If you’re interested in making books, then I recently found a great resource you might like, artist Sage Reynolds’ YouTube channel. His videos are thorough and detailed but accessible enough for a beginner. I’ve gathered together my favorite videos – let me know if you like them too!
Creating A Hardcover Book
In this series of videos Sage shows how to create a hardcover or case bound book. His pages are pre-printed but the method is the same if your pages are blank. I admit that there are a lot of videos to watch, but trust me, it’s worth it. If you’re impatient, like me, you can always watch them at x1.5 or x2 time speed.
Sewing Signatures Part 1
Sewing Signatures Part 2
Adding End Papers
Headbands & Rounding The Spine
Line The Spine Part 1
Line The Spine Part 2
Making the Case
Casing In The Book
Hardcover Sewn Photo Album
This set of 3 videos shows you step-by-step how to make and sew a hard cover cloth photo album that he calls Japanese Binding in Boards. In the first video he shows a great way to create an inset on the front cover for a title.
Make The Covers
Cover the Boards
Prepare & Sew The Book
Bindery Tour
This great video gives the viewer a tour of Sage Reynolds’ workspace. It’s so interesting to see all the well loved tools and equipment he uses and it’s amazing how efficiently he uses his relatively small space.
Glue and Roller Basics
You’ll notice in the above videos that Sage uses a glue roller instead of a brush to apply adhesive in his bookbinding projects. I’m sure purists probably hate this idea and swear that a brush is superior, but I’ve tried it and found it helpful in situations where I have a lot of covers to glue. This tutorial is an interesting approach to gluing and includes how to make a large glueing pad and some good cleaning tips.
Make Your Own Book Cloth
Sage uses silk in this tutorial but I’ve seen this method used with other lightweight fabrics too. I haven’t tried this yet, but plan to in the next few weeks. I’ll probably start off with paper and fabric that is smaller than Sage uses just so I can get used to the technique first.
I hope you get as much from these great videos as I did. Let me know in the comments if you try any of Sage’s projects or if you know of any other good bookbinding videos.
Thank you for posting these, they are a fantastic resource and particularly liked the studio tour!
I stumbled across Sage’s videos a couple of months ago and ended up mesmerized for hours watching him work. I’m enjoying your blog, too!
Many years ago, when I was first dabbling in book-making, I decided I needed to make a slip case for my new book. I found Sage’s 4 part series on making a slip case and that has been my Bible and go-to tutorial ever since. I like how he explains why he is doing something so you understand the underlying technique, instead of “just do it this way”. If you vary what you do, you will understand the ramifications.