Stitching and Wiring, Week Four

Stitching and Wiring

Week Four

This is our week of putting it all together.  

First, you will choose some of your own threads to "weave" across the pages of your book.   

You have built pages that are meaningful and interesting, filled with your own ideas and dreams, your textures and your colour pallet.  Now it is time to decide which pages to use, and which to keep for a later project.  

I will teach you how to attach your pages using threads, wire and glue,  different ways to have your pages open up to reveal something else and different ways to embellish them.

Before we start...here is an inspirational video called 

Possibilities

(click the photo)

Password:  goldenthreads
Supplies

Background of book

Completed pages to connect to book

Threads, string or twine

Pencil, awl, needle

/Glue stick

Wire

Button and beads

*Adaptations or substitutions are always okay!

Here is the first video:

(click on the photo)

Stitching and Wiring

Password:  goldenthreads

Here I share how I stitched a line of thread across my whole book, 
and different ways to stitch and wire finished pages to your book.

And the second video:

Stitching and Wiring 

continued...

Password:  goldenthreads

In this video we will continue to stitch, glue and wire
 finished pages to our books.

Project:  Stitching a line of thread 

across the background of your book.

-  Begin by spontaneously drawing a line across one side of your book. ( I did mine on the side with the fabric spines).  

-  Your line can be curvy or straight, simple or complicated.  

-  With your awl, poke holes into your line, spacing is up to you!  

-  Cut a piece of thread about 8 inches longer than your book cover, and begin sewing, in and out, until you are finished!

Attaching the first image to your book.

-  I begun on the left side of my book, and working on the side with the fabric spines.  

-  I had already experimented on different layouts and decided on what looked best (to me) where.  

-  Paper clip your image to the background.  

-  Poke holes down your image, (you might want to draw them first), going through both the image and the background.  

-  Cut a piece of thread about twice as big as the width of your book.  

-  This time I tied a knot about three inches from the bottom.  Begin sewing, and tie another knot at the top.

Attaching an image using wire.

Now we are working on the middle panel of your book!  -  Because this page is in the center, it works really well if you can just lift up the image to reveal what is underneath. 

-  Begin by attaching your image with paperclips, again to hold it in place.

-  In the top left corner draw two marks where you would like your holes to be and do the same on the right.  

-  Poke the holes with your awl. 

-  Cut two pieces of wire about 3 inches long, fold it around a wire tool making a squared off area about the distance of your two holes.  

-  Poke your wire through both holes, this time from the back to the front, on one side, and then the other.  

-  Add beads if you like.  

-  Twist and curl your wire until it feels as if your page is firmly connected.  

-  I added some glue later, just to the top of the image.

Connecting an image using a separate piece of folded paper 

or board as a flap.

-  Cut a piece of watercolor paper about an inch thick and as long as your image is for the right side of your book.  

-  Tint it to be a similar color as your background is .  

-  Using a glue stick, glue one side of this flap to the top of your image and hold it in place with a paper clip.  (see video).  

-  When it is dry, draw marks on where you want your stitching to go, and poke the holes with your awl.  

-  Sew across your paper to one side of the folded paper.  

-  Glue the other side of the flap to the background of the book.  Paper clip it until dry!

Using a button to connect an image with wire.

-  The button I used here has four holes.  

-  I held it in place with paper clips or my fingers and poked through the holes with my awl.  

-  Then I cut two pieces of wire about 3 inches long, bent them and pulled them through the button and paper layers.  

-  I bent them to hold them in place, and later on attached a dowel to it as a decoration, (see the image at the start of this video).

Using a simple stitch to connect an image to your book. 

-  This time I just held the image in place, 

-  I poked two holes on the top of it and sewed it with one large stitch, tying it on the front.

*You can also use any method you like to attach your images to your book.  Glue works, but stitching always adds an interesting effect.

Attaching the little book to the fold of your main book.

-  Open your little book to the middle pages.  

-  Place it into the fold of your main book, and line up the bottom edges to the edge of your main book.  

-  Make sure it is straight. 

-  Sew through your original stitching exactly as you did before using the pamphlet stitch going through all the layers... including your main book.

When you are finished and everything is dry, fold your book and put some weight on it overnight.  When you look at it in the morning, it is okay if you change your mind on the placement of something, like I did.  Or, you may have it just the way you want it.  

Enjoy your book, photograph it, and display it!  

Collecting and Writing:

Gather scraps that were torn or cut off art work in your book, but did not get included.  Roll them separately or together and tie them with wire.  Add a few beads or buttons or other embellishments.  Write down your thoughts on making your "Thread That Weaves" book.  Randomly pile your scrolls on the top of your writing, so that only some of your words are visible.  Photograph  from different angles.