Posted: March 10, 2025
The Coptic stitch is an ancient bookbinding method developed by the Copts (early Christians in Egypt). It’s the one you’ll probably see most often when you look up “bookbinding”. This one is an exposed stitch for multi-signature books. Here’s what you’ll need:
Fold your paper into signatures first. A signature is a collection of papers folded in half. You’ll need multiple signatures for this book, so divide your sheets into equal stacks, then fold and sort them together. Typically, a signature is 4 to 8 sheets (depending on the thickness of the paper). Thicker Coptic stitch books are possible, but the recommended maximum is 15 sheets of plain copy (20 lb) paper. Otherwise, it’s too thick and the spine won’t lay nicely flat. My preference is 6 to 10 sheets of 24 lb writing paper.
When folding, I like using a bone folder for a nice crisp crease, but they aren’t necessary. A butter knife will do in a pinch, or even just your thumb nail. I also prefer to fold each page individually, but it’s possible to fold all the sheets of a signature at once.
Materials
Fold the paper
First signature
The next thing you need to do is trim the signatures (if you want to trim them at all). This is because it is quite difficult to trim after stitching. Premeasure and mark in light pencil where you want to cut. Ensure it’s correct. (Measure twice, cut once!) When trimming, line your ruler up along the edge of your paper (at measurements) and use a sharp X-acto knife to cut. Repeat on all sides you wish to trim. I recommend trimming both top and bottom if you need to take off height (rather than only top or only bottom), as the X-acto blade leaves a clean edge and you’ll likely want them to match.
Alternatively, you can make a deckle edge along your paper by tearing along a straight surface. Like with trimming, line your ruler up at the measurements. Gently tear, peeling the strip of paper away to leave a soft edge. You can do this on all three edges of the paper, or just the outside edge.
Coptic stitch books are one of those that work better if you sew it directly to the cover. Creating a cover for your book requires a dense cardboard called book board (chipboard also works). You will need two sheets of this for the front and back cover (equal width and height, though you can give it a bit of overhang if you’d like). For example, a book whose signatures are 5.5 x 8.5 will have two covers measuring 5.5 x 8.5 inches. There is no cover material over the spine for this book, as it will simply be the signatures and exposed stitch.
Measure out your fabric, paper, or material of choice, giving each cover about half an inch to one inch of border (depending on the thickness and stiffness of your material).
Glue your chosen fabric, paper, or other material to the book board using a PH neutral glue like PVA (regular white glue will work in a pinch). Make sure to spread an even layer, not too light but also not too thin. Make the covers in two separate pieces.
Cut the corners at a 45 degree angle, then glue the two shorter sides, fold in the corners, then glue the two longer sides.
The last step is to cover the interior with a patterned cardstock or paper.
Once trimmed or torn, you will poke the holes into the spine of your signature and the cover of your book (if you’re making one). You can poke any number of holes for a Coptic stitch as long as it’s even, but I’ve found that they are most effective at about 1-inch apart. You can also vary the space between the holes, just ensure that the holes at the top and bottom of the signature are evenly spaced away from the edge, between half an inch and 1 inch.
Since you will be punching holes in multiple signatures, I find it preferable to make a template. You can punch the holes in a few different ways, from individually using the template, to collecting all the signatures together and marking at once, to sawing the signatures from the outside. The simplest method for those who don’t have make tools is to poke them using a template.
*To make a template, fold a spare bit of paper in half and trim it to about an inch wide (I align my ruler overtop and cut so that it’s the width of my ruler). The height should be the same as the height of your signatures. Using the ruler, make your measurements.
Use this template for your cover as well. Measure a quarter of an inch to an inch in from the edge, and mark where the hole should be punched in light pencil. I like to measure and punch my holes through one of the covers first, then line up the cover and just punch through the same holes so that I know they’ll both line up.
Poke interior holes
Poke cover holes
The signatures
Once the holes are punched, you’re ready to stitch. For this stitching method, you will stitch all the signatures with the same piece of thread. Measure out the height of your book for each signature, plus one extra (i.e. 5 signatures for an 8 inch book means 48 inches of thread).
Tie a knot at one end, leaving about half to three-quarters of an inch of length at the end. Thread your needle.
Stack your front cover, signatures, and back cover in the order you wish to stitch them in. Start with the back cover and your first signature.
From the inside of the first signature, pull your thread through the top hole, then pull it tight.
Thread the needle through the corresponding hole on the cover (from outside to inside), pull tight so that the signature and cover are lined up. Loop the needle around the connecting thread, then go back inside the book through the same hole. Be careful that you don’t accidentally send the needle through your thread. (If this happens, find where it’s stuck and carefully extract.)
From the inside, thread the needle out through the next hole down. Repeat the step above: from outside, thread through the corresponding cover hole, pull tight, loop around, then go back into the signature hole.
Repeat this process until you reach the final hole on this signature. Instead of going back into the first signature after looping, grab your second signature and thread your needle in through the first hole. Pull tight so that the cover, first signature, and second signature are moveable but not too loose.
Next, thread your needle out through the second hole in your second signature. Loop around the thread above (between the cover and the first signature) then back in through the same hole into the second signature. Repeat this step with the remaining holes in the second signature.
At the final hole in the second signature, loop around the above signature as usual, then thread your needle in through the next (third) signature. Repeat the same steps as signature 2.
When you get to your last signature, you will stitch it and the back cover at the same time, which is a bit tricky. The process is almost the reverse of how you began.
For the first hole, go through the cover first (outside to inside). Pull tight so that it, the unsewn signature, and the rest of the book are lined up. Loop around the previous signature, then thread the needle in through the first hole of the final signature.
Thread out through the second hole and loop around the previous signature stitch. Then sew through the cover (outside to inside), loop around that connecting thread, then back in through the final signature hole. Repeat this process for the remaining holes.
When you reach the final hole, follow the same method: loop the previous stitch, attach the cover, loop around cover & final signature stitch, then back in through the hole to the inside of the signature. Loop around the thread on the inside to make a knot, then trim off the excess.
First stitch: out
First stitch: in
Attach cover
Connect cover
Finish first signature
Start second signature
Link first and second signatures
Stitch last signature and cover together
Finish last signature
Once a book has been fully stitched, I like to shift it back and forth to even out the stitches so they aren’t too loose or too tight. Then I place it under something heavy (or in a book press) for a day or two to let it be pressed flat.
You’ve just completed your first Coptic stitch book!
Saddle Stitch Tutorial
Chain Stitch Tutorial
Long Stitch Tutorial
French Link Stitch Tutorial
Coptic Stitch Tutorial
Cross Stitch Tutorial
Leather Stitch Tutorial
Japanese Stab Binding Tutorial
Tigerpetal Press is a small book press dedicated to publishing local authors and poets.