Amending, finishing pages and construction begins

Hours have been spent reworking, sewing, unpicking, re-sewing, adjusting and finishing the pages of But's story in order to put the book together.

The tennis ball on page 9 bugged me because it looked flat. So I changed it from this

 

to this:

 

 

 I felt happier with it and sewed the edges of the page with cream cotton ready for construction

Buttons got sewn on and amendments added, such as a whole button on the final end page

And completing some pages that needed some attention. This page I started and it shows compared to the others. It has been adapted a few times and if I had time I would do it again, but this is the best I could do at this stage.

And so it continued, sewing in ends, changing things, adding buttons, felting, stitching where necessary until I could take my folded Calico and start constructing. One advance of working with textiles is that I can use pins to get pages in place. So on my knees, armed with my pages and pins I got to work

By pinning it, I could ensure there was enough space when opening the pages. I didn't want the pages to be tight and it was important it opened like a book.

I have decided to sew it by hand as a sewing machine would struggle with the bulk. If I can, I will blanket stitch the pages together so that it has a gold/bronze glint rather like an old Bible with pages dipped in gold paint.

The next big issue ....the cover. I want it to look like an authentic button tin, but also act as a book. So I have been researching button tin lids and looking at the bric-a-brac stalls at Stroud's Friday market, which helped.

Working on pages....

Here are a few images to show the development of pages that have been added to and stitched in the past few days.

Need to do the following to these pages:

• But needs to be changed on page 1 from But to but.
• Add some more British buttons to page 3
• Fold round the edges and sew neatly ready for putting together - to consider: do I sew running stitch in cream or perhaps zigzag? If I go for the latter, do I choose an alternate colour eg pink and purple on corresponding pages to reflect colours scheme of the whole book? Or do I hand stitch with blanket stitch which would be more time-consuming?!

 

 

 

Finalising papes and getting ready for construction

The past few days I have spent hours stitching, sewing ends, hand sewing, designing and thinking through the process of how to put it all together. Pages have been added to with further stitching in gold, silver and other metallic threads which has been tricky. I knew I had to stop last night when I accidentally cut one of the pages and ended up hand sewing another to my jeans!

I am still nervous about putting everything together and can't do this until all the pages are completely finished...so it is important to press on and get the work done. I have made Buts for the pages that haven't yet got one....and realised that the But on the first page has to be redone because it starts with a capital letter. All the other pages the But begins with a lower case.

Taking the research and experiments with the concertina spine, this is the first stage - the preparation stage for putting all the images together.

Showing the folds which will tuck between each page

Sewed the edges of the Calico first to prevent fraying

 



By felting and sewing details on each page enabled me to ensure the colours were consistent throughout. There is still much to do, but I have a clear idea what needs to be done to achieve my goal now.

I now need to research some button tins and see if any lids inspire me for the front cover.

Researching other stitched books by artists

It's quite overwhelming seeing the range of textile books around. There are some very talented craftsmen and women about. This one caught my eye. It is an example of Coptic binding which comprises methods of bookbinding employed by early Christians in Egypt (the Copts). It was used from as early as the 2nd century AD to the 11th century.
These beautiful hand-embroidered and felted books were made by Chad Alice Hagen, a felt maker, resist dyer and book maker. Her felt work can be found in major collections and has appeared on the covers of Surface Design Journal, Fiberarts and Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot magazines. She is the author of three books including The Weekend Crafter: Feltmaking (2002), Fabulous Felt Hats (2005), and The Fabulous Felt Scarf (2007), all published by Lark Books. She has a BA and a MS from the University of Wisconsin and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Chad teaches workshops in the United States and Europe and maintains a fulltime felt and book studio in Asheville, NC. Whilst I won't be able to achieve this in such a short space of time - or perhaps ever - it is good to see what can be done with felt and embroidery - and a lot of patience!

 

This is another book which inspired me. It is the work of Janet Edmonds, who studied stitched textiles at East Berkshire College and gained a BA (Hons) in Art and Design at the University of Hertfordshire. This image comes from her book, Beginner's Guide to Embroidered Boxes, published by Search Press Ltd, Kent in 2002.

  

 These two images were from a textile blog by bead artist Robin Atkins - http://beadlust.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/felting-dying-book-making-fun.html. I am particularly inspired by the finish on this spine...so I might try it out if I get time.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



An alternative mock-up for considering book structure

Having tried the concertina method, I decided to try out a method similar to the one I used when making a paper one, folding the pages and placing them next to each other, rather than as individual sheets and binding them with glue of Japanese stitch.

My intention then was to sew the Calico pages on the felt substrate, but seeing it in reality, I think this method made the book rather awkward and clumsy looking, so at the moment I prefer the Calico version.

This is how the stitching looked on the spine before being covered

Researching and experimenting with book construction

Although I have yet to complete all the pages - 16 with text, two title and end pages and two end papers, plus front and back cover (that's 22 in all) - I wanted to know in my mind how they would all fit together. So after researching on the internet, I watched the following You Tube clip to learn from the demonstration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McG7HK1XF1Y

It was a little long-winded, but I got the idea. From this I made a mini Calico book, using a concertina format, which would then be wedged between two pages.

Using Royal colours to reflect But's ending...and even a Royal button

Taking BUT into school

I am currently working on 12 pages and spent most of the day stitching, adding colour, stitching some more. I had a chat to the headteacher, Debbie Sleep, at my children's school and she asked how the course was going. I admitted I was struggling with the ending of my broken button story, so she invited me in this afternoon to talk to two classes - Year 3/4 (8 and 9 years) and Year 5/6 (10 and 11 years) - to get their thoughts. Children are refreshingly honest and they were gave me some very encouraging feedback about the images I had created to date.

I posed the question: to what was But's other half attached to? These are some of their thoughts that came out in the lesson:

• the eye of a toy
• something to do with a wedding dress
• a girlfriend button and a romantic ending

Their teachers used But as a tool to challenge their storytelling skills and they spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about where But started out and where he ended up. I was impressed with their creativity.

Here are some of their stories:

1.  A bee stings But, but the sting goes through the button hole. The bee hovers around the house holding But. He drops him over the bed onto the teddy that belongs to Prince George. The maid finds him and sews him back on with the other half.

2. But is flying through the air. Ton is flying through the aid. A kitten was playing with it. They join.

3. Soldier's uniform. The maid cleared up and found the button.

4. But/Ton holds the theatre curtains together. Someone opened the curtains quickly but/ton snapped. Ton is hanging from a curtain thread. But falls into the orchestra pit into a trombone and as it is played, But is blown through the air. He is put into a button box.

5. A boy was playing with But. He made a catapult and fired him through the air. He landed in Santa's chimney. Santa noticed him and magically knew where the other half was. he sewed them back together and put them on his jumper ready for Christmas.

6. But lands on the Queen's bed. The Queen comes in and says "But where have you been? Ton has been looking for you all over the palace." She picks Ton up and puts him next to But. The maid sews them back together onto the Royal cloak.

Taking on board their ideas, it helped me shape the ending. My original idea was this:

And now I have decided that But will end up as the nose of a teddy. But not just any teddy - it is the Royal teddy and has been handed to Prince George by his great grandmother, the Queen.

So this is page 15 and 16 in planning stage.

The wording for my ending was this:

Page 13-14 : One day he was rudely lifted from his bed and attacked by a sharp spear. Was this the end?

Page 15-16: Far from it. There was his other half. But was whole again.

I decided to swap the proposed images over. So that the page 16 sees a close up of the button as a complete thing - the but and ton joining with the thread the reader has come to know as But's arms and legs. I hand felted the teddy and it does have a fur like quality - which is gently to touch as a bear would be.

My final image - one of the end papers will have a simple image of a tag which reads:
Dearest George. I hope you enjoy our family teddy. Much love from great grandma. ER xx

Page 15 in progress

Page 16 in progress.



It is thanks to my visit to Stroud Valley School that I came up with the ending. Some of the stories are wonderful - particularly the one when But ends up being blown from a trumpet!