Return to Notebooks...

With the buttonhole stitch—in which there is a gap in the spine so as to reveal the signatures within—the binder first must stitch the top of the book, then the bottom, rather than securing each signature entirely before moving onto the next. The binder must also ensure that each connecting thread along the spine is secure so the pages don’t slip. This adds a bit of complexity, but the end result is well worth it.

I used a subtly patterned red fabric for the cover of this book, and I matched the elegance of the birds illustration with a Victorian-esque interior paper. The golden waxed thread matches this interior as well as the hints of brown in the cover fabric. None of the signatures have a separating sheet, though the sandstone shade of the paper still fits nicely into the overall colour scheme.

The lines are decently spaced at 16 pt, and the outside bottom corner illustration gives the book and overall elegant feel.