Coptic binding is well-known among scrapbooking masters. On the one hand, this is the easiest and fastest way to fasten pages into one block, and on the other, its simplicity provides a huge field for imagination in the aesthetic design of scrapbooks, sketchbooks and notebooks of various sizes and shapes.
Despite the fact that scrapbooking is a painstaking job, making a Coptic binding with your own hands will not be difficult even for a beginner.
A little history before starting work
Coptic binding appeared simultaneously with the separation of the Coptic language and literature. The first written monuments in the form of codebooks fastened in this technique date back to the end of the third century. The oldest of them in the form of pages from papyrus sewn with stiff threads or assembled on metal rings, do not yet have decorations.
Later, papyrus began to be superseded by new material - parchment, and the pages began to cover with intricate ornaments and vivid images.
Particular attention was paid to the cover and binding itself, because it was he who was supposed to collect thin pages into a single whole. A wooden or leather-covered cover was intended not only to preserve the book, but also to attract attention, inspire and demonstrate the wealth of the owners. Covers were decorated with paintings, carvings, gilding, and finest inlays. Rare expensive materials such as ivory, mother of pearl, gold plates, and precious stones were often used for their decor.
Coptic tradition today
In fact, all of our modern book culture has its roots in ancient Coptic codes.
Despite the century of information technology and computerization, the craving for rough paper, books in heavy covers, beautiful stationery trivia remains. A notebook with a Coptic binding in its original design will be appropriate on the desk of a business person, complement the interior of an office or living room, serve as an unusual accessory in an elegant handbag.
Tradition and Handmade
How to make Coptic binding at home will help you figure out a step-by-step master class with photos. Most likely, materials for the simplest notepad or sketchbook can be found in every home. It will take a little time, accuracy and imagination. You yourself will not notice how, as a result of simple manipulations with the thread and needle, a real Coptic binding is obtained, the same as in ancient manuscripts.
This MK offers a basic version of a notepad made using the technologies of fastening early Christian codes.
Tools and materials
- A4 sheets of paper .
- Cardboard for cover.
- Yarn "Iris" or any other thick thread.
- Gypsy needle.
- Thin awl or pins.
- Ruler.
- Pencil, stationery paper clips.
Coptic binding: master class
First you need to prepare the paper. Fold the sheets in half and collect three sheets in a notebook, fold them in a pile. The number of such notebooks also depends on the thickness of the notebook.
For coptic binding notebooks must be marked. In the fold of one of them, a ruler and a pencil outline places for five holes at an equal distance from each other. The first and last marks should be located about one centimeter from the edge of the sheet. The holes are pierced through all sheets of the notebook with a thin awl or needle. The first notebook outlines the rest.
The holes on the covers are pierced at a distance of 1-1.5 cm from the edge, their distance between them should correspond to that in the marking of notebooks. To facilitate the work, the sheets can be fastened with paper clips and pin marks immediately with pins across the entire thickness.
Block firmware
Now begins the stage of creating the binding itself. For firmware, you can take any durable thread. The simplest “Iris” yarn is perfect, it is quite durable and easy to work.
At the first stage, the back cover and the first notebook of three sheets are stitched. A needle with a tucked single thread is inserted into the outer hole of the first notebook from the inside. A small tail remains in the fold. The same thread picks up the cover from the outside, and the needle is pulled out between the notebook and cardboard.
The needle is circled around the stitched thread and is again inserted into the first hole of the notebook.
The remaining tail and the working thread are tied into a small bundle and tightened tightly. The needle is inserted into the next hole in the notebook, picks up the cover from the outside. So all five holes are stitched.
The second notebook is stacked on top of the first one and stitched according to the same principle. A needle with a thread is inserted into the outer hole, is removed from the adjacent one. The working thread is circled around the already sewn between the cover and the first notebook and introduced into the same hole. So all five holes go through. When the blocks are stitched along all five holes, the next notebook is laid on top. Thus, the required number of blocks is gradually hemmed and an elegant Coptic binding is formed. A detailed master class for notebooks, notebooks and albums with a combination of this type in all sorts of variations will easily help to make an original gift.
The thickness of such a notebook is limited only by issues of convenience and necessity. A thin notebook of two or three such notebooks and an impressive voluminous diary of 10-15 blocks will look equally beautiful in Coptic binding.
Shutdown
The final stage of the firmware requires special attention. The last notebook, like the first, is filed with the cover, here you need to fully concentrate on work to avoid confusion.
The last notebook and cover are stacked on already stitched sheets. A needle with a thread is inserted into the outermost hole on the cover from the outside and displayed between the cover and the notebook. The thread is circled around the already sewn stitch between the two previous, already hemmed blocks and is inserted into the last hole of the last notebook, stretched inward.
Then, the needle is inserted into the adjacent hole at the fold and pulled out from the outside. The thread is circled around already sewn between the last and penultimate notebooks and inserted into the corresponding hole on the cover from the outside.
The thread is once again circled around the already sewn between the cover and the last notebook and introduced into the same hole in the notebook.
On the spine, a beautiful thin pigtail is obtained that resembles a crocheted chain of air loops.
When the firmware is finished, the thread is fixed in the middle of the fold of the last notebook by the tailor's knot: the needle picks up the thread along the fold, outlines the free thread, the needle is threaded through the loop again. The knot is tightened, and the remaining end of the thread is cut off.
Ideas for inspiration and creativity
Ready simple Coptic binding. MK gives the basics of this oldest technique. In this embodiment, the binding does not require additional fixation, gluing the butt end along the folds and the design of the spine.
Having mastered it in this version, you can further complicate the design, experiment with paper, threads, cover decor. This technique is good in that it practically does not limit imagination in flight, allows you to use different and sometimes very unexpected materials, create notebooks and albums of various forms. You can move away from the usual and already fed up rectangle, maybe someone will like a notebook-heart, someone will be delighted with floral motifs or will be delighted with the intricate geometry.
A great solution for a notepad with Coptic binding is handmade paper, which can also be done independently. Seashells brought in the summer from vacation, dried flowers, beads and sequins will come in handy in the design. For jewelry notepad in vintage style, old jewelry is suitable.
The art of book design was once considered sacred. Today, everyone can come into contact with this ancient skill and try themselves in bookbinding.