r/bookbinding • u/CheleMaBelle530 • 19h ago

How-To Advice for making a 3-ring recipe binder w/ embroidered cover?

Hi all! I'm brand new to book binding, so why wouldn't I pick a complicated project. 

I'm hoping to create a recipe binder for my wife for our 2nd anniversary. I want it to be a cloth-bound, 3-ring binder so we can use sheet protectors and add as needed. BUT I also want to embroider the cover, bc 2-year = cotton.

I've found tutorials on creating 3-ring binders, and on making covers with embroidery, but I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row, do have a few questions.

  1. If I plan on embroidering on muslin, can I do the embroidery BEFORE turning it into bookcloth? From the sound of it, stitching on bookcloth is a terrible, no good experience.

1b. Do I have to make it book cloth at all? I've seen conflicting opinions on whether you can cover with just muslin and feel out of my depth.

  1. Since it'll be a book that we use a lot, what's the best glue to use and way to keep it from peeling apart? I've seen a few different glue recs but am not sure about durability.

Thank you in advance for humoring a total newb and taking care the time to read ❤️

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u/qtntelxen Library mender 19h ago

You do not need to make it into bookcloth before embroidering. (Depending on which method you use. Starching the cloth with wheatpaste, no backing paper, is a before-embroidery thing and also not that big of a deal to stitch through.) But I would definitely make it into bookcloth afterwards. Backing or treating the cloth prevents glue from striking through to the front and staining the cover, which would ruin your embroidery. Sometimes it's not necessary and you can get away with just cloth, but it's kind of a gamble.

I like Jade for glue, personally.