Asian Stab Book Binding

Something I have been meaning to do since Art School is to do a book binding course. I have always been fascinated with the way papers are bound together to become books - and there are many different ways to do so.

I participated in an Asian Stab book binding workshop on the weekend taught by artist Caren Florence. Asian Stab, as the name suggests, is a technique which comes from Asia (notably Japan, China and Korea) and the papers are bound together using a decorative stitched edge.

We learnt a number of different techniques starting with the basic four hole, and then working our way through noble binding (decorative corners), hemp pattern.

left to right: noble, my variation of the hemp stitch, and basic four hole stitch.

And finally tortoiseshell pattern with a hard cover (below) with some soft japanese paper on the inside.

Ive found some tutorials by Rose Newton if you want to give it a try:

Four Hole - the most basic stitch

Noble binding

Hemp leaf

Tortoise Shell