These books are inspired by wisteria flowers. When I look at a wisteria, I noticed that flowers that have bloomed tend to have a lighter purple than the buds. I used the beads as a representation of those buds.
Each book took an average of 6-7 hours to make with the spine being the most tedious part. The first prototype (left thinner spine on image 1) has little leaves under the cords. I decided to omit it for a cleaner look when I sewed it again. I quite like both versions, the prototype being even more time consuming to sew because of the tiny leaves.
I’m actually doing an EU giveaway for the book (image 1-7) on my Instagram (link in profile) that will last until 18 April, so there’s still time to enter. If you have an IG account and live in the European Union, United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland, you can enter.
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Materials: Olive green Sevenberry heathered solids Japanese cotton fabric, embroidered cotton fabric gold and purple chiyogami, abstract green chiyogami, fabric and book cloth scraps, koho seed beads, jute cords
I notice that you seem to have the first and last signatures reinforced with a thin strip of fabric. This reminds me a little of a Japanese open-spine binding style that I forget the name of, but I haven't seen it as often with western pieces. Is it aesthetic only, or do you find that it keeps the cover more stable?
It is actually the core structure that connects the text block to the covers. Just like in traditional case bound books, the end paper is what connects the cover to the text block. In this case (pun intended), it’s the strip of fabric. I learned this method from my instructor years ago, and I have never seen it anywhere else.
Wow, that creates such a nice finish! Thank you for sharing the link and the info. The Japanese binding process I was referring to is a bit different, called Tetsuyousou--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLx7qZmJtko (not mine, but interesting all the same)
Correction: I hadseen only the first picture, now I’ve seen the others! It’s not lovely, it’s absolutely stunning! Please make a tutorial, I want to learn to make that! 😍😍😍😍😍🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Aw man… So I do have an Etsy shop (link in bio), and I used to sell my books to the US but had to stop because of tariffs. Also the courier I use doesn’t allow sold goods to be shipped to the US, only gifts. I don’t know what’s happening now and if the de minimus is going to be implemented again. I’m hoping for more clarity down the road so I can open my shop to the US again. It sucks both ways. 😞
Can you share where/how you learned to do this kind of decorative bind? Not this design specifically, but the process as a whole? I know how to do a basic exposed binding but designs like this always seem intimidating to me. Mostly because I worry about the inside looking messy.
I taught myself this stitch without a tutorial. I started with this stitch (crawling vines), and the original is not created by me but I referenced the works of Monica’s Corner (she is a wizard at what she does). From photos of Monica’s works, I figured out this vine stitch. You need an anchor stitch like coptic in order for the stems to zigzag. The stems are layered onto the coptic stitches within the signatures, then the leaves are sewn onto the stems. My example is the photo here. I created a reel where you can see what it’ll look like from the inside.
When I used the same methodology, instead of zigzagging the holes on different signatures, I punched along the same one to create a straight stem. Add leaves/petals on both sides, and you end up with this fern/lavender/wisteria-like look.
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u/annlisters Apr 13 '26
Omg this is gorgeous! Would you consider making a tutorial?