Bookbinding course at London Centre for Book Arts

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do a workshop at London Centre for Book Arts (LCBA) ever since discovering them years ago. It’s a very special space. I’m delighted I got a last minute spot on their Bookbinding: Drum Leaf Binding one-day workshop recently.

A full-on day with Simon Goode, founder, co-director and teacher extraordinaire. I mean, a really full-on day learning to hand-make your own book to take home. A talented bunch of people and a great studio to teach in made for a most inspiring day. Thank you LCBA.

If you haven’t visited before, their shop of books and tools is heavenly and I always want to buy everything when visiting. I’m excited to get some studio passes so I can work on my own projects and do some foil blocking (yum) and letterpress for Mapology Guides.

Here is the book I made on the 1-day bookbinding course. It looks easy, right? But it isn’t, especially the first time you do it.

There is lots of glueing and guillotining involved, a tidy desk helps (note to myself). It was all going smoothly until the very end, when I think I ran out of gas and made a couple of mistakes. The first one, Simon (teacher extraordinaire), bailed me out.

I then got some glue on the cover 😱 shock, horror! At first, I was quite upset, but then Simon said you can always put a sticker on. Oh yes, that was the idea I needed. I much prefer having something on a front cover anyway….

I have lots of sticker books, but opted for a Nathalie Lete one.

Drum Leaf Binding is an elegant, hard-cover book, and an ideal structure for artists and designers. Because it is assembled by adhering to folded sheets of paper, this book can be made directly from prints, drawings, or photographs. The binding opens neatly, lying completely flat when fully open. A binding technique perfectly suited for making at home as it requires limited equipment.

I cannot wait to take more courses.