little-cat-press

[little-cat-press]

new sketchbook, for sketching in

quarter-letter sized, with the pages untrimmed. Didn't think it would fit in my pockets but turns out it depends on which pants I'm wearing

I think this is my first time doing a cover half cloth and half paper. really like how it turned out

[little-cat-press]

I am contemplating maybe taking some bookbinding commissions after all. Probably going to still stay away from binding fanfiction, especially fanfiction written by someone who isn't the commissioner, but I could bind journals (both blank and styled—for example dot journal or a planner or tracker), public domain books, and original works written by the commissioner.

Keeping in mind that they would be more expensive than commercially produced books, but also better made,

If you wanted multiple copies of your book, I could give you a bulk deal, since I'd only need to do the typesetting once.

[little-cat-press]

I just found the funniest font ever

Like. What is this. Why is this. Who is the target audience of this?

[little-cat-press]

Restoration Of An Old Book

[little-cat-press]

reblogging to my bookbinding blog even though this post has nothing to do with bookbinding because the art is so nice and soft and I want to put it on a book cover despite not having a specific fic to bind and put inside that book

maybe I need to commission you for cover art sometime

i LOVE your artstyle so freaking much oh my god it's so cool

could you do a little analogical?

if not, do one of your favorite ships! :]

just a chill casual convo on the stairs dont look at virgils eyeshadow there are zero underlying emotions present….. (and thank you!!!)

[little-cat-press]

I say this and then I make considerable progress on four books that have just been sitting on my desk for months

two are now fully done, and the other two are nearly so. pics later.

the needle on my hyperfixation compass has swung from Making Books to Making Video Games

I'll be back later but for now other projects are calling...

[little-cat-press]

the needle on my hyperfixation compass has swung from Making Books to Making Video Games

I'll be back later but for now other projects are calling...

[little-cat-press]

it really is a gorgeous little book, and I love the netting. It ties in especially well with the fact that much of the story revolves around merman Virgil being tangled in a fishing net!

I'll add some typeset pictures in a bit

This is the first of two books I bound for @renegadeguild's Tiny Books Bang.

The story is (don't) take this the wrong way by @delimeful and was typeset by @little-cat-press for the Tiny Books Bang. It's a mermaid AU of Sanders Sides (Web Series), which I had never actually heard of before. But when I saw that it was a merperson AU, this idea popped into my head and I knew I had to try it, especially after I read the story and really enjoyed it.

The inspiration is medieval girdle books, which are books whose covering material (typically leather) extended past the book to a knot that was both used as a handle when reading the book and could be tucked into the girdle when the book was not in use, thus the name.

Where my book is much smaller (it's a sextodecimo, about 2.25" by 2.75") it isn't designed to tuck into a belt/girdle, but rather is attached to a bracelet and dangles from the wrist when not in use.

When I think of mermaids, some things that come to mind are fish, treasure, and tridents, and I wanted to incorporate all three in the design. The book is covered in blue bookcloth, and then covered again in crocheted netting that was meant to bring to mind fishnets. I crocheted the netting from cotton-poly sewing thread doubled up. I incorporated a trident into the filet crochet, which is repeated on both the front and back covers. I blocked it on a piece of blotting...board? paper? It's soft and thick and meant to absorb moisture and came with my book press that started life as a flower press.

I then sewed the netting to the bookcloth covering the boards with teeny tiny stitches. It probably took twice as long to crochet the netting as it did to the rest of the binding combined, but I really like how it turned out.

The bracelet I picked to attach the netting to is gold-colored to invoke the idea of sunken treasure. Rather than attaching the netting from one end to the other, I folded both ends to the middle and attached it like that so when you have the book open it lays more nicely.

The design of the endpapers looks like looped thread, and also reminds me of netting. I secured the bookmark to the bottom of the text block and let it hang from the top, which works better when the book is hanging from the wrist and doesn't get caught in the netting. I also sewed a little starfish charm to the end of the bookmark.

Technical details:

Sewn-on endpapers

Rounded but not backed

No headbands (I think I intended to, but forgot and then decided it didn't matter enough to try to pull the cover back off)

Things I liked about this bind:

I really like the girdle-book-on-a-bracelet design, it came out almost exactly how I had envisioned it.

Things I'd like to change/improve for next time:

I wasn't 100% pleased with how trimming went on these. It wasn't terrible, but I probably need to come up with a different solution than just a utility knife and a straight edge.

Crocheting the netting really did take so long. I'm not even done with the netting that's going on my copy yet, which is why all the pics are from the typesetter's copy. Probably would not want to do netting for anything larger than this one was.

Overall feels: Loved it! I enjoyed the story, the design came out pretty much exactly how I envisioned it, overall I'm well pleased.

[little-cat-press]

you know, it is delightful to see this post again now that I've gotten into bookbinding

I recognize the bone folder this time, lol

Have you ever wondered where books come from?

Well then, let me show you, because that’s what I do for a living.

Right now, it’s this time of the year, and the little ones have just freshly hatched:

You’ll notice they’re still blind and naked when they hatch. So I make them little coats to keep them warm during their first winter:

See how they happily line up to put them on:

See? Better. Now they’re ready to go and explore the world.

And if they make it through the winter and we take good care of them, they will grow up to be strong and wise like their older fellows:

So, in case you were ever wondering, now you know.

[little-cat-press]

:3

hello yes I also got into bookbinding to have my favorite fics on my bookshelf

I'd like to note that binding fanfiction is not illegal. Selling bound fic, especially w/o author consent, yeah, that's making a profit from someone else's work. But not binding a copy for yourself or your friends.

What people think why i became a bookbinder: Oh she wants to explore her artistic horizon with those pretty leather bound books of hers. She even gives them out as gifts to her friends. It most likely helps her with anxiety or maybe she just wanted a more special costume made notebook.

Why I actually became a bookbinder: I just illegally downloaded and printed out several of my favourite fanfics and books and started binding them into books cuz I love reading them but looking at screens for too long gives me headaches.

[little-cat-press]

day 1534

[little-cat-press]

50 posts!

lol, I don't post so much on this blog, do I?

[little-cat-press]

Trying To Communicate by @copperbadge for @saltyteethbooks for the @renegadepublishing mini book bang!

@saltyteethbooks did the typeset, and I bound it, and sent it over to them.

I'm supposed to make myself a copy too, but stuff happened and I wasn't able to bookbind for like half a month, after procrastinating the first half of the month, and I finished this copy on the last day before we were supposed to get them in the mail.

So.

I'll make my copy later.

It was fun making a sextodecimal book! It's a cute little size, and I'll probably make some more after this. This one might be a little bit of an odd size, because it's typeset for A4 paper, but I shrank it a little to print on Letter instead, and then the printer shrank it a little more because it likes to add margins.

So it's got A proportions, but is a little bit smaller.

The title is done with a new gold paint I got recently! Nice and shiny, and I only had to use one coat plus a few small touchups in spots.

[little-cat-press]

:D

Trying To Communicate by @copperbadge for @saltyteethbooks for the @renegadepublishing mini book bang!

@saltyteethbooks did the typeset, and I bound it, and sent it over to them.

I'm supposed to make myself a copy too, but stuff happened and I wasn't able to bookbind for like half a month, after procrastinating the first half of the month, and I finished this copy on the last day before we were supposed to get them in the mail.

So.

I'll make my copy later.

It was fun making a sextodecimal book! It's a cute little size, and I'll probably make some more after this. This one might be a little bit of an odd size, because it's typeset for A4 paper, but I shrank it a little to print on Letter instead, and then the printer shrank it a little more because it likes to add margins.

So it's got A proportions, but is a little bit smaller.

The title is done with a new gold paint I got recently! Nice and shiny, and I only had to use one coat plus a few small touchups in spots.

[little-cat-press]

Hello, you have found my bookbinding blog!

and you may be wondering, what is this? So I have prepared a list of questions and answers that I think people may be wondering

Q: what's bookbinding?

A: bookbinding is the process of making a book! Starting with a piece of text, typesetting it, printing, folding the signatures, sewing them, gluing, trimming, and casing it in.

Q: do you sell your books?

A: Nope! Most of what I bind is fanfiction, and it would be ethically and legally complicated to find a way that it was OK to sell a fanfic binding, so I'm not gonna bother touching that. These books are either for me, or gifts. I strongly believe in the gift economy of fandom.

(the morals and legals around selling blank journals or public domain stuff is much simpler, but I'm not very interested in doing that either. Maybe if it was a cool and fun project)

Q: Who do you gift books to?

A: Close friends and family, primarily. I also often like to offer a book to the author, though whether or not they accept has been a tossup.

I also have participated in a few gift exchanges in the Renegade Bindery group.

Q: I'm an author you've approached. What would this offer entail?

A: Hi! I love your writing! I will need an adress to send the finished book to, and then I will mail it, and then you will have a book!

Q: how long do you take to send author copies?

A: It varies greatly. I've been trying something new lately called "asking the author if they want one AFTER I've finished the typeset, instead of when I put the book on the to-bind sometime eventually list", because then all that's left is to print and physically assemble the book, and thus the author is not additionally waiting the time until I start on that particular project.

But also I make books slowly, frequently with long pauses between the various stages, so again, it varies.

Q: why do you bookbind?

A: Several reasons. It started with the desire to have the Trust series (@alittleblogoftrust) on my bookshelf. (and thus starting the longest author's wait so far, as it was the first offer made and not yet fulfilled... Those books are going to be thick, and somehow that means they are an intimidating project and I have not made much progress on them) And then I discovered that the process of bookbinding is simply very fun! I like making books!

And there are so so many excellent stories that I can put on my bookshelf and read in book form.

Q: I'm interested in bookbinding. Where can I start? You mentioned a renegade group?

A: Renegade (@renegadeguild) is an excellent bookbinding collective. We have a big discord group full of folks interested in the art of bookbinding, and if you have any questions, someone there almost certainly has an answer.

For other resources, I really like DAS Bookbinding on youtube. He explains things in a calm, soothing manner, while demonstrating. He doesn't get into typesetting much, mostly focusing on physical construction.

He has a Getting Started playlist, though I think I actually started with his Case Bound Book playlist.

Q: You tag thoroughly and systematically. What's the system?

A: it's all listed out on this post

Q: I have more questions

A: Okay! You can put them in my askbox if you like

[little-cat-press]

Lol, fair, it is indeed Smol

Empty Graves by @unpretty and Empty Spaces (waves and particles) by kathkin

I participated in @renegadepublishing’s tiny book bang last year, and as participant I got access to all the typesets from the event. I saved the ones I thought I’d want to do, and yesterday I looked through that folder, spotted two fics with the word ‘empty’ in the title and thought “oh neat, i know and like these fics, and I can make matching-but-not-same binds for them”. I was delighted to re-discover that they were typeset by the same person, @little-cat-press, so I went ahead with the matchy idea.

Empty Graves is a Superman fic from the POV of Martha Kent, and just so happens to be one of my faves in unpretty’s sprawling series. I chose the marbled cover paper because it evokes stars and galaxies and space for me. The fic is very contained, localised - the Kent farm - but high stakes; Martha will protect her son from the universe if she has to (and she does), because her family is her universe. I liked the idea of wrapping this small-but-big fic in something that resembles the vastness of space. The spine is green to match the hints of green colour on the otherwise dark marble.

Empty Spaces is a Back to the Future fic from Doc Brown’s POV, and featuring transmasc Marty McFly. The Back to the Future movies are foundational to me, and this fic is simply wonderful, highlighting the unique friendship between Marty and Doc. For this I knew I wanted something that evokes time travel, and wound up with this section of a larger marbled pattern that resembles the sci-fi woosh of time (and space) travel. This spine is blue to match the hint of blue visible alongside the green.

Both marbled papers are from Jemma Lewis Marbling & Design. The insides are printed on 90gsm Munken Pure Smooth Cream. These are self-ended, so no endpapers. The bookcloth is sourced from Ratchford but I don’t know which brand it is.

These are A8 sized (printed on A4) - I believe the typesets are intended for letter sized paper, but as I’m not in the US A-series it is. This prints fine on A4. The margins to the sides are slightly wider than originally intended, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue here.

[little-cat-press]

They look absolutely fabulous! Good job.

It was designed for letter, yeah, and also to be printed a size smaller... they were intended for 32-mo, or L9 as I've been calling them (roughly the same size as A9, just with half-letter proportions rather than A series)

The margins were probably also affected by the fact I made them larger to accommodate trimming xD

but honestly, wide margins on a small book absolutely don't hurt. You get extra space to touch while turning the page!

... this reminds me, I meant to make some posts about the books I received in the mini book bang, and forgot to do so. I should do that...

Empty Graves by @unpretty and Empty Spaces (waves and particles) by kathkin

I participated in @renegadepublishing’s tiny book bang last year, and as participant I got access to all the typesets from the event. I saved the ones I thought I’d want to do, and yesterday I looked through that folder, spotted two fics with the word ‘empty’ in the title and thought “oh neat, i know and like these fics, and I can make matching-but-not-same binds for them”. I was delighted to re-discover that they were typeset by the same person, @little-cat-press, so I went ahead with the matchy idea.

Empty Graves is a Superman fic from the POV of Martha Kent, and just so happens to be one of my faves in unpretty’s sprawling series. I chose the marbled cover paper because it evokes stars and galaxies and space for me. The fic is very contained, localised - the Kent farm - but high stakes; Martha will protect her son from the universe if she has to (and she does), because her family is her universe. I liked the idea of wrapping this small-but-big fic in something that resembles the vastness of space. The spine is green to match the hints of green colour on the otherwise dark marble.

Empty Spaces is a Back to the Future fic from Doc Brown’s POV, and featuring transmasc Marty McFly. The Back to the Future movies are foundational to me, and this fic is simply wonderful, highlighting the unique friendship between Marty and Doc. For this I knew I wanted something that evokes time travel, and wound up with this section of a larger marbled pattern that resembles the sci-fi woosh of time (and space) travel. This spine is blue to match the hint of blue visible alongside the green.

Both marbled papers are from Jemma Lewis Marbling & Design. The insides are printed on 90gsm Munken Pure Smooth Cream. These are self-ended, so no endpapers. The bookcloth is sourced from Ratchford but I don’t know which brand it is.

These are A8 sized (printed on A4) - I believe the typesets are intended for letter sized paper, but as I’m not in the US A-series it is. This prints fine on A4. The margins to the sides are slightly wider than originally intended, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue here.