexible cover | Yes | Journals with a soft cover |
| Coptic binding | Several sections chained together with an exposed stitch along the spine | Very well | Notebooks and albums |
| Case binding | Sewn sections are glued into a hard cover made separately | Depends on the sewing | Printed books; sketchbooks |
Coptic binding takes its name from the early Christian communities of Egypt, where the technique of sewing sections directly to a cover is found.
Why bind by hand
- You understand the object. Folding and sewing show why a book is built the way it is.
- Strength. Sewn sections hold pages far longer than loose glue alone. Many books that must last, such as registers and archives, are sewn.
- Repair. A person who can sew a book can mend one.
- History. The codex, a stack of folded leaves sewn along one edge, began to replace the scroll in the Roman world in the first centuries CE and became the usual book form by about the fourth century.
How to sew a three-hole pamphlet
- Find the grain. Paper made by machine has a grain direction, the way most fibres lie. Bend a sheet gently both ways; it bends more easily along the grain. Fold so that the fold runs parallel to the grain. Then the book opens and closes more easily and the pages lie flat.
- Fold. Fold each sheet in half and press the fold with the bone folder. Nest the sheets inside the folded cover to make a section.
- Mark the holes. Open the section at the centre. Mark the middle of the fold and then one mark near each end, about the same distance in from the head and the tail.
- Pierce. Rest the section open in a V of folded card, or on the cutting mat, and push the awl through each mark from the inside, through the cover.
- Sew. Start on the inside at the middle hole and go out, leaving a tail about a hand long. Go in through one end hole. Run the thread along the inside to the other end hole and go out. Return along the outside to the middle hole and go in.
- Tie off. You now have two ends inside, one on each side of the long stitch that runs along the fold. Tie them with a square knot around the long stitch, pull snug and trim the ends to a finger’s length.
- Press. Close the book under a flat weight for an hour.
Care. An awl and a knife are sharp. Always cut and pierce on a mat, away from your hand, and keep fingers behind the tool.
Glue and paste
Two adhesives are common. Polyvinyl acetate (PVA) is a strong, flexible white glue that dries to a durable film but cannot easily be undone. Wheat-starch paste is made by cooking flour or starch in water. It is weaker and slower, but it can be softened again with moisture, so conservators prefer it for books of value. For a notebook, PVA is fine. For a book you want to be able to repair, use paste.
Effects and legacy
Binding shaped how books were made and kept. In the early nineteenth century publishers began to issue books in cloth-covered cases made separately in large numbers, which made covers faster and cheaper to produce. Strong sewing remains the standard for books intended to last, and hand binding is today a craft and a conservation skill.
Try it
Make a pamphlet notebook and use it as the notebook for your other workshops. After a month, look at where it wears. Do the stitches loosen? Do the fold edges crease or tear? Use what you see to improve the next one.
Check yourself
Read the question, think of your answer, then open it with a tap or the Enter key.
What is a signature (section) in bookbinding?
A group of folded sheets nested together and sewn as a unit.
Why fold paper parallel to the grain?
The book then opens more easily and the pages lie flat.
How can you find the grain of a sheet?
Bend it gently both ways. It bends more easily along the grain.
Why do conservators prefer wheat-starch paste?
It is strong enough for most book work and can be softened again with moisture, so the work can be undone.
What is the spine?
The folded edge where the pages are sewn and joined.
What was the codex?
A stack of folded leaves sewn along one edge, the ancestor of the modern book; it began to replace the scroll in the first centuries CE.
Basis of the facts
Where these facts come from. Book parts and structures follow standard bookbinding manuals and Szirmai (1999) for medieval bindings. The account of the codex replacing the scroll follows Roberts and Skeat (1983). The grain test and the three-hole sewing sequence are standard craft practice. The comparison of PVA and wheat-starch paste follows common conservation guidance. The nineteenth-century change to cloth cases is described in general terms (Gaskell, 1972). See the sources list.