Chapter 9 : Stitched Edges

 At the end of Chapter 8 I took everything off my display board and made a new assembly of the samples that please me most and the stepping stones that led to their making.  At the top I have a phrase "Mood meets form".  I'm not sure where I found it or who coined it but the words seem to be good to hold in my mind as I work through Chapter 9.

So here are the factors I took into consideration:

• what will the subject of the book be?
• will the stitching be round the cover or individual pages and on all sides or some?
• what about corners?
• the weight of the paper will be significant and might work better with some ideas not others
• the colours and materials used will need to complement the subject matter
• when does an edge become a border?
• have I the tools I need -- single hole punch, stiletto, pliers as well as needles and sewing machine?

Once started the ideas flowed and seemed to group themselves under a number of headings:

Manipulating

1.Rolled and machine stitched

2.Torn, folded, strung and knotted

Applying

3.Torn pieces, inked edges, fly stitched

4.Pleated torn strips with coloured pulp and cross stitch

Beaded and Looped

5.Wired on bugle beads

6.Looped on seed beads

7.Cord looped in two direct

Knots

8. Tape

9. Tufts of withdrawn threads

10.Small knots, piercing and ink edge

Stitched Writing

11.Paper String

12.Thicks and Thins

13.Thicks and Thins scaled up

14.Scrafitto and Stitching

15.Wax Resist and Stitching

16.Machine Stitched Zigzags

17.Machine Stitched Lines

Examples of Combinations

18. Lines and Zigzags

19, Loops and Wax Resist

Thoughts on Book Making

I think all of the edges above have writerly rhythms and it was really interesting to try out so many different materials and techniques.  Some of the paper is my own, but I've also used some Khadi Paper 150gsm.

My favourite of all the edges  is 18, the combination of two machine stitched samples.  Compared with many of the samples it is fairly flat and as an edge to a book page would work well.  Others are thicker and would rely on spacers within the book if they are not to be crushed.  However.  the book design could have decorative edges only along the page side opposite the spine.  These could also be of increasing width so that they stick out beyond the book cover.  As each page is turned the combination of edges is reduced.

A further consideration of this idea is the reverse of each stitched edge.  This could be tidied up under strips all decorated in the same way with, for example, the wax resist sample without any stitching.