overlyenthusiasticfictionreader

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Hero Class Civil Warfare by RogueDruid

BNHA fic about a class exercise that turns into something big.

This is one of my favorite covers to date - the fantastic @nanabbi gave me permission to use their art, which I printed directly on fabric. Unfortunately my printer lost a lot of detail (there are more falling stars in the original and the lighter gray splotch had to do with the filled cloth I was printing on) and only does black so I had to paint the colors myself. I hope I managed to keep the original's drama.

It's constructed as a 3-part bradel case so I could use normal bookcloth (graphite color) for the spine and back. The overall dimensions are 7"h x 4.25"w x 1"thk, a legal quarto.

The spine title is two layers of heat transfer vinyl - I'm getting a bit better about aligning them, at least on 3-part bradel spines.

The interior isn't anything out of the ordinary - like most of my books it's a fairly plain typeset. The endpages are solid blue.

The endbands are sewn with alternating red and white. I'm a little out of practice but they came out all right. My finishing press looks like it's been through the war in this picture, but it does its job.

In process picture - reference vs printed on cloth. I had to extend the black in a couple of directions to give me room to put the title without overlapping the figure and so it wouldn't look weird where it was folded around the edge of the cover board.

Thanks again to the author and the artist! I'm so excited to have this book in my hands. (And for once, one of my best works is actually for my own library!)

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Continuing my bookbinding journey with tiny books! This time with Catching an Edge by @judesstfrancis, a JonMartin hockey AU that I really can't recommend enough.

I redid the edges and the cover of this book several times but I'm really glad I did, because I like this version so much better than the previous ones. Featuring my first chisel trimmed edges, which are still a bit wonky but very satisfying, especially with the speckles. ✨

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

welcome to the thrilling next installment of Nate's Bookbinding Adventures!

I've spent the last few months typesetting and binding A Midsummer Night's Dream as a thank you gift to a mentor of mine before we part ways, and it's been an absolutely awesome project to work on!

This was my first time typesetting a play—which I'll admit was INCREDIBLY time-consuming and challenging because the formatting was so unfamiliar to me, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!!

I spent a ludicrous amount of time making tiny adjustments to formatting, choosing fonts and art and text decorations, making sure all the lines were indented like they should be, and those damned line numbers gave me hell.

Also,,,for some deranged reason the transcript I used referred to Puck as Robin through the entire play, which. I know that's his name but it's stupid and I didn't like it so I changed it. I used the Folger's Library transcript because I could download it easily, but tbh I did edit the formatting and things like Puck's name to match the Cambridge School Shakespeare version, because that's the version I know best and it's my physical copy lol :)

I decided against endbands because the book is just way too thin to make anything that looked nice. It's so thin that all of the bookmark ribbon I own is wider than the book, so I decided—stupidly, foolishly—to braid one with embroidery floss. Friendship bracelet style. Because I'm an idiot. I also chose the most time-consuming pattern I know how to make, which was very stupid.

I think I spent a total of 8–10 hours on that damned thing (14 fucking inches of friendship bracelet) over the course of a few days, but it does look really great and I'm very happy I did. Even though my back really hated me for a few days because of it :')

anywho, this was a brilliant project to work on and I'm SO HAPPY with how it looks (even though the case is a lil bit too tall for the textblock and it looks kinda just slightly not right, but it's fine).

Twas very fun to bind my favorite Shakespeare play into a book, and I'm very happy she picked this one for me to make her :D

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

I'm posting this so much later than I meant to, cause my new addiction to crocheting has stolen all my free time and brain cells, been sitting on this for almost two months 😂

I did my first author copy! Its actually super cool because their work "The Long Hangover" by @coffiocake was actually the first full bind I ever did, so its like I've come full circle!

I've re-read this work at least five times at this point, I love it so much! Thanks @coffiocake for your amazing work, and I hope I did it justice 💕

Since this was my first bind and my most recent bind I thought it would be cool way to showcase how much I have improved since I started bookbinding.

I have definitely gotten better at cover design. I learned how to upload new fonts into Canva for starters, which has made a huge difference. I really think the font makes the cover, and in the new design on the right, the font is literally called "Watchtower" 😆. In the original design, I was mainly just going for general gothic vibes. I still really like the original design, but I think the new one matches the work much better.

Aparently I've gotten worse at ironing on vinyl lol. Still haven't figured out the right temp, pressure, and time for this specific vinyl.

I think the most noticeable improvement has been in my construction of the text block. Since I started, I've picked up a lot of little techniques, to reduce swell, fold the pages evenly, and keep the signatures in line when sewing it together. I have also gotten nicer paper that is slightly thicker, the proper grain, and a softer color, while the first one was on regular printer paper.

My typesetting skills have greatly improved. I had soooooo many mistakes in the original 😂 the headers were on the wrong side of the page and I somehow didn't notice till I was folding the pages, my drop caps look a bit weird, and the chapter headers are too large and far down the page. The biggest thing is that the margins are off, another thing I didn't notice till I was folding. That part was actually an issue with how I was printing, and not with the actual typeset.

Now, I prefer to have my page numbers at the bottom instead of in the top header. I keep the top header centered, and I learned how to remove it on chapter header pages. I'm much better at inserting the drop caps and designing chapter headers. I think he new version looks much cleaner.

Something I only recently started doing, was including a copyright page; I find it adds a lot to how legitimate the book looks. It has all the work information, as well as the classic fanfic unaffiliation statement 😂

Something cool that I saw someone else do recently was include a QR code to the work on this page. I'll have to re-work my template, but I loved that Idea and am going to try and incorporate it on future binds.

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Design inspried by the White Rabbit Candy

It's been on my to-do-list for a very looooong time to make a White Rabbit Candy inspired rebind

It's an HTV wrap cover, and I'm glad most of the measurement turned out correct

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

There we go! First finished cross-stitch in ten million years, give or take! I still have to cut a mat and figure out framing, but this was a delight. I am excited to be free of rectangle hell and picking back up my irregular shapes again, but this really reminded me how much I love this hobby

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Bound: A Soft Place to Fall by @amomorii

This fic completely captured my heart, and when Sam (the author and artist) and I worked on a different project together, I knew I wanted to bind this for him (since I was sending a copy of our other project anyway.) (PS How unfair is it when someone can create gorgeous art AND write beautiful fic? So unfair.)

Sam designed the cover, I can't take credit for it, but it was my first printed canvas cover, which I love. Well, the canvas I used wasn't technically designed for printing on, so I had to put a lot of layers of fixative spray on it, so it came out a little…rough…but I don't think it's too terrible. Looks cool, at least!

And I used glittery black endpapers because they remind me of one of the main characters. Read the fic, you'll see.

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Happy Star Wars Day! I’ve decided to make my Skywalker comic into one easily rebloggable post.

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

If you've seen just about anything I've stitched, you've probably noticed that I love rainbows. The prism that now hangs in my kitchen window has moved with me and been placed somewhere sunny ever since I was a kid, and the rainbows it casts always cheer me up at least a bit.

For this prism and its blackwork refraction, I played with layers a bit. The stem-stitched "white light" is actually behind the half cross stitches of the prism, while the blackwork sits on top of both the prism and its couched outline. Rather than have the rainbow fade out, I'll frame this one so that the blackwork runs right up against the frame, giving the impression that the rainbow continues on out of sight.

(Half) cross stitch and blackwork embroidery on black 14-count Aida cloth.

Pattern here (my site) or here (Etsy)

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

I woke up this morning to the most wonderful birthday gift, a bind of my fic Lateral Thinking from the lovely @badhairred

I can’t put into words how special this is to me 😭😭😭😭

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Fanbinding: The Boy Who Spoke With Ghosts by AvacadoLove

Bind #13

The Boy Who Spoke With Ghosts by AvacadoLove

Date Completed: 02/07/2025

Size: Quarto.  21,794 words, 191 pages.

Copies: 1

4th book of Binderary 2025

Inception is one of the fandoms I was reading in as things started transitioning from LiveJournal to AO3 and this is one of the fics that really stuck in my mind from that time period.  It’s an unexpected crossover with The Sixth Sense, with Arthur as Cole Sear and how freaky the projections would be in the dreams of someone who sees the dead in reality.

I do like the quarto size - it’s a really economical use of paper and great for fics in the 15-30,000 word range.  First time printing on regular 20lb printer paper for bookbinding - it drapes really well at this size and there was less show-through than I was expecting.  Bookman Old Style for the body font for no good reason other than I need to try as many as possible before I can make one my personal default.  The titles are Rage Italics to try to be a bit like the cursive version of the handwriting on the Sixth Sense poster.  The HTV title went on really well, but I made a typo that I’m just going to have to live with. And the black bookcloth shows every single speck of dust and cat hair in a three county radius. Looks pretty snazzy though! 

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.

There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

🍎𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘀—this time with lessons learned! ✂️ The typeset fits exactly one double-sided page, but note to self:

1️⃣ Don’t trim page edges before folding (uneven white space, as seen here).

2️⃣ Always use a sharp knife for clean cuts.

Writer: @lovesbitca8

Art: @nikitajobson

Typeset: @wisewitchbindery

Process video to come! 🎥 And if you haven’t already, join the #ScrappyBabyExchange!

This fic is free to read on AO3.

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

So, i don't have a twitter or insta anymore to post my occasional art things on. I suppose i'll be doing that here again. Anyways

Some friends and i are going to try out the fan made Fallout TTRPG, Fallout: Vaults & Deathclaws. Since i hate reading PDFs to learn shit i, of course, did the only logical option left to me. I bound them in to physical books. You know, as one does

3 Dweller's Guides, one for me and 2 for general table use. And 2 Overseer's Guides, one for me and 1 for our erstwhile DM

First time trying out sewn board binding. Big fan! Don't need to fret about your square looking nice and square if theres no square! Tho, probably not the best option for this (TTRPG books) particular use case lol

Also my first time chancing book cloth (home made, fusible web method) thru the laser printer. Saw it on @three--rings blog, this post. Worked great! Def doing that more often. Next time i'm gonna see if it will work with toner foiling

Links to the free system docs and such below the cut

Dweller's Guide

Overseer's Guide

Bestiary Guide

Item Guide

I was gonna link the subreddit as well but they appear to have privated it in the like single week i've been working on this so 🤷‍♂️

BONUS. IDK if something broke in the upload to Docs or if the folks who made this didn't think about how most printers don't actually print all the way to the edge but somewhere somehow these files got all fucked up from a printing perspective. Also, the page numbers aren't formatted right either. Also also, 9 pt font? For nearly everything?! Do you hate players? Y'all, it's a digital file. Your not saving paper by using tiny font and tiny margins

I spent a million years battling my personal nemesis, tables, to get this into a printable state. I missed a page and didn't notice till i was taking these pics. A whole chunk of this page got cut off in the bleed 😭

If y'all, the creators, by some wild fluke actually manage to see this post. I have some... notes

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

Apothecaria (Solo Potion Making RPG) - Blackwell Games

Bradel binding

(There's been a lot going on with this bind even though it doesn't look like it. Check the WIP posts [1], [2] and [3] for more about that.)

Materials used cover boards - 1mm binder board, cardstock, thick paper covering material - Duo book cloth (brick) and Lokta paper (dark blue, copper) spine stiffener - cardstock

inner book paper - Schleipen Fly 05 (115 gsm) endpapers - Lokta paper (bright blue, dark blue) and Ingres Bütten paper (black) endbands - linnen thread (10/3) and Lokta paper (bright blue, dark blue)

Format: ~ A5 (14,8cm - 21cm)

[overlyenthusiasticfictionreader]

on being raised on fairy tales in which you are the monster // a. m. h.