GIRDLE BOOK & COLETTE FU

At the April NORBAG workshop we made Girdle books (not really related to the kind of girdles that are worn as foundation garments 😉). The design for our books came from structures used during the middle ages that hung down from a person's belt. In this day and age, this type of book would work great as a nature journal where one could have their hands free, but the book would be very accessible. Lara Cox was our instructor and she did a great job leading us through this project. Now that we know the basics of how this structure works, it will be very interesting to see if our members come up with some other interpretations of the design. Thank you Lara for introducing us to this historical structure. Below are a couple of examples of books made during the workshop.

Sherrill Story

Sherrill's husband demonstrated
 how to wear her book.

Bonnie Julien

Inside cover of Bonnie's book.

Colette Fu

In November 2023 the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) welcomed artist Colette Fu for a month-long residency. Fu's work is a melding of her photography and pop-up engineering. Featured below are some of the books that were exhibited in the Sherry Grover gallery.

The legend is that Butterfly Mother gave birth
to 12 eggs, the origin of all living things.

Miao Fishing Contest

GIRDLE BOOK

Our April workshop will be a follow-up to the March French Link stitch workshop taught by Lara Cox. For those of us who attended, we ended up with a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" text block sewn with the French Link stitch. Now we're ready to turn that into a Girdle Book. Lara describes Girdle Books as "small portable books worn by medieval European monks, clergymen and aristocratic nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume. They consisted of a book whose leather binding continued loose below the cover of the book in a long, tapered tail. The tail ended in a large knot which could be tucked into one's girdle or belt. The knot was usually strips of leather woven together for durability. The book hung upside down and backwards so that when swung upwards it was ready for reading. The books were most often religious in nature: a cleric's daily Office, or for lay persons (especially women), a Book of Hours."

Tools Needed:

• Pencil, Ruler, Bone folder, Scissors
• PVA Glue (or favorite paste) and brush for gluing.
• Scrap paper for use in gluing. Old magazines work great.
• Sewing needle and thread for finishing off the belt knot at the top of your fabric binding.

Please Prepare Ahead of Class:

• Book Block: The book block you made in the March workshop or one of the same size: 5 1/2" tall x 4 1/4" wide x 5/8" thick.
• Decorative End Papers: 2 pieces that measure 5 1/2" tall x 8 1/2" wide. These will be the End Papers at the front and back of your book. Mi Teintes or a similar weight of paper will work.
• Bottom Paper/Fabric: This piece finishes the bottom of your book where the cover fabric extends. It can be a piece of your cover fabric or a color that matches your cover. (This piece needs to be 9" wide x 1 1/2" tall.)
• Book Boards: 2 pieces precut book board measuring 5 3/4" tall x 4 5/8" wide for front and back covers. AND 1 piece of book board for the spine measuring 5 3/4" tall x 1/2" wide. **Note: Cereal boxes and such while not as heavy duty as book board are usable in place of book board for many bindings.
• Cording and/or Ribbons for the closure and knot: 3 to 4 feet.
• Pre-cut Cover Fabric: 24" tall x 10 1/2" wide. Suggested fabrics: Mid-weight wovens: cotton, linen or silk. Fake leather such as ultra suede or real leather as long as it's soft enough to fold easily. NO stretchy or sheer fabrics.
• Cover Decoration: If you wish to pre-decorate the front of your cover, note that you will be working on the upper right corner of your fabric. The area in which you may decorate is 5" tall x 3 1/2" wide. Leave a border of 3/4" on the top and 1" on the right side free of decoration as these areas will be folded under.

When:    Saturday April 13 at 10 a.m. PDT

Where:   On your computer, tablet, or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:    Dolores Guffey by April 8 to receive the password

Workshop questions: Lara Cox Lolastyle@hotmail.com

Zoom questions: Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is in the newsletter

MARCH WORKSHOP POSTPONED

Due to the corona virus, a number of our members expressed concern about meeting (especially in close quarters - the Fireside Room). Lara has agreed to postpone the workshop until the April meeting. At the April meeting we will have two separate book exchanges, one for the March theme of Surface Design and one for April's theme of a Shaped Book.

Our April workshop will feature Lara Cox teaching a somewhat simplified version of a medieval girdle book. This workshop will provide us with the basic structure so that we can create more complicated and decorative versions in the future.

Girdle books were small portable books worn by medieval European monks, clergymen and aristocratic nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume. They first appeared in the late 13th century and gained popularity through the 15th, sometimes becoming ostentations jewel-encrusted presentation books, and then falling out of favor late in the 16th century when printed books had become much more common. 

The structure consisted of a book with a leather binding that continued loosely beyond the cover of the book in a long tapered tail with a large knot at the end that could be tucked into one's girdle or belt. The knot was usually strips of leather woven together for durability. The book hung upside down and backwards so that when swung upwards it was ready for reading. The books were normally religious: a cleric's daily Office, or for lay persons (especially women), a Book of Hours. Another possible reason for their decline was the relatively small number of specialized girdle-protected texts becoming outdated with little need to replace them. In an environment of increasingly cheap printing it was simpler to replicate texts than spend time preserving individual manuscripts. The intricately constructed girdle bindings were simply impractical after a certain point.

Tools and materials to bring:

• Pencil
• Ruler
• Awl
• Bone folder
• Scissors
• Cutting mat and exacto knife
• PVA Glue (or favorite paste) and brush for gluing
• Scrap paper for use in gluing (old magazines work great)
• Bookbinding thread like Perle cotton or similar
• Sewing needle that fits the size of your thread
• Beeswax
• Hole punching cradle (handy but not necessary)

Please have prepared ahead of class:

• 10 signatures with 3 sheets/folios per signature, folded and nested. Start with pages measuring 5 1/2" tall x 8 1/2" wide. Once folded, the signatures should each measure 5 1/2" tall x 4 1/4" wide. Please fold, bone and press your stack of signatures. Alternatively: if you would rather use thicker paper and less pages, you may do so with the understanding that the final stack of signatures should measure 5/8" thick when pressed and stacked together. We will be sewing them together into a block as part of the class.
• Decorative paper, 8 1/2" x 11" or larger. Various decorative papers may be used for the endpapers at the front and back of your book. Mi Teintes or a similar weight paper will work.
• 2 pieces precut bookboard measuring 6" tall x 4 1/2" wide (for front and back covers)
• 1 piece bookboard for the spine measuring 6" tall x 1/2" wide. Also, what seems to be a measurement discrepancy between the spine width and book block thickness is correct--all will be revealed at the workshop. 
• NOTE about bookboard: Cereal boxes, cake mix boxes and cracker boxes while not as heavy duty as bookboard are usable in place of bookboard for many bindings. Feel free to substitute them in as the bookboard for this project.

Lara will provide:

• Directions, re-usable cover pattern and examples
• Precut cover fabrics
• Cording and ribbons for closures and knots
• Hole punch guide
• Waxed paper
• Sewing thread

WHEN:    Saturday April 11 at noon
WHERE:  Eureka Methodist Church at Del Norte & F Streets
BRING:   See lists above
COST:     $4
RSVP:     YES, to Lara. Her contact information is in the newsletter.