Coptic Book binding – Simple how to – 2 needles
Collated by Isabell Winter (email [email protected])
Materials required:
paper
boards (can be wooden or pasteboard)
bone folder (ice cream stick also works)
awl (drawing pin works)
strong thread
beeswax (if you want to wax your thread)
2 curved needles (you can use straight ones but curved is much easier - also you can bend your own
by heating a needle with a kitchen blow torch or similar and then bending to the curve you want.
Please use pliers to hold the needle)
some scrap paper to create a template with
pen or pencil
Method:
1. Decide how many sewing stations you want – needs to be an even number as this method
has you sewing in pairs.
2. Take a scrap piece of paper and make it the same length as the spine of your book.
3. Mark out where you want your sewing stations to be. Tip: for even spacing you can on a
grid work bench take the number of sewing stations add 1 and slide the bottom edge of your
paper that many squares. At each intersection on your paper mark where the vertical lines
intersect – this are your sewing stations.
4. Mark on your boards where your sewing stations will be.
5. Drill these points in your boards.
6. Decide how many quires you want and how many pages in each quire. 6-8 pages in each
quire is a good number – historically usually 8.
7. Fold your paper in half and form into quires (signatures). Use the bone folder to get a good
crease on the fold – reduces the bulk.
A full sheet, a folded sheet, bone folder, boards drilled with template paper showing sewing
stations.
8. Take each quire and using your template for your sewing stations and the awl or drawing pin
make holes in the spine of your quire from the inside to the outside.
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9. A cradle to hold your quire makes this very easy but you can just punch thru with the paper
on the bench – ensure you punch into some cardboard or similar so you do not mark your
table.
10. Once all holes punched you are ready to start sewing
11. Thread up your needles – do not tie a knot in the end of the thread.
12. Take your first quire and from the inside, pass a needle thru each of the first sewing stations.
Tie the ends together and tighten from the outside.
13. Take your first board.
14. Bring the first needle out from the spine of the quire and over the board and pass the needle
thru the first hole.
15. Thread needle all the way thru then bring around to the left, pass over the thread between the
quire and the board, then take the needle between the paper and board to the back of the
board where you will then thread the needle thru the same hole back towards you. Note:
you can go left or right but just be consistent throughout as that is what creates the patten on
the spine.
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16. Before you pull tight pass the needle down the loop that has formed ready to enter into the
first hole of the second quire.
17. Repeat with the second needle in the second hole
18. Then pull tight – easier to tighten with a downwards motions over the edge of the table for
example.
19. Insert the first needle in the first hole of the second quire, then do the same with second
needle into second hole on second quire.
20. Open up the second quire where both needles will now be on the inside.
21. Take needle one and pass out the second hole so it has the thread running on the inside of
the quire between hole 1 & 2 – try to not cut the thread with your needle, try to keep them
separate.
22. Repeat with the second needle passing across to hole 1 and out to the outside.
23. Both needles should be outside the spine and now take the needle to your left, move it up to
wrap behind the paper (1st quire) and board. Move needle under then up the other side so it
has made a pass behind the threads then grab your next quire and pass the needle into the
spine of quire 3.
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24. Repeat with 2nd needle.
25. On the inside of the quires now pass the needle across to the next sewing station and exit the
quire again. Repeat with needle two.
26. Keep repeating this motion of in the spine of the quire, across to next hole (corresponding
pair) out to the outside then up and behind the quire one up from it and back down to new
quire.
27. Keep your tension tight throughout.
28. When you come to the last quire when you exit, loop around as normal then enter the final
board.
29. Do the same action as you did with the cover board in entering the board from the outside to
the inside, taking needle around to the left, out towards you and the spine of the book, over
the thread between the quire and board, back in between the quire and board and then thread
needle from inside of board to outside. Pass needle down the horizontal loop so you have
the thread coming out of the hole on the board twice.
30. Tighten your thread
31. Ensure both needles at the same stage.
32. Then pass needle down between the last 2 quires and around then insert the needle into the
second to last quire. Try not to pass the needle thru existing threads.
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33. When both needles are on inside of quire loop your thread under the current threads running
along the spine and form a half knot. I do this twice for extra strength.
34. Repeat with both needles
35. Trim threads.
36. Finished part one, now if you are doing more than one set of sewing stations, repeat down
the next pair.
37. Trim the fore edge pages if you want for a smooth fore edge.
38. Finished
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