duran-binding

[duran-binding]

Latest edge :)

[duran-binding]

parallelogram. / 1861 c.100 s.60 double feature

by deniiqig / qigiined (@deniigi)

Huzzah!!! i am freshly back from the Renegade Retreat and boy am i hyped after a relatively long hiatus from binding. it was amazing to be able to meet internet friends in person, as well as be able to engage with people i've never really talked to but known of from the server. it was a great experience and i was so nervous going in because social anxiety can really do a number on me but it was really hella fun, 10/10, no notes, would 100% recommend to everyone.

i've been so busy since my trip to Japan in may, so i haven't had time to update, but this would be one of the books i made for @celestial-sphere-press.

THIS BIND HAS A STORY because Des has been pspspspsing me into things. we have a book exchange and i have owed her a book for a while. she had said she'd like anything obi-wan focused by deniigiq, BUT. BUT. what she really wanted was the mpreg fic. guys, i usually avoid pregnancy like the plague. it just squicks me out. but Des sold it as the tapeworm pregnancy fic so i said FINE I'LL READ IT.

this is the exact same "But hey, Nic, it's written so well, and this is the context that's very different from the traditional interpretation" that got me into reading ABO, y'all.

Guys, it did not disappoint. I had so much fun that I decided that hey, it's mpreg SO LETS COMMIT TO THE BIT.

Some stats as usual:

55023 words // 228 pages

Body text: EB Garamond

Accents: Voga, Gill Sans MT

I had to remake the textblock once cause i forgot the powder step in painting the edges the first time and the pages stuck together and tore. i guess it ain't too bad cause i decided to do suminagashi edges for the second try. Though there were minor fuck ups, probably because i didn't clamp it enough or i dipped it in for too long- the pages warped but by then i was like jkl;sdkl;sdfkl;'dfskl;sdf ugh it will become a book i don't care. the edges thankfully did turn out very nice with the orange and black.

For the cover, I've been in my cut-out phase for a while and ok i really wanted a fucking foetus on the cover, i just had to. the fic deserved it.

i got some helpful advice from @pleasantboatpress who suggested i layer more boards because i was initially worried about the boards being too thin as the top layer provided barely any support and these 1mm boards tended to warp a lot from the strength of the cloth when glued to it. See the pen marks on the curve above the belly? i read through the fic at least 10 times when i realized it never mentions breastfeeding or tits in it. the boobs on the cutout had to go.

i'd say the biggest pain was covering the baby and the parallelogram in cloth. i think the baby alone took me 5 hours to cover and by the end of it i was like UGH I WILL PROBABLY NEVER MAKE THIS DESIGN AGAIN.

i had initially wanted to do a hinge design on the parallelogram because i had pasted some momi paper underneath it but i found that red cloth covered parallelogram also looked pretty outstanding on its own and since i didn't have any hinges and was on A Deadline, the hinge idea had to go.

endbands were done with japanese 9 silk, my beloved. i don't quite know where my endpapers are from, i found them in my stash and went huh, that'd work. same for the black bookcloth.

all in all, i think it's got a pretty cohesive look and it turned out great! i also had a great time giving it to Des at like a queue in Star Wars Celebrations while some chatty dude behind us was like, "is that a foetus?"

Why yes, yes it is.

[duran-binding]

Fanbinding: BLOODY, SLUTTY, AND PATHETIC

This bind took a hot minute to finish. I made it my goal to complete two copies of BSP during the month of February, for @renegadeguild's 2025 Binderary. One for myself, and one for the author, who gave me permission in late January.

BSP is my first official author copy, gifted to and recently received by WhatMurdah, whom I can't thank enough for both writing this stellar fic and for allowing me to bind them a copy. I read BSP in mid-2024 and have been thinking about it as a bind since.

Lots of firsts with this one. First-ever typeset. Have a long way to go on that front, as it's definitely not my favorite part of binding. I prefer getting into the nitty-gritty of the bind itself instead of staring at a laptop screen for hours and agonizing over fonts and scene break flourishes. I kept it simple and still learned a lot, so that's a win!

I also had the honor of receiving the "Found Typo(s) After Printing" badge.

However, my dedication page to WhatMurdah made the entire typeset worthwhile.

It was also my first time attempting Renaissance chevron endbands (another goal for binderary! aaand there's a reason you don't see them on the bind itself, ha). When those didn't turn out as I'd hoped, it was my first time doing "random chaos" endbands, a la @maleekamolscreates.

Thank you, Maleeka and Marissa, for holding my hands through that one. I like to know what's coming, so letting go of structure to embrace the chaos of go-with-your-gut-feeling-for-your-endband-pattern was...hard.

But gorgeous, no? Can I get a "good girl," Maleeka??

Another first was creating a full-fledged dust jacket that looks like it came from a professional. I owe that to @phoenixortheflame, who sat with me on a Zoom call for 2+ hours and guided me through her artistic process. We worked in tandem in Canva so that I could pepper her with questions like, "You can pull the rulers across the page like that?!" Thank you for showing me how to center align correctly and for gently critiquing my choice of keep-all-fonts-the-same.

The before/after must be shown because honestly, every time I look at it I want to cry happy tears.

And while I know she will say, "But you had the vision, I just gave you some structure!" I'll still heap praise all over her because JUST LOOK AT IT.

Art by the incredible @jjuuppiter, who posted this work well before BSP was published but somehow must have KNOWN it would be written into existence one day. Please go check out their page. I fell in love with their art for "The Politician's Wife" first, and eventually found "Bloody Witch and Her Worshipper."

And finally, details of the bind itself below and behind-the-scenes photos (my favorite to look back on!) below that.

Bind details:

bind style: full cloth bind, rounded and backed, sewn endpapers, ramie bands

endpapers: "french marble strawberry" from Hollanders, chosen in mid-2024 after reading BSP for the first time 

cover material: "love dove" fabric, designed by Kathy Doughty. chosen solely for its bold colors. 

book edge decoration: head & tail edges hand sanded to 1,000 grit, DIY'd maroon acrylic ink to match fabric, applied in layers, then burnished with Renaissance wax & agate stone. maroon acrylic ink applied directly to deckled fore-edge for author copy. we don't talk about the fore-edge for my own copy.

endbands: double faux core, 4mm leather core, Japanese silk thread

typeset: this was my first-ever typeset, which meant I spent hours meticulously ensuring I didn't mess anything up (full disclosure: I did, but those mistakes are all my own)

dust jacket: designed in Canva; title font, Villanelle; author font, ITC Blaze; body & flap fonts, IBM Plex Serif; art by jjuuppiter 

Did you know? To make a deep maroon color, take 1 drop blue, 11 drops red, and 2 drops yellow. Voila! Deep maroon.

Now you know.

These copies were made for personal use only; no profit was made and all associated costs came from my own pocket. Please abide by the code of binding fanfiction, which amounts to: if you want it on your shelf, bind it yourself.

[duran-binding]

Loved watching the start of this in the binderary demo!

Fanbinding: Atlas, by @distractedkat

(pls click photos for better quality)

Between what was and what will be stands James Tiberius Kirk, in all his fractured patchwork glory. Because saving the Federation was only the beginning.

This fic has been on my to-do list for a long time, and serendipitously got pushed up for me to do RIGHT NOW because I needed a fic I could use to demonstrate layering boards for cutouts for a class @pleasantboatpress and I taught for Binderary. @finalfrontierpublishing had a great typeset, so I rushed to get the text ready enough for the class demo that I could start the cover... and then things got out of hand. Whoops.

I started with a basic circle cutout for the globe, which then grew a secondary layer for me to sandwich copper wires into. Atlas got printed onto marbled paper and added in on top. Then I developed a plan to have the moon-earth orbits, etc on the cover...

...and I needed a sun & I had this awesome paper I decided to use for endpapers, so we get a stupid complicated paper inset too...

...and I had been meaning to try out French double core endbands so why not do those in the colors of the earth from space...

Annnnnd then I was going to a box-making class & this is the kind of delicate that kinda needs one. so. here we are!

bonus: that art peep in the background is a super awesome metal print by @natureintheory

bonus bonus: cutting out the sun, and the cardstock layer goes under the bookcloth to create the indents that the pieces of the sun fit into like a puzzle

materials notes: colibri uran bookcloth, extremely delicate handmade Japanese paper for endpapers (did an adapted form of made endpapers) that i think? is from Itoya?, marbled jute paper for Atlas + globe, copper wire, copper acrylic ink for the edge, silver + rose gold foil applied with handheld foil quill pen, japanese hand-sewing silk for endbands.

[duran-binding]

Marbling parties are the best ❤️

California Renegade meet-up

If ever you're given the chance to meet fellow bookbinders in person, do it. Don't hesitate. The experience of sitting amid a group of individuals who are as wholly obsessed about a hobby as you are was, frankly, fucking awesome.

I'm still floating on a happy cloud of endorphins from this weekend's @renegadeguild Cali server meet-up. It was a small melting pot of fandoms and ships, age ranges and skill levels, and an established ethos about sharing knowledge without reserve or judgment. 

Even with the (very) early morning alarm, a long drive, and nerves about meeting everyone for the first time, it was the best experience. I learned how to marble paper and book edges. I tried my hand at paste papers. I held other binders' books (!!!!) and was properly gobsmacked by their skill, listening as they openly shared how they achieved an edge, an endband, a leather cover, a difficult technique. 

At one point, when the day was winding down and just a few of us were left standing inside @duran-binding's kitchen, a passionate discussion ensued about the history and origins of a fandom I'd never heard of. And in that moment, my mind took a snapshot from above: the five of us animatedly discussing fanfiction and how our favorite fandoms could potentially intersect. It left me feeling intensely grateful for being invited into this community of fanfiction binders.

So yeah. 10/10 recommend. 

[duran-binding]

Bookbinding is eighteen hobbies in a trench coat, and this weekend I played with two of those: paste papers and marbling! Thanks to @duran-binding for hosting all of us!

[duran-binding]

Binderary 2025: Week 2

In the Renegade Bindery Discord Server, we are once again running Binderary during the month of February. Attendance is free, and a link to the 18+ Discord Server can be found on our website.

Whether you’re new to the world of bookbinding or an aged veteran, join us for a month of binding fun! This event is all about community & learning, be it trying something new or refining existing skills.

All our workshops are run by members of our fanbinding community, and some of them are even on Tumblr!

Here’s the list of who’s running the week 2 workshops:

All About Bookplates: @silentsunpress Typesetting in LaTeX: @queercus-books VI: Villainous Imposer: @simply-sithel Typesetting in Affinity: @kate2kat Typesetting in One Click: Microsoft Word Macros 101: @owlwinter8 Bookbinding Craft Along 2: Noodle Cutouts and Cover Board Fun: @celestial-sphere-press & @pleasantboatpress Italian Paper Case Bind Pt. 1: Eka InDesign for Beginners: @misanthropiczombie The "Single Section Conservation Binding" as a Beginners First Binding: Experience, Variations and Ideas: minx Decorative Papers: Triple Threat: @starblightbindery, @duran-binding & @mourningmountainsbindery

[duran-binding]

Book Decoration: AKA All The Ways I Don't Use a Cricut

(this post is for people who don't want to buy an expensive cutting tool, or for those that do have an expensive cutting tool that would like to mix things up a little)

1. Print That Shit

If you're already printing your own textblocks, an easy step for titles is to print them. Above is a title printed onto an "obi" of decorative paper. I measured out where I wanted things on the finished book and laid it out in Affinity, then printed it on a full sheet & trimmed it down to wrap around the book. A more simple method is to print & glue on the label into a slight indent in the cover (to protect it). A third option is to do the spine in bookcloth, while you print on paper for the cover and then glue that paper onto the boards (this usually looks even better when it is a three-piece bradel bind).

2. Foil Quill / Heat Pens

The heat pen is one of my go-to tools, but it can be a bit touchy about materials. The most popular version is the We R Memory Keepers' Foil Quill (which is one of the most ergonomic), but other pens exist that can get you to a higher heat temp, finer lines, or more consistent foil. For example, I have a pen created by a local Japanese bookbinding studio that fares way better on leathers than the WRMK quill & with a finer tip, but it's hell to control. Best results in general are on paper or smooth bookcloth (starched linen, arrestox, colibri - even duo will work but its less solid). The fuzzier a bookcloth is, the less your foil quill wants to deal with it. This means the heat n bond method of making bookcloth does not play nice with a heat pen usually, but there are two solutions: 1) use this tutorial on paste + acrylic medium coated bookcloth instead that will get you a perfect surface for the heat pen, or 2) use the pen on paper & then glue onto the cloth. I did a video tutorial for both foil quill use and this type of homemade bookcloth for @renegadeguild Binderary in 2023.

You get the most consistent results by tracing through a printed template that is taped in place, as I do in the video above.

3. Paint That Shit

Acrylic paints will do you fine! The above is free-handed with a circle template, because I wanted that vibe. If you need straight lines that won't seep, lay them down with tape first & then paint over it first with a clear Acrylic medium, then your color. Same goes for stencils. Two more examples of painted bookcloth:

4. IT'S GOT LAYERS

By using layers of thinner boards, you can create interesting depths & contrasts on your cover. You can also make cutouts that peep through to the decorative paper behind. The most important part to this technique is the order in which each edge is wrapped. To get a good wrapped inside edge, you will split the turn in into tabs to get them to conform to a curve. You can also layer multiple colors of bookcloth without multiple layers of board, as seen below left, so long as you mind your cut edges for fraying.

5. Inlaid... anything

Mirrors! Marbled paper! I saw someone do a pretty metal bookmark once! The key is creating a little home for it to live in, which is pretty similar to the above layering method. On one layer you cut the shape, & glue that layer onto the bottom solid board before covering. You can do the top layer as an entire 1 mm board (like I did for the mirrors) or a sheet of cardstock, like I would use for inlaid paper.

6. Decorative Paper

Decorative paper is always helpful & adds to the paper hoard... & its effects can be layers with other techniques, as below. Marbles, chiyogami, momi, or prints & maps of all kinds can be great additions. Some papers may need a protective coating (such as wax or a sealer).

7. Stamps (with optional linocut)

While I've not used many more regular rubber stamps, I do know some who have, successfully! And I've used one once or twice with embossing powder (see photo 3 up, the gold anchor on the little pamphlet bind). What also works is to carve your own linocut or stamp, & then use block printing ink to ink it onto your fabric (as i did above). A bit time intensive, but it was nice how easily reproducible it was, and I liked the effect I got for this particular bind.

These methods are not exhaustive, just ones I've used, and there are of course many others. I haven't gone too into detail on any of these for the sake of length (& post photo limits) but feel free to ask about more specifics. Usually I'm using them in combination with other options.

[duran-binding]

Happy Fanfiction Writer Appreciation Day!!! @renegadepublishing put on their 3rd annual of this event today and I am so excited I got to participate! 🤩

I was originally not sure if I would 😅 I wanted it to be a story that was very special to me and as luck would have it, my author responded ❤️ I've been having an absolute BLAST reading and re-reading Fate Set Right by @mltrefry-ficwriter with @maleeka_mols_creates @jen.anderson.books and @sarahemaginnis on IG the past few months as everyone reads it for the first time ❤️ I think I have read it 5 or 6 times at this point 🤣 I will be still reading this when I am 80 👵

Some details: I wanted the books to flow from light hearted colors to middling colors to dark colors to flow with the story. I tried to also translate this into the endpapers and the endbands :) endbands were gutermann silk due to my color choices was going for an ombre effect across them but that needed work xD it's ok. The top edges are gilt with holographic foil. The endpapers are marbled paper from Sustain & Heal that I picked up at the Printer's fair last year :) the bookcloth was sourced from Kater Craft auctions last year as well. Covers are hand foiled ❤️

[duran-binding]

Hidden Fore-edge Painting tutorial part two

[duran-binding]

I'm uploading a series of tutorials on how to foil/gild your book edges. More soon!

[duran-binding]

Bookbinding in Greece

I just got back from two weeks in Greece, including a week taking a class with the amazing bookbinder Dimitris Koutsipetsidis in Athens. I can't recommend his class enough. I went with three other members of Renegade, and it was probably the best vacation I've ever taken.

We had a day learning how to make our own brass tools, and then followed that up with a six day course working on a single bind. We covered sewing on recessed cords, rounding and backing, endbands, headcaps, paring leather, casing in, paper onlays, and blind and foil tooling--and then finished with a lesson about how to choose leather for future projects. (I ended up buying a lot of leather...)

For my book, I bound The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh medieval legends that I read my very first year of undergrad. Some of the stories are known as the "Four Branches of the Mabinogi" which is what inspired the cover design.

Photos courtesy of @runawaymarbles, one of the other bookbinders on the trip.

[duran-binding]

Toolmaking workshop in Greece with Dimitris Koutsipetsidis

What better than combine vacation and hobby/work one enjoys?

I had the pleasure to attend a toolmaking workshop held by Dimitiris at his bindery in Athens and what a joy. Within 1 day we learned the basics of cutting and shaping brass tools with files and/or power tools (it can be done solely with files, but let's be honest here, power tools make some of the steps waaaaaay easier and faster) as well as preparing the handles and setting the brass securely in the handles.

I did not expect to go home with 5 brass tools to call my very own to be honest. He picked wonderful shapes to start with that will be very versatile to use in different designs. In addition, and after having tried our hands on all the basic shapes (straight lines, convex and concave curves which really make up pretty much every shape), we had the chance to go for a shape of our own choosing.

It was a wonderful experience so many thanks at Dimitris' for putting this workshop together I learned a lot and had a lot of fun.

[duran-binding]

Okay, I love making a nice thick book, but there's something about boxes that is just SO rewarding. Now, who here has heard of a peller pop-up box? I have to add a disclaimer that even of this post, I have made... three whole boxes, ever. But my personal take is that what's the point of diving into a craft if I'm not gunning for a target far above my skill level? The ambition gives me a thrill, I don't have to feel bad if I fail, and if I succeed, the rush is SUBLIME. And now I have a box with a mechanism (a ribbon) that pops the book out of an inner sleeve when I open it. I'm in love.

This was a learning process and a half! The only instructions I can find for this are some handwritten notes from a class in 1990, and the person who posted those notes also posted a number of critiques of the technique as described in the class. Also, the class notes (and addendums) come from an expert perspective, catering to experts. I'm an enthusiastic amateur who's still learning basic competence with leather. I was smart enough not to do a leather slipcase, but overconfident enough to cover my spine and edges in leather, haha. But even though I have a LOT of notes for what to tweak next time, I love it SO MUCH

I arbitrarily decided to work with my millimeter binding of 'and love unbolts the dark' by blackkat for this experiment, because it's small, it's one of my favorites, I had more of the leather I used for its edges, and I thought I had more of the cover fabric and it would be a good match to one of my yellow marbled papers. As you can probably tell from those photos, things didn't quite go that route!

First, I couldn't find the fabric. It might be in here somewhere, but I have FAR too much fabric, lmao. But I did find a lot of this dark green one, in the same line, and with some lovely color overlap, and a nice aesthetic match for the leather. And then I also realized that the marbled paper was a Lot in comparison to the rest of what I was pulling together. So I left it as a liner for the inner slipcase, to tie into the yellows of the original fabric. Then I dug up an embossed teal paper that matched the dominant palette of the new fabric, and went for broke. And I love this so much, truly, it was a headache trying to wrap my head around the instructions and I still have some minor complaints about the process, but I am so, so pleased right now. I would joke about how little time it will be before I do this again, but... I've already started