Leaps & Bounds: My Introduction to Bookbinding

I’d been planning to try this for over a year now. I did the research, brought the supplies – and then pushed it to the back of my mental shelf.

Yesterday, in a moment of spontaneity, I finally did it; I bound my Qur’an mushhaf, with its exhausted pages and missing covers (it’s been with me since I learnt at madrasa) and gave it a new hardback cover with faux leather and new flyleaves. I’m not a professional bookbinder by any means, but I was quite pleased with the outcome.

What I Used

I followed DiResta’s bookbinding tutorial – easy to follow for a novice like myself. Of course, I skipped the part where he creates the inner pages.

For the materials, I used:

Faux brown leather
Copydex adhesive
Marbled ebru paper
Gauze (thin piece of white cotton or linen)
Weights – to press together when gluing etc.
Craft knife, cutting mat + steel ruler

The process itself took me roughly just two hours. I was pleasantly surprised, since I had envisioned myself painstakingly noting down measurements late into the night, as though there’d be an apocalypse and I’d still be outside in some old rustic woodshed carving out leather for my hardback cover.

Now, the bookbinding is not perfect by any means – some parts are slightly bumpy due to glue residue, and I’m terrible at cutting accurately so there are parts where the ebru paper is slightly frayed or uneven. But I’ve learnt to not start over every time I face a few beginner’s hiccups. And I actually don’t mind it. These are mostly things you wouldn’t notice at first glance anyway, and they are reminders of the experience. Practise makes perfect, right?

I did consider adding a gold motif to the front, but I’m still on the fence about gold on brown leather. Too old-timey, perhaps?

Overall, it’s been an enjoyable venture into the unknown and one I’d love to explore more. I wonder which directions I could take it in; textures, finishes, embellishments.. The possibilities are endless.

For now though, back to the drawing board for my main love; illumination.