During this one day class you will learn    how to make your own A5 soft leather  long stitch sketchbook, lined with a  beautiful Japanese paper.

 These gorgeous books will be filled with a  heavy weight Fabriano paper and  finished with either a leather tie closure  or a  metal stud.

You will have  the opportunity to design your own stitching patterns to make your book more individual but don't worry there will be examples to help you. The photograph shows a range of beautiful books made in a  class.

There will be a selection of coloured leathers and coloured threads to choose from. 

The paper used for the sections makes these ideal as both sketchbooks or journals and perfect for using if you come to the Sketchbook Diaries Class with Chrissie Nicholls.

Suitable for beginners. Booking through Reef make and Do

The Sewn Boards Binding, brought to prominence by American binder Gary Frost,  is the subject of many conversations and variations and with good reason. As well as being an adaptation of ancient Ethiopian binding techniques it also looks 'bang up-to-date' with its crisp edges and streamlined opening ability. It is a great extension to existing binding skills and is also a very helpful starting point for new binders as it does not require the traditional casing-in process! As with other classes, this workshop is taught so that you can repeat at home.

All equipment and materials required will be provided along with step by step demonstration and practice.

Madingley Hall is a lovely venue with Car Parking

This weekend course will enable you to make a very versatile collection of  books that are designed to show their  decorative stitching as well as being very  functional.

They all lay flat when opened and in use, making them ideal as artist's  books for sketching, painting or  journalling. The collection, all filled with a heavyweight Fabriano paper,  consists of two hardbound Long Stitched bindings, a Crossed Structure binding, made with  either a  leather or a washable paper cover. 

These bindings are all  chosen to  compliment each other and  when  completed they will be housed in a  matching slipcase in order to display their  decorative spines.

This course is suitable for beginners, or if you have already completed the Beginning Bookbinding course  this will enable you to build on your skills, and provide you with a wonderful set of decorative, contemporary books .

All equipment and materials will be provided along with step-by-step demonstration and practice. You will also be provided with most of the the materials to reproduce these books at home.

Madingley Hall is a wonderful venue with car parking and overnight accommodation can be  directly with them.

The historic and beautiful 'coptic' binding is a very popular class.
The binding allows the book to lie perfectly flat and also to open to 180 degrees, making it popular amongst other things as a journal, travel book or artist sketch book. Also, the exposed spine stitching has enormous visual appeal. During the day you will learn how to prepare the pages for binding as well as decide on your own personal decorative style for board covering before getting to grips with the stitching. You will also have creative input on the appearance of the spine itself.
Suitable for beginners. Booking through Cambridge Makers