Spotted a 1920s Smyth sewn book at the Portland library book sale

The sewing structure was so clean and exposed, it gave me a bunch of ideas for my next project. Has anyone else found inspiration from old library discards?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lucas1mo ago

Know that feeling. Saw a 1903 ledger once with this perfect, tight kettle stitch. Tried to copy it and my thread tension looked like a spider on caffeine. But you keep the photo of the good one, stare at your sad version, and just try to match one single thing better next time. My last attempt, I finally got the headband curve not to look like a smashed worm. It's all in the tiny wins.

elliot_barnes1mo ago

Oh, the "clean and exposed" sewing structure you mentioned is the best. My own attempts at that look more like a kindergartener's macaroni art project. I get so much inspiration from old books, but my hands never seem to get the memo to execute it properly. There's a whole shelf of my "homages" that are just sad, lopsided reminders. Still, finding a good one like that makes me want to try again, even if it ends up as another future discard for someone else to laugh at.

susan_bell1mo ago

My friend has a whole box of what she calls her "sad, lopsided reminders" too. She got super into trying to copy these beautiful raised bands from an old law book, and for months it just looked like lumpy caterpillars. Then one day she showed me this one she did, and the curve was actually smooth. She said she just focused on getting the shape of one single band right and ignored everything else. It's funny how that one okay part can make you forget all the bad tries. What's the last thing you tried where you got just one small part to click?