This book has been sewn onto tapes. The larger sections on the top and bottom are the new endpapers. These are made slightly larger than the sections of the book and then trimmed to size later on.

Generally speaking, I try to find the best match I can for the endpapers and this sometimes involves dying the paper. One book I rebound for a friend was handed back with the aroma of fresh coffee still wafting from the pages as cold black coffee had proved to give the nearest colour match. (I'm not sure I'd want to try this method on a valuable book though!)

This particular book has no special value except for the pleasure it gave me when I read it, so I can take more liberties with it. I've printed off some coloured endpapers decorated with sprigs of lavender as the title of the book is "London Lavender" by E. V. Lucas.

After all the sections have been sewn onto the tapes, the first and last sections are tipped onto the sections next to them with paste. This is because they are the most vulnerable to strain when the book is being used, so it adds some extra strength. When the paste has dried, the endpapers are trimmed to the same size as the rest of the book.

The book is now ready to be rounded and jointed. I can't show the rounding process as I don't have any free hands for the camera when I'm doing it, but the aim is to obtain the curve on the spine that you can see in the pictures. I have used backing boards to make the joint. These are precision made beechwood boards which are slightly thicker at the top than the bottom to obtain the maximum grip. The top surface is finished with brass plates which have a small overlap so that they will sit in a laying press. The book is carefully placed between the backing boards so that only a fraction of an inch is left showing above the brass plates. The press is then screwed as tightly as possible so the book cannot slip. (Being slightly built, in my case this involves turning the press on its ends and heaving the handles as hard as I can. Who needs a gym for exercising?!)

Once it is firmly in place, the spine of the book is carefully hammered with a large faced bookbinding hammer to form the joints. These will provide support for the boards.

Normally speaking a book like this would have machine made headbands, but I'd like to co-ordinate the colours with the endpapers and cloth, so these ones are hand sewn. Plus I enjoy doing them!

A layer of scrim (sometimes called mull) is glued onto the spine. This is followed by a layer of kraft paper.

Next step is to make the case. Greyboard is cut to size. The thickness used depends upon the size of the book and also the depth of the joint.

It is important that the grain of the board runs lengthwise down the board and that all the sides are perfectly square. The edges of the boards are sanded to take off the sharpness which would otherwise cut into the bookcloth.

Once the glue has dried, the cloth is trimmed to the correct size. Unlike leather bindings, which are much thicker and need an angled cut, bookcloth only requires a steel ruler and a sharp blade.

Also unlike a leather binding, the book and the case are still two separate items at this stage.

I decorated the spine before the cloth went onto the boards simply because my hot foil printer is too small to be able to do it afterwards!

The rest of the board has now been covered with a contrasting bookcloth. I've used the hot foil printer to print a narrow border down the front and back of the book where the two contrasting cloths meet.

The case is still separate from the book.

It's difficult to capture colours accurately with a digital camera, but the second picture gives an idea of how endpapers, headbands and bookcloth have all been chosen to complement each other and to reflect the title of the book.

The final step is to paste the endpapers onto the case. The book is then put in the nipping press for at least 24 hours, until all the glue is completely dry.

One of the tests of a successful binding is to check that the book opens easily and without straining the endpapers.

Passing the test!		The original.
	Detail of the endpapers. If you look closely, you can just see the tapes and the edge of the scrim beneath the endpaper. These add strength to the joint.   A slip case protects the book. This one replicates the book itself with a black spine and blue sides.

London Lavender by E.V. Lucas, the book shown in all the pictures, was rebound between 2oth & 26th August 2006