Sewing Structures

April 26-30

Instructor: Renate Mesmer
Course Fee: $800

The workshop will concentrate on various methods of sewing that will include link stitch and sewing on single and double cords using herringbone or ‘all along’ sewing. Sewing using a concertina guard will be practiced. Various styles of endpapers will be constructed and attached to the textblocks. Participants will practice the various sewing structures on models and will leave with a nice reference library of sewing structures. Students interested in pursuing the Diploma Program should have 3 textblocks for sewing and endpaper attachment, and the books should not be more than one inch thick and 12 inches tall. The textblock needs to be treated in advance. This is the second class in the Diploma Program and is open to students who have some paper conservation experience or who have attended the previous class.

Fundamentals of Bookbinding

May 3-14

Instructor: Don Glaister
Course Fee: $1500

In this introduction to leather binding, students will learn the different steps of traditional bookbinding, beginning with case binding, and will lay the foundation for future fine binding and specialty courses. Students will be introduced to sewing using a sewing frame, rounding and backing, edge decoration, headbands, as well as leather paring and applying leather to the book. The focus of the class will be on learning sound bookbinding techniques with special emphasis on working with leather. Students will complete a half-leather binding in the first week and a full-leather binding in the second week. This is an entry-level course to fine binding. No experience is required.

Fundamentals of Gold Tooling

May 17-21

Instructor: Don Glaister
Course Fee: $800

Perfectly executing gold tooling on the surface of leather bindings has been a goal (often elusive) of bookmakers for centuries. Done successfully, gold tooling is magic. Done unsuccessfully, gold tooling…isn’t.

This five-day class will introduce students to fundamental techniques and practices that will enable them to successfully transform drawn designs on paper to sparkling gold designs on leather. Students will learn to prepare drawings, cut and handle gold leaf, and do blind and gold tooling. While work in class will be on designs with straight lines, the techniques learned will easily be transferred to designs with curved lines and to titling.
No tooling experience is necessary to enroll in this class, though some experience with leather bookbinding is desirable.