After my travel journal came undone, I gave synthetic thread a shot

I was all about using cotton thread for sewing signatures because it felt right for handmade books. But when a journal I made for a friend started falling apart after a few months in their bag, I tried nylon thread. The nylon holds knots better and doesn't stretch or break as easily. Now I use it for any book that might get rough handling.

3 comments

3 Comments

garcia.casey1mo ago

Was it hard to switch from natural to synthetic materials though? Like, did it feel wrong moving away from that traditional bookbinding vibe?

ryanf661mo ago

Read about an old bookbinder who called synthetic thread "cheating." He said real books breathe with natural materials. Honestly, if my friend's journal stayed in one piece, I don't care if the thread is cheating. The vibe is a book that holds together, not one that falls apart in a bag to prove a point.

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sageg991mo ago

Does the book still open and close? Then who CARES what it's made of. That old binder sounds like the type to yell at kids for using calculators instead of an abacus. My vibe is a book that survives my backpack, not one that needs a museum case.