Category Archives: workshops

Drum Leaf Binding, 12 July 2025 – Fully booked

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild Posted on by

Transit (Orange) by Avril Makula

Drum Leaf Binding – suitable for all levels

Drum leaf binding is an adhesive book structure made up of single folded folios.

Pages are ‘drummed’ at the spine and foredge, then the spine and cover are attached. Only one side of each folio is visible when the book is bound, making it a great structure for binding prints, drawings and the like, when only one side of the paper has been used. This is a book with no stitching, allowing full page spreads uninterrupted by rows of thread in the centre folds. It can be made from a wide range of paper types. This binding style lies quite flat and is fairly easy to construct.

This book structure is great for binding existing artwork, or you can also use blank pages readying it for making your mark.

Tutor: Avril Makula – A book artist, book designer, bookbinder and owner of Alphabet City Press. In her current practice, she prints and binds books using both new and old technologies, takes discarded books and restructures them into new forms, and makes prints using letter shapes. While much of her work explores the book as art using typography, geometry and colour as content, she finds herself increasingly influenced by the natural

To book a place, please register at canberrabookbinders@gmail.com

A list of what to bring in your kit will be provided following registration.

Date:     Saturday 12 July 2025

Time:    9.30am – 4.30pm

Venue: Room 3, Hughes Community Centre, Wisdom St, Hughes, ACT

Fee: $120 for Canberra Craft Bookbinders Guild members ($160 for non-members).

Cancellation policy

Refunds are given on any cancellations up to 12 hours before the course and for substantial grounds on the day of the course.

Bind a Leather Journal with Joy Tonkin – 12th August

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild Posted on by
Bind a custom leather journal, ‘Tegumentum’, 15th century style with master bookbinder Joy Tonkin.
The workshop is being held at the Sutton Village Gallery, Saturday 12th August, 1 -4pm.
Workshop participants will be making a traditional 15th century limp leather journal.
For more info and to book a place …

Origata Binding Workshop with Glenn Malkin – 10 July

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild Posted on by

The Queensland Guild have an amazing range of courses adjacent to the Bind 23 conference in Brisbane which are once in a lifetime opportunities to learn from Masters!

We don’t get many opportunities here in Australia to learn from these international teachers so don’t miss this one-day course on the 10th July with Glenn Malkin from the UK teaching us the Origata Binding in Brisbane. This is a great course for beginners, artists and also those with bookbinding experience.

This is a relatively new book structure devised by Julie Auzillon in Paris, France.
It is ideal as a conservation binding as the book block itself can be removed easily without damage given there needs be very little glue used.

This structure also lends itself to a wide number of variations in terms of design elements and materials used and can be used for single section books or thicker multi-section books.

Register now at  Workshops – Bind23 Queensland Bookbinders’ Guild (qbg.org.au)

Taking a book apart – 10 Sept

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild Posted on by

At our next meeting with Chris we will be taking the binding of a book (s) apart which is called ‘Pulling’.

When: Saturday  10 Sept 2022, 9.30am – 12.30pm

Where: Room 3, (COTA) Hughes Community Centre, Hughes, ACT.

 

 

 

 

 

Pulling books – taking the binding apart

One source of books to bind is old books pulled apart.

The best books to start with are ones that are section-sewn and hollow back case bound (you can see the ends of the sections and can see light down between the spine covering and the bookblock when you open the book out).

Also good are paperback books that are section-sewn with a glued paper spine (such as pre-1960s Penguins), ideally where the glue is starting to crack apart. Some section-sewn paperbacks have old cracking glue and can be gently scraped clean; more recent books are hot glued on the spine, but most of these are single sheet. Removing the hot glue is possible but not as easy as older glues, and single sheets are rarely as good to bind as sections.

Book sources:  bookshelves; little street libraries; Lifeline and other book fairs; second hand bookshops.

What to bring:

  • A book or two or three to pull apart in preparation for binding
  • Your bookbinding kit
  • Bone folder
  • Retractable sharp knife with snap off blades
  • Boot knife or kitchen bread and butter knife with straight edge to be used for scraping
  • Cutting mat
  • Fine pencil and notebook
  • Camera/phone to take images

 

During the morning we will explore:

  • Extracting the book from its case by cutting or detaching the tapes or cords from the cover
  • Scraping off the spine linings either dry or dampened
  • Cutting threads
  • Gently pulling apart sections that are tipped together
  • Endpapers

 

Look forward to seeing you all there with your books!

Make a Pricking Cradle – Sat 13 March

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild Posted on by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When: Saturday 13 March 2021, 9.30am – 12.30pm

Where: Room 3 Hughes Community Centre, Hughes, ACT

Vicki will demonstrate how to make a pricking cradle so you too can bind in the bush.

A pricking cradle enables you to make perfectly position holes through the spine folds of sections in preparation for sewing. It is simple to make. It packs flat for easy storage and you can take it anywhere.

Materials (pre-cut) will be provided for people to construct a cradle during the morning.

What to bring

  • Cutting mat
  • Craft knife
  • Bone folder
  • Metal ruler
  • PVA Glue
  • Glue Brush and/or sponge roller
  • Pencil
  • Dividers if you have them

 

See you all at our first drop-in for 2021.

Hot Foiling – Sat 14 November

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild

Hot Foiling

When:  Sat 14 November 2020 (rescheduled from 8 May 2020), 9.30am – 12.30pm,

Where:  Room 3 Hughes Community Centre, Hughes, ACT

Add decoration to your work using finishing tools to blind emboss or add a touch of colour to your design with coloured foil.

Sally will demonstrate hot foiling and blind embossing.

  • hand finishing tools (decorative and type) along with a range of coloured foils for people to use,
  • type that can be set into a type holder and
  • cloth and leather off cuts for people to use.

 

Come along, say hello and try your hand at hot foiling.

 

Sketch book, no stitching

Canberra Craft Bookbinders' Guild

Saturday 14 March 2020

9.30am – 12.30pm, Room 3 Hughes Community Centre, Hughes, ACT

Teresa and Wendy will demonstrate how to make this sketch book.

It is a robust A5 hardcover book made with very little equipment. It opens out flat, pages can be removed and replaced. No sewing and very little adhesive. It has been tested by young children, artists, and others over the past few months and seems to stand up well.

Materials will be provided so all of us can make this book after the demonstration to take home.

What to bring

  • Cutting mat
  • Craft knife
  • Bone folder
  • Metal ruler
  • Glue stick
  • Pencil

See you all at our first drop-in for 2020.

$5 each to go to room hire.