This is a binding that long-time readers may recognize, since I’ve used it a few times  (starting with Jane’s & Patrick’s wedding guest book). It’s the Woven Chain binding from Keith Smith’s 1- 2- & 3-Section Sewings book, done as a photo album.

I always love the effect of this binding, especially done up with a luxe book cloth (in this case a slubby silk-like book cloth from Asahi) and beautiful Japanese paper.

I always make these photo albums quite large (usually folded down from a full-sized sheet of Rives BFK, so around 11-5/8″ wide by 7-3/4″ high) but I think they would also be lovely in a smaller size to fit 4″ x6″ photos.

A few of the books I made recently have hand-sewn silk endbands, from the book Headbands: How to Work Them by Jane Greenfield and Jenny Hille. They aren’t difficult to do and add a nice finishing touch to books like these two, which have a luxe feel to them. The green chrysanthemums paper has shown up before here, notably in the woven chain guest book I made for my friends Jane and Patrick — she picked the paper and I keep getting more of it. Last time I ordered some in the red, too.

These are a little smaller than the others because I had to trim the sections — the ends of the sheets were damaged in shipping. Finished size is about 6-1/4″ by 9-1/4″; 160 pages Mohawk Superfine Eggshell in Soft White; red mums and green mums Chiyogami papers from The Paper Place.

I made quite a stack of books over Christmas — 35 by the time I was done, some full cloth and some quarter cloth with various cover papers. I was trying to use up all the book cloth and paper that I’ve acquired over time so I can think about what I want to do next. I’ve written before that I’ve thought about giving up binding as a hobby, and then I had a surge in interest, and then it waned again.

I took a class called The Ideal Sketchbook from Michael Burke at the San Francisco Center for the Book a few summers ago, and these are not that book structure (the ideal sketchbook spine is rounded, and the covers attached in a specific way to allow the book to be opened flatter). But the book I made in the class used buckram for the cover, which I’d never used before, and I liked the way it looks and feels — simple and with kind of a waxy, polished finish. The darker gray journals here are covered with buckram, and the lighter one is cotlin, which is a linen-cotton blend without the polished finish. I also made matching endbands, folding the book cloth over linen hemp cord.

These are journals that I would write in, if I wrote that much. I’ve actually set aside one of the charcoal buckram ones for myself, if I ever fill the journal I have in progress.

Finished size about 6-1/2″ wide by 9-3/4″ high; 160 pages in Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Soft White (100 lb), which is my favorite text-weight paper. The board is .098″ Davey board, so these books have heft and are really pleasing to hold, especially the buckram  — if you’re the kind of person who gets enjoyment out of holding a nice, solid book.