A woman at the craft fair in Portland asked me to bind her grandmother's recipe cards

She brought over a tin box full of handwritten cards, some stained with what looked like vanilla. She said, 'I just want them to feel like a real book, something solid I can hold.' That stuck with me because it wasn't about a fancy design, it was about giving weight to memories. I ended up using a simple kettle stitch and a cloth cover that felt like an old apron. Has anyone else had a project where the meaning changed how you approached the binding?

3 comments

3 Comments

laura_lee29d ago

Sometimes the meaning gets in the way of just making a good, solid book.

kellyflores1mo ago

Oh wow, that's the whole point, isn't it? It stops being just a craft and becomes a kind of care. I had a similar thing with a friend's old fishing journal, all water warped pages. Using a simple stitch and a tough cover that felt like his old gear was the only thing that made sense. The object tells you how it needs to be treated, if you're listening. That apron cloth cover sounds absolutely perfect for her grandma's memory.

emery87926d ago

Yeah, that listening part is so true. I once had to fix my dad's old road atlas, the one we used on all our family trips. The spine was shot, but the pages were full of his notes about diners and rest stops. Ended up using a really flexible glue and a simple vinyl cover, nothing fancy, because it still needed to feel like something you could toss on the passenger seat.