DIY Coptic binding: master class, interesting ideas

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:45

Coptic binding is well-deservedly popular with scrapbookers. On the one hand, this is the easiest and fastest way to fasten pages into one block, and on the other hand, its simplicity gives a huge field for fantasy flight in the aesthetic design of scrapbooks, sketchbooks and notepads of various sizes and shapes.

Despite the fact that scrapbooking is a painstaking business, making Coptic binding with your own hands is not difficult even for a beginner.

A little history before we start

Coptic binding appeared simultaneously with the separation of the Coptic language and literature. The first written monuments in the form of books-codes bound in this technique date back to the end of the third century. The oldest of them, in the form of papyrus pages sewn with stiff threads or assembled on metal rings, do not yet have decorations.

Later, papyrus began to be replaced by a new material - parchment, and the pages began to be covered with intricate ornaments and bright images.

Special attention was paid to the cover and the binding itself,after all, it was he who had to collect thin pages into a single whole. The wooden or leather-covered cover was designed not only to preserve the book, but also to attract attention, inspire and demonstrate the we alth of the owners. The covers were decorated with painting, carving, gilding, and the finest inlays. Rare expensive materials were often used for their decoration, such as ivory, mother-of-pearl, gold plates, precious stones.

Coptic tradition today

In fact, our entire modern book culture has its roots in ancient Coptic codices.

Despite the age of information technology and computerization, the craving for rough paper, heavy-covered books, and beautiful little stationery remains. Notebook with Coptic binding in the original design will be appropriate on the table of a business person, complement the interior of an office or living room, serve as an unusual accessory in an elegant handbag.

Tradition and handmade

How to make Coptic binding at home, a step-by-step master class with photos will help you figure it out. Most likely, materials for the simplest notebook or sketchbook can be found in every home. They will require a little time, accuracy and imagination. You yourself will not notice how as a result of simple manipulations with a thread and a needle, a real Coptic binding is obtained, the same as on ancient manuscripts.

This MK offers a basic version of a notebook made using the bonding technology of early Christian codices.

Tools and materials

• Sheets of A4 paper.
• Cardboard for the cover.
• Iris yarn or any other thick thread.
• Gypsy needle.
• A thin awl or pins.
• Ruler.
• Pencil, stationery paper clips.

Coptic binding: master class

First you need to prepare the paper. Bend the sheets in half and collect three sheets in a notebook, fold them in a pile. The number of such notebooks also depends on the thickness of the notebook.

For Coptic binding, notebooks must be marked. In the fold of one of them, with a ruler and a pencil, places for five holes are marked at an equal distance from each other. The first and last mark should be located approximately one centimeter from the edge of the sheet. Holes are pierced through all the sheets of the notebook with a thin awl or needle. According to the first notebook, all the rest are outlined.

The holes on the covers are pierced at a distance of 1-1.5 cm from the edge, their distance between them should correspond to that in the marking of the notebooks. To facilitate the work, the sheets can be fastened with clerical clips and the marks can be immediately pricked with pins over the entire thickness.

Block firmware

Now the stage of creating the binding itself begins. For firmware, you can take any strong thread. The simplest Iris yarn is perfect, it is strong enough and easy to work with.

At the first stage, the back cover and the first notebook of three sheets are stitched. A needle with a single threaded thread is inserted into the outermost hole of the first notebook from the inside. A small tail remains in the fold. With the same threadthe cover is picked up from the outside, and the needle is brought out between the notebook and cardboard.

The needle is looped around the stitched thread and reintroduced into the first hole of the notebook.

The remaining tail and the working thread are tied into a small knot and tightened tightly. The needle is inserted into the next hole in the notebook, picks up the cover from the outside. So all five holes are stitched.

The second notebook is stacked on top of the first and stitched in the same way. A needle with a thread is inserted into the extreme hole, removed from the next one. The working thread is circled around the already stitched between the cover and the first notebook and inserted into the same hole. So all five holes are passed. When the blocks are stitched through all five holes, the next notebook is placed on top. Thus, the required number of blocks is gradually hemmed and an elegant Coptic binding is formed. A detailed master class for notebooks, notebooks and albums with this type of connection in all sorts of variations will easily help you make an original gift.

The thickness of such a notebook is limited only by questions of convenience and necessity. A thin notebook of two or three such notebooks and an impressive voluminous diary of 10-15 blocks will look equally beautiful in Coptic binding.

Shutting down

The final stage of the firmware requires special attention. Lastthe notebook, like the first one, is bound together with the cover, here you need to fully concentrate on the work in order to avoid confusion.

The last notebook and cover are stacked on already stitched sheets. The needle with the thread is inserted into the extreme hole on the cover from the outside and is output between the cover and the notebook. The thread is circled around the already stitched stitch between the two previous, already hemmed blocks and inserted into the extreme hole of the last notebook, pulled inward.

Then the needle is inserted into the adjacent hole on the fold and withdrawn from the outside. The thread is looped around already stitched between the last and penultimate notebooks and inserted into the corresponding hole on the cover from the outside.

The thread is once again circled around the already stitched between the cover and the last notebook and inserted into the same hole in the notebook.

The spine produces a beautiful thin braid, reminiscent of a crocheted chain of air loops.

When the firmware is finished, the thread is fixed in the middle of the fold of the last notebook with a tailor's knot: the needle picks up the thread along the fold, circles it with a free thread, the needle is threaded again into the resulting loop. The knot is tightened and the remaining end of the thread is cut off.

Ideas for inspiration and creativity

The simplest Coptic binding is ready. MK provides the foundations for this ancient technique. In this version, the binding does not require additional fixation,gluing the end along the folds and decorating the spine.

Having mastered it in this variant, you can further complicate the design, experiment with paper, threads, cover decor. This technique is good because it practically does not limit the flight of fantasy, allows you to use different and sometimes very unexpected materials, create notebooks and albums of various shapes. You can move away from the usual and already boring rectangle, maybe someone will like a heart-shaped notepad, someone will be delighted with floral motifs or be delighted with intricate geometry.

A great solution for a Coptic bound notebook is handmade paper, which you can also make yourself. Seashells brought from vacation in the summer, dried flowers, beads and sequins will come in handy in the design. Old jewelry is suitable for decorating a vintage-style notebook.

Once upon a time, the art of book design was considered sacred. Today, everyone can get in touch with this ancient skill and try their hand at bookbinding.