Two days of Teaching at The Center For Book Arts, NYC

This past weekend I taught at Center For Book Arts in NYC, two one-day classes for adults. Attendees were interesting, smart, enthusiastic and creative. What a pleasure for me! We made lots of different types of books in these classes. I think that the highlight of Sunday was this beaded binding, based on the Chain Stitch that I learned from a book by Ketih Smith.( 1,2,&3 Section Sewings, page 220).

We also made simple pamphlet sewn books, pop-ups. a large accodion book, numerous origami book structures, as well as a variation of Hedi Kyle’s invention, the Blizzard Book.

Saturday’s class was full of simpler structures. as the class was designed for and filled with teachers. I think that the highlight of Saturday was seeing what the class did with the cut-paper decorative techniques that I presented.

We also made origami pockets and pamphlets, a pyramid with pop-ups, a big notebook, paper springs, booklets with various bindings (rubber band, paper fasteners, modified pamphlet stitch), an accordion with a pocket, and more.

There are a few books that I want to mention here, that are helpful to me and that I think would be helpful to others.

First is Books, Boxes and Wraps by Marilyn Webberley. This is a great book, comprehensive, inspiring, and about $50.
ISBN: 1886475008 | ISBN-13: 9781886475007

Keith Smith books, which will cost you about $35 each
http://www.keithsmithbooks.com/
I refer to his Non-Adhesive Binding, Volumes I, II, and III extensively. Some people find following his directions challenging, but I am drawn to the detailed clarity of his style of presentation.

This next book is one that I helped to author. The projects are simple and nicely presented. A good, very basic collection of projects, about $12.
25 Totally Terrific Social Studies Activities: Step-by-Step Directions for Motivating Projects That Students Can Do Independently
By: Kathy Pike Jean Mumper Paula Krieg
ISBN: 0439498309 ISBN-13: 9780439498302
This book contains many simple structures which can be easily done by teachers with their elementary students. If you want to do the Origami Pamphlet, though, use the directions from the hand-out found on this site, not the ones in the book (one drawing is out of place…)

The book that I taught that has the most steps was the book designed by Hedi Kyle. I did not, and will probably never, created a hand-out for this book. It can be done in many sizes. I like to make it in such a way that it becomes a spine piece, into which accordioned or Book Base pages can inserted. The spine piece that I used with Sunday’s class was 17″ x 7 5/8″, grain short. Our pages were made following my Book Base directions, using 8 1/2′ x 11″ paper. Here is a link to some directions that use different proportions for the spine piece:
Hedi Kyle’s Blizzard Book

Modified Pamphlet Stitch for Children

Click to Enlarge for Printing or Reading

     The best way to make a pamphlet with children in a classroom is, in my opinion, a wrap-around, no-needle lacing of yarn, cord,  or string.  The sequence of steps is exactly like the more grown-up version of the pamphlet stitch,  without the necessity of needles that can really slow down a class of seven-year olds.    I have a black and white version of these directions for simple pamphlet stitch available. 

Four Simple Pamphlet Bindings

Modified pamphlet Stitch, Rubber Band Binding, Stick and Rubber Band Binding, and Classic Pamphlet Stitch

      A couple of weeks ago my work with students reminded me of how much interest and excitement can be generated from making simple pamphlets.   With this in mind, I am writing a post on how to make some simply constructed pamphlets.   I started going through my shelves of samples and realized that  there are so many ways of assembling a pamphlet!  Excercising great restraint,  I chose only four structures to show today.  I will provide brief descriptions of these here, then provide more detailed explanations in the future.   All book here are made with standard-size papers, which to me means 8 1/2″ x 11” papers.  That said, the first book  in the image above is made with typical lined paper that is found in many elementary classrooms:  it is slightly smaller than typical copy paper, but this size difference is inconsequential to its construction.                                                                            

Here are my top four easily made pamphlets: 

1.  The Modified Pamphlet Stitch Book:  my opinion, today, is that this is the best book to make with early elementary students, as it is easy and requires only a 25″ length of yarn and some scissors.  It is based on the pamphlet stitch (look at the links below for this stitch, or wait a few days for the how-to page that I will be posting).  This differs from the pamphlet stitch in that, instead of sewing with needle and thread through three holes, one hole is cut in the middle of the spine, and the head and tail of the spine are notched so that the yarn can be wrapped around the book, rather than sewn through it, following the  sequence of the pamphlet stitch .   

2. The Rubber Band Binding:  The pages of this book are made by cutting standard-size paper in half, resulting in papers that are 5 1/2″ x 4  1/4″.  The cover is most easily made by folding a full sheet this size.  The covers and pages are nested together, the spine is notched and a #19 rubber band holds cover and pages together.   

3.  The Stick (or Straw) and Rubber Band Binding:  Fold papers in half,  nest together,  then  cut two notches in the spine, each about one and a half inches away from the head and tail of the spine.  Slip the loop of a rubber band (a #19 or  a #33) from the middle of  book, out through one of the notches. Slip an eight inch stick or straw through the loop.  Slide the other end of the rubber band through the empty notch,. Capture the other end of the straw or stitch through this loop.  Done!   

4.  Classic Pamphlet Stitch Book:  Fold papers in half and nest them together.  With a needle and thread (about 25″ long), starting in the inside middle of the book, sew through the spine, leaving  enough of a tail for the end knot.  Re-enter the spine about an inch down from the head of the book.  From the inside now,  sew from the inside out, entering the spine about an inch up from the tail of the book.  Sew back into the spine in the middle.  Knot the ends of the thread,  capturing the long stitch into the middle of the knot.,  If you have understood these directions, I am impressed.  For everyone else, check out one of these links: http://webalstrom.ftml.net/bookworks/workshops/samples/assets/8books.pdf   http://gort.ucsd.edu/preseduc/bookmkg.htm  http://www.library.illinois.edu/prescons/preserve/sewnpam1.html