Nant Designs: craft

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Bank holiday weekend event in Pembrokeshire

see you there

Smile-it's the Square Pegs

Next week

Shape Shifters and Spirit Lifters

The Square Pegs have been curating for quite some time now- we have selected makers and artists, combining them to create exhibitions, sometimes themed, sometimes not, but always with quality and the skill of the artist as top of our list of criteria for inclusion

our next show is no exception........

you will find some new names and work in the Guildhall in two weeks time.

More information about exhibitors and their work will shortly be included on thesquarepegs.co.uk or why not follow us on our Facebook page for all the latest news https://www.facebook.com/TheSquarePegs/

Bookbinding Workshop

Further information:

Bookmaking Workshop

Saturday 21^st March 2015

10-3pm

Preseli Community Learning Centre

£30

Make a complete book with hard covers and a stitched and covered spine, suitable for use as a sketchbook, notebook, diary or journal. Learn techniques for including storage pockets or envelopes, place markers and retaining ribbons for closure.

During this one day workshop participants will complete an A5 size book filled with drawing quality paper.

We will start the day with a short examination of various book structures, materials and tools.

Tools /Materials suggestion list

I will provide

pieces of thick greyboard for the covers

book cloth for the book spine

140gsm white acid free cartridge for the pages ( if you would prefer watercolour or another type of paper please contact me)

glue

thread

Please will you bring:

Essential tools- scissors- I use a big pair for cutting paper and a small pair for fiddly bits

a ruler – both for measuring and as a cutting edge

darning size needle

a paintbrush suitable for glueing

If you have one

a craft knife / stanley knife

board to cut on

a bradawl with a point and tools for making holes

wrapping papers for the book covers eg interesting paper bags, packaging, gift wrap, advertising flyers, pages from magazines..... etc

cords and ribbons

If you might like to add a 'tie' to close your book a ribbon piece approximately 1m in length and 1-2cm wide is required- I will bring a selection of ribbon but you might like to bring what you have.

embellishments eg lace, decorative pictures, fabric,beads, buttons, anything you think might be useful

If you would like to attend this workshop please book directly with

preseli.learning@pembrokeshire.gov.uk or call 01437 770180

I will soon be publishing a list of other workshops that will take place at Nant-all sorts of techniques and fun-let me know if there is anything you would like especially on the list.

Square Pegs are Popping up

The Square Pegs will be having a pop up show in early November

More details soon.

Books at Oriel y Parc

Do you fancy making a special book to your own specifications but not sure where to start?

Bring your ideas along to this workshop and I will help you turn them into reality.

Hillarys Blinds Country Crafts Competition- Peacock Book

The Challenge:

Using your 100cm x 100 cm piece of Country Retreat fabric and any other materials, put your creative talents to the test by making an original craft design

This competition appeared on my facebook page just at that moment I needed a new challenge and with a great choice of fabrics

I knew exactly what I wanted to create:
A coptic bound book suitable for photos or a guest book with card pages with a satin ribbon tie.

The Covers

The 'Bird Parade' is a gentle pattern depicting peacocks on a heavy weight fabric with a silky surface.

Each bird was about 30 cm high just right to make the covers for a book. I cut two rectangular panels, larger by about two centimetres all round, than the size of book I wanted to make.

The card to make the hardback cover is 3mm greyboard and each measures 33 x 22 cm. The edges were sandpapered to take off any sharp corners

The fabric was glued to the card using evenly spread PVA and allowed to dry

Each corner is folded over and stuck before the edges are glued down. There are many ways of folding up the corners to give a neat finish depending on the materials used. Scoring the fabric with a finger nail helps to make a sharp fold.

The Pages

The pages are cut from 'Seawhites' antique white card in pairs and folded. Each page needs to be about 0.5 cm smaller than the covers on the open sides but not at the spine. My book has 10 pairs of pages in 5 groups ( signatures).

This book is stitched with a coptic binding which creates a decorative spine and will lie completely flat on the table. The stitching passes through holes in the cover and through the signatures- these all need to line up. A hole making jig is card with holes pierced in it to indicate where to position the holes in each section.
For coptic binding there are two rows of holes- one for the pages and one for the holes in the covers.

The jig

signature and jig ready for piercing

The card is placed in a v shaped trough and an awl is used to pierce the holes in each signature.

piercing the holes

The covers are held with the outsides together and the holes are cut with the jig and a paper drill.

The ribbon which forms the tie has been inserted through a slit in the covers, folded over and is glued down. This will be under the lining and hidden.

Inserting the ties

The cover boards are lined with one of my own silkscreen printed papers in a co-ordinating colour ( appropriately enough -in peacock design)

The covers and pages can now be sewn together

The Coptic Binding

I have used 3mm satin ribbon for the coptic binding. I start by knotting the ribbon and stitching through one of the end holes in the 1st signature, inside to outside

Hold the cover next to the 1st signature and take over to the outside of the cover and into the corresponding hole. The ribbon then passes between the cover and the signature and back through this hole again, in the same direction, and finally back into the first signature in hole no 1

Repeat with all the holes in this signature.

At the last hole instead of returning inside the first signature after passing around the cover add the next signature of pages and sew into the first hole at this end. Emerge from the next hole.

Each signature is now chain stitched to the next and a knot is placed at the end of each row to keep it firm. More pages are added as reach row is completed.

The last page and cover are added simultaneously.
Two stitches are made through each hole in the cover before the chain stitch is made. The stitching ribbon progresses between holes inside the signature as before.