To further develop my pop-up sketchbook using cardboard rather than paper, I sought advice from bookbinder Amelie Genestine-Charlton, who is based local to me in Crystal Palace. We discussed my project in general and, while she’d never created a pop-up book, she advised on binding techniques, and the materials and tools required, in particular the importance of grain direction, folding, use of bone folders and stockists of large-scale paper and card (John Purcell, Stockwell; Shepherds, Victoria; London Centre for Book Arts, Hackney Wick).
Two ways to bind a book:
Sewn on the fold to enable the book to lie flat
With a clasp, similar to thesis binding
For a pop-up book, which would contain extra paper/card and materials, I need to consider creating compensation – space – inside the bind, particularly for the bulk of cardboard. Grain direction (the direction of cardboard’s flutes) will help with folding and must run parallel to the spine, and a bone folder (for cardboard, large, plastic rulers perhaps) will aid sharp creasing. A combination of stitching and glue – PVA DEV289 Hewitts – will hold the sections together.
Bone folders - key tools used by bookbinders to make sharp folds in paper. Photo Shirley A