[Headbands, How to Work Them] (By: Jane Greenfield) [published: June, 2001]

by Jane Greenfield

A topic often overlooked in many bookbinding manuals is how to create headbands -- those decorative bands of silk or cotton which can be found fastened inside the top, and sometimes the bottom, of a book's spine. Greenfield and Hille, experienced hand bookbinders, have written this easy to use, step-by-step guide, showing how to create fourteen different styles of headbands.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books

Paperback

First published June 1, 1986

Reviews

[Vi · Rating 5 out of 5]

After one has learned how to bind a book, case a book, round and back a book, Learn to make headbands! Headbands are a decorative element to a book and have limited utility, but really do a swank job of cleaning up the spine of a book.

This book covers in step-by-step instructions and illustrations how to do a variety of headbands from different cultures and time periods. There are instructions for attaching the headbands to boards in medieval handbinding, a Coptic headband to finish your Coptic binding, an Islamaic headband, etc. No longer will you be satisfied with gluing on cheap headbands onto your handbound book.

This book is not for the beginning bookbinder. A good grasp of the parts of the book and to how books are sewn together would be very useful. Collect old phone books and guillotine them into sections; they make good books to practice putting on headbands. Silk thread is not necessary; one can practice with embroidery floss. A good core to wrap headbands with is a dried cord soaked with glue or a paper lollipop stick.

Question: What comes after headbands?
Answer: Boxmaking

[Joan]

What the heck is a headband, you ask? Okay, go to your bookshelf, pull out a book, hold it so that the spine is away from you. Do you see, along the top and bottom of the spine end of the text block, a strip of sewing the width of the book? Probably two colors of thread? That's a headband.

Today, it's purely decorative. But there was a time when it was part of the structure of the book. The headband in your book is probably just sewing on a piece of cloth that is then glued to the text block. But in a fine binding, it is sewn, thread by thread, onto the text block.

This book is an excellent manual for the hand binder. The descriptions and illustrations are easy to follow, and it gives directions for quite a variety of headbands, from simple ones to complex, three color - five core headbands. Something for everyone!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely useful, and well illustrated. I go back to it for reference time and time again.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly beyond my pay grade, but quite interesting.