Let us now work on preparing and sewing the inner gathering, or signature, of paper.
This part may seem self-evident. The important point to note is that you want to take your paper, starting with small scraps if you are making the 2 by 2 1/2 inch book, and fold several sheets together, at the same time. That is, don't fold each sheet and then nest the sheets--they won't fit together well.
I took five sheets of paper and folded them in half. I used a bone folder to get a nice crisp fold. I then trimmed the head, tail and fore edges of the paper so that I had a straight, clean edge. The final dimensions of my paper, when folded, were approximately 2 inches by 2/14 inches.
If you want your end pages (which are the sheets that will be glued to the inside of the book's cover: look at the red rose book above and you see the plain red paper peeking from the back cover) to be a different color than the rest of the pages, then the colored sheet of paper should be the outermost page that you fold in your gathering. (I chose to use white for the demonstration book in this tutorial). In other words, the end pages will be sewn with the other pages, then glued later.
Take your awl and make three holes along the inner fold of your gathering, through all the sheets of paper. Make one hole in the center, as shown, and then make one near the top and bottom (the head and tail) of the pages. You don't have to measure with a ruler; just make it look even.
Thread an embroidery needle, but do not put a knot at the end of your thread. (You won't need much thread; I have much more than I need in the picture above. Ten inches for a book this size will give you plenty of room to sew.) Begin on the outside of your book, in the middle hole, and pull the needle through to the inside.
Take your needle and sew through the bottom hole from interior to exterior.
Go back through the exterior center hole (the one you began with). Yes, it will seem a bit crowded.
From the inside, sew through the top hole from interior to exterior. You will now have both ends of your thread on the outside of the gathering, ready to tie in a knot. You have sewn in a figure eight pattern.
If you want this book to be an ornament, leave enough thread to tie a loop for hanging.
You can see I tied my thread so that the knot falls in the center of the spine. For an ornament, it is nicer to tie the knot so that it is more toward the top, or head, of the book, so that when it hangs the book is more upright.
Next, it's time to glue your end pages to the interior of the book boards that your prepared in part one of this tutorial. Brush glue on the outermost page of your gathering, as shown in the photo above. Glue within 1/16th of an inch to the spine.
Brush glue on the interior, uncovered side of the book board.
Next, carefully place the glued-up end page on the glued-up book board, then smooth down with the bone folder.
Repeat these steps with the other side: Brush glue on the end page; brush glue on the book cover; carefully place the end page on top of the book cover; smooth with a bone folder and gently straighten if things get crooked.
It is okay if the spine of your gathering (where your sewing shows) extends a bit beyond the book covers.
Cut a few scraps of parchment paper a little bit larger than the dimensions of your book. Place the parchment paper between the end papers that you just glued to boards and the rest of the book. Put your book under weight for a day or two so that it dries without warping.
Here's another example of what the finished book will look like, this time with green hand-marbled cover paper.
Are you still with me after such a long tutorial?
If you have made it to this point, then maybe you will leave a comment--and in return I will choose two people to receive one of these little books as a new year's gift. Think of the tiny resolutions you can write! The giant wish list in tiny pages! The mini magnum opus waiting for your pen! Don't be shy: you have a very good chance of winning this. And with that, I wish you a delightful weekend. I'll close comments on Tuesday, 22 December, at 10pm.
