Bookbinding Foundations

This class welcomes students into the art and craft of bookbinding.

Through introducing a wide variety of paperback and hardback bookbinding structures, students will learn universal vocabulary and develop practical hand skills applicable across types of book projects.

Binding styles will include no-sew books that rely on scoring, cutting, and folding paper as well as popular sewing structures like the long stitch and Japanese stab binding. Students will also create a hardback book to learn about the mechanical elements of book binding, and how to work with PVA glue, book board, and book cloth.

Through creating a collection of sample books, students will be able to identify and produce many of the fundamental styles of hand bound books, use the vocabulary around these bindings, and work with popular tools like awls, bone folders, and X-acto knives. Plus, students will be introduced to bookbinding history and contemporary practices.

This foundational class is a pre-requisite for the majority of bookbinding classes and workshops at Spudnik Press Cooperative. Repeat students are welcome.