One very fun project I did in my Experimental Bookmaking class required us to bind a book using the "buttonhole stitch" AND create a box to house the book. I wanted to recycle some items I had laying around, and since the assignment occurred around the same time as my Monday Night BINGO phase, I made my book out of used BINGO sheets! This was a mock-up so I could practice the technique. The final project using the buttonhole stitch was due the following class (and will be shown here on the blog next Tuesday...so check back!) Here's a shot of the outside of the box, as well as a detail of the lid pull:
My buttonhole book lives in this box, which features a nesting lid and a blue raffia pull-string so even the fattest of fingers can easily remove the book from the box. :)
I used contrasting pages for the book and the inside of the box lid. Didn't want blue overload!
With buttonhole binding, top and bottom portions of the spine are sewn, while the middle portion of the book block is exposed and visible through the spine.
Each stitch is wrapped around the head (or the tail) and then pierced through the pages. The result is long, straight stitches.
One of the neatest things about this technique is that it allows for expansion...meaning, these books are perfect for scrapbooking, pressed flowers, collages, inspiration cut from magazines and newspapers...anything that might normally make a book burst at the seams. This binding offers some room to grow!