Book Assembly (page 2)
I put my first book down on the work table facing away from me. Grabbing the first signature and flipping the spine back towards me I start with the far right punch and send the needle through.
Then I send it back through the next punch.
Then all the way down to the third punch.
Finally out through the last punch on the far left. I pull the thread tight, careful not to snag the thread inside the book (It tends to ball up inside and if you forget to check you'll get a nice surprise when you open your finished book) also be careful not to pull the end-knot through the starting punch.
Now I flip my second signature onto the first. Take a bit of time to make sure you're putting them in the right order and that the finished book will be correct. This is especially important when you have a lot of signatures, you don't want to sew them in the wrong order. I send the thread up through the far left punch of the second signature.
Then back out through the next...
Now we send it back down to the first signature into the second punch from the left, then back out through the third.
The back up through the third punch on the second signature, then back out the final one on the far right. you've now returned to where you began. I like to pull the slack back through the holes so that I can pull the loops tight. You want your signatures to be pretty snug. Be careful not to rip the paper or break your thread.
When you've pulled the thread tight and your signatures are bound together it's time to finish off these two signatures. You can just tie a knot with the two ends of the thread or I've taken to sending the needle in-between the two threads just behind the fat knot. Then going back around and through the loop to create a kettle stitch.
Here I'm sending the needle behind the knot.
This goofy diagram hopefully shows the "kettle stitch". (1) Down behind the knot (2) make a loop out away from the book (3) go between the signatures and behind the thread (4) pull the thread back through your new loop. Pull tight.
In this case I'm done with my book so I tie a double kettle stitch. Going back between the signatures and pulling through another loop. If you have more signatures to go then start with the first hole and work back through the others, crossing back and forth between the second and third signatures, then the third and fourth, etc. When you've got all your signatures together finish it off with a double kettle stitch.
The stitch is nice at the end of every pass because it will keep your previous work tight and together while you add your next set of signatures to the book.
Cut off the excess thread and get your needle ready for the next book.
Here's the finished "guts" of my book. If you don't like the results, just get out your scissors, cut the exposed thread and pull the signatures apart. I always mess up on a few books at this stage, it's easy enough to just pull some new thread and start over.
At this point you might want to measure the width of your spine so you can create your cover. I measured 1/4 of an inch and sized my cover to fit. Then printed those out on some tabloid sized paper with a artwork bleed of an 1/8th of an inch.
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About Toby Craig
Toby is the creator of engine!, monster engine!, death swamp, and punish the dead. His work can be found at www.ithinkican.com.
We hope you enjoy the first featured article on the STAPLE web site. We will regularly run how-to articles and essays to highlight the work and process of independent creators. Our first is a detailed look at how Toby Craig assembled his latest book. It is republished by permission from the original post on his journal.