Coptic Books lay flat and their attractive visible spine stitching invites endless creativity. Coptic binding was employed by early Coptic Christians in Egypt and used from as early as the 2nd century AD to the 11th century. The term is also used to describe modern bindings sewn in the same style. Coptic bindings are characterised by sections of paper sewn through their folds, and attached to each other with chain stitch linkings across the spine.
In this workshop, we’ll gently round and glue the spine and cover our books with a soft suede leather to highlight the raised spine stitching.
You will learn bookbinding techniques and the pattern of Coptic stitching. We will look the importance of paper grain and how to fold, sew, and cover your books to create useful and beautiful books using basic tools. Your day of making includes all materials, including paper, board, various decorative papers, bookcloth, linen thread and adhesive to make your own uniquely designed books. Tools are provided for use on the day.
Covering material papers will vary. The images included here represent the book style only.
