Embroidered book for my mum to mark the grand occasion of her turning 70 today. Flower design from the wonderful ‘Simply stitched with applique’ by Yumiko Higuchi - a bit nerve wracking turning an embroidery into bookcloth for binding but I’m relieved it’s worked without being too lumpy bumpy…

Stitching and head scratching

In spite of expert teaching by Csilla Biro (and patient assistance from Carmen Garaghon) I managed to tie myself in (literal) knots trying to learn a marionette stab binding at last week’s Artists’ Book Club. Never one to be thwarted by a needle and thread, I went away and had another go. Still a bit wonky and the tension is a little uneven, but at least the stitches are in the right place. Very satisfying to stitch as the pattern starts to take shape. Many thanks to Csilla for teaching this tricksy binding. . . .

PaperLove – week four: book

Multi-section book with embroidered cover

A slightly sinister shot of my book mobile

A bit more in my comfort zone this week with the e-course PaperLove's theme of 'book'. Starting with making single sheet 'trouser books' from envelope patterned papers (combined with last week's folded cover to make them more robust). Quite addictive once you get folding. Then moving onto a mobile of tiny map books (photographed on a particularly gloomy day)… not totally happy with the end result of this one so I may re-visit it at a later date. I like the idea, just not my execution. The larger project this week was making a multi-section book. I'd done this before so I wanted to use it as an opportunity to try a few new techniques: using deckle edged paper (cut with a clip point knife), embroidering bookcloth, leaving longer knot ties on the outside of the book, and also bringing the stitching over the top and bottom of the spine. Really pleased with how this one turned out, and I'm using it as a sketchbook already - hurray!

Production line

Lots of cutting and sticking to make an edition of a new book – Petal Prints. 

Photos of the finished book to follow tomorrow…