#in other news I've poked myself so much with my sewing needle

[sp-growingpains]

I'm finally getting around to sewing more patches on my jacket, so of course I've got South Park on in the background.

I forgot what a little shit Kyle is in the Crack Baby episode.

The way he keeps trying to justify everything to Stan. Pop off stupid.

[bluejayblueskies]

Hi!! I’m looking into bookbinding, specifically ficbinding- contemplating getting into it, not committing yet bc i know have a history of researching, investing in, then abandoning hobbies. Right now tho im still in the research phase, and I’m wondering how it went when you bound It Will Be This, Always - thats on my list of fics i want to bind (has made me cry more than once) and id like to know the size of the paper and font you used, so i can estimate how much hypothetical supplies id need to replicate it for myself 👀 also any tips you might have for someone totally new!! thanks for your time, have a great day :)

hey!! i love seeing more people get into bookbinding--it's such a fun and rewarding hobby, and one of the best things about it is how versatile it is. there are people who have lots of specialist equipment and get really invested in the materials, there are people who work with what they have around the house, and there are people (like me) who are somewhere in between.

resources and commentary under the cut!

first off, here are some helpful resources for getting started out:

How to Make A Book, by ArmoredSuperHeavy

Sea Lemon's video about how to make a casebound book (she has a lot of other good videos too if you go poking around that are excellent for beginners)

DAS bookbinding videos (a bit more complex but good for research purposes and incredibly detailed)

A reference guide for a wide variety of different types of binding

Casing in a textblock - this is the method I use for casing in and it works pretty well!

Free icons to use when typesetting

Join the renegade discord! You don't have to have bound any books at all to join, and there's a ton of super helpful info and resources in there.

you can pretty easily do a pamphlet-bound notebook using some copy paper, a piece of cover paper, and staples if you want to start small and work your way up. (i did not do this haha, but i've seen a lot of other people do it and they can be pretty nice first projects!)

for it will be this, always specifically, i did a half-bound case-bound book, which means there's three separate pieces of bookcloth--one for the spine and two for each cover board. that kind of binding is detailed in armoredsuperheavy's tutorial from start to finish, which is pretty much what i used (minus the 'sewing with tapes' part because you don't really need to for smaller books).

in terms of equipment that i used for iwbta (which is a case bound book), the main things were:

an awl, for punching holes in the signatures (household alternative: a thumbtack or a strong needle with some sort of cushion on the end, like an eraser)

a bonefolder, for creasing the pages (you can also easily just use the back of your thumbnail, a credit card, or any other thing that will crease the pages crisply without damaging them)

pva glue, for gluing the spine, the cover, and attaching the textblock to the cover (household alternative: elmer's glue. it won't last as long but is good for just starting out and is easier to find at craft stores)

gluebrush/paintbrush, for applying glue (you can use one of those foam ones in a pinch, but something with bristles generally works better in my experience)

ruler + pencil, for measuring

needle and thread, for sewing the signatures (you can use regular sewing needle and sewing thread [doubled up for more strength], or you can use waxed thread. i personally have a block of beeswax [purchased for ~$4 from a farmer's market near me] that i use to wax embroidery thread for large books and regular sewing thread for small books)

paper (i used 8.5 x 11 hammermill 20lb cream colored paper, but you can also use just regular copy paper. the difference is that bright white paper can look blue in books, but honestly, i've never noticed anything odd about it, and i definitely have some published books that use bright white paper. the one caveat for this is that 8.5 x 11 paper is long grain and usually you want short grain paper for bookbinding, but i honestly wouldn't worry about this at all unless you decide to really go all-in on bookbinding)

bookpress, for pressing your pages and keep everything flat and together (household alternative: a few heavy books work, or you can use C clamps and thin boards)

printer + ink (or a printing service like Staples)

bookboard, for the covers. this is essentially chipboard, which you can find at local craft stores. you can also cannibalize an old textbook/binder for the stiff boards there, or use thinner cardboard in a pinch (i used some sheets of thin cardboard for my very first book). those cheap thin painting canvases also work well but can be a bit on the thick side. for the spine, thin cardboard is definitely the way to go (i usually use bits of old sparkling water boxes)

exacto knife or boxcutter, for cutting things (i can't think of a good household alternative to this--you'll want something that you can use in conjunction with a ruler so you can cut things straight)

bookcloth and/or decorative paper, for covering. bookcloth is basically fabric with a paper backing on it. you can make your own using heat and bond, tissue paper, and fabric, but for just starting out, you can also just use either a thicker fabric that glue won't soak through or cover the whole thing with paper. i've seen people cover their first book(s) with paper bags or other things they just had lying around!

i have a few pics of some of my early supplies here if you'd like to take a look!

for the typeset, i actually don't mind sharing it if you want to use it as reference (or just use it in general)! you can find a PDF and a copy of the word doc here!

the fonts i used were Garamond for the body and a Andragogy for the title/author/chapter titles. i've actually shifted to using Perpetua for my body font lately because i'm not fond of Garamond's italics--you can play around with serif fonts and see what you like best though! that's a lot of the fun of it <3

and here are some tips i have for people just starting out:

when typesetting, you're going to want to pick a page size for your document that aligns with the size of one page of your book (eg. if you're printing on letter-sized paper and doing a full-size book, half-letter or 5.5 x 8.5 is what you're looking for) and then use this imposer to put your document in the correct form for printing. esp. if you use word don't use word's built-in booklet settings--this is much easier and more flexible

do a blank notebook first using cheaper materials to catch any mistakes

do test prints of your typesets on cheap paper to make sure everything looks the way you want it (esp. colors and gradients, which look different when printed, and printer skew, where the front and the back won't always line up quite correctly)

there are a lot of videos out there about how to do things!! if the ones i've linked don't work for you, you can shop around through youtube until you find one that does.

it can be really easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information that comes up when you research bookbinding, so the best thing i find to remember is that a) there are many different ways to do this and while some ways may last longer than others or make more archival-quality books, ultimately, pick the way that you enjoy the most, and b) there are so many tools very few of which you actually need, so tbh you can ignore most people who try to tell you that you absolutely must have [xyz] piece of equipment

i hope this was helpful!! i've absorbed a lot of stuff since i started binding (and continue to absorb a lot of stuff, mainly from the renegade server) and there's a lot to learn, but it really can be as simple or as complex as you make it 💜

[saturneves]

Feel free not to post this ask. Just wanted to update you on myself. Idk maybe you actually care about me, and I don’t want to give you unnecessary anxiety.

I have just been very anxious (always am tbh but whatever). Having a hard writing an ask to you because my brain thinks I am sharing too much. And also because I haven’t talked to anyone for almost a year now (other than for school shit and excluding maybe 2 people that chat with me on and off, and of course my family) so you talking to me and saying compliments my brain go brr for that. So anxiety. I still see your art. It is still so gorgeous and I still love it. I will never stop thanking you about it. Sorry for over sharing.

Uhh just wanted to share this link with you, so that you can have something to do (been reading on here that you need distractions and stuff, and I had this saved for a week now but anxiety again). So I hope it helps https://takewhatyouneed.carrd.co/#distraction . But I can suggest you to do some jigsaw puzzles (if you have them, but I'm pretty sure you can print some and then just cut it out. I haven’t tried doing it this way yet but it probably works, I really like puzzles lol), you can sew to make stuffed toys out of old fabric (don’t know if you have stuffing but if you have an old pillow, that would work), you can try needle felting (again need to buy materials for that, be careful to not stab your fingers while doing it. I have done so countless of times lol. Would recommend you try out a kit first, like the one that tells you what to do and has set materials. Or you can do whatever you want), you can do diamond painting (buying materials again, I like doing small things. Don’t know if you'd like it though), and you can try 3D miniature house kit (again again, need to buy shit with this one. Little things again).

Ok sorry for the long message again. Other that my anxiety I am also having my finals next week. So I probably will be back after that. Let's see if my anxiety won’t be a bitch and let me talk to people. Ok I hope that shit I sent helps. Thank you so much, ok byee

-🎩

this ask truly warmed my heart❤ you never have to worry about oversharing, i love seeing you in my inbox! i'm not big on chatting so asks are perfect for me, as i can take all the time i need to work out what i'm going to say and stuff. you don't ever have to hesitate to send me an ask whenever you've got something on your mind, i love hearing your thoughts about my art and anything else :)

i get the whole not talking to people thing, i got very sick 2-3 years ago and basically had to shut down my entire life, i stayed home with my mom for nearly 2 years and lost all my friends. i missed 2 whole years of school. it really fucked up my ability to make friends/form connections and when i had to go back to school my anxiety was through the roof, and it hasn't fully eased up. it's not until last year i worked up the courage to actually talk to somebody at the new school i had to go to (well she approached me first but hey, i felt brave enough to keep talking to her), and now i think i have a best friend. i sincerely hope you can find some sort of calm, that you can make a connection too. i'm bad with encouragement, but i do try my best, so trust me when i say you've got this!

and woah that link!! i tried a few of them out, i loved the 'watch the stars' one, i like space. i'm gonna check the rest of them out throughout the day, thank you so much! i'm not good with sewing or needle felting (tried both as a kid) but honestly i would like to try it again.. i have a bit of stuffing over from my killing eve bear so i could make the tiniest stuffed animal in the world i guess lol. as for needle felting, i might have to try again someday!! i also poked my fingers all the time when i tried it as a kid, ouch. and i've never actually tried diamond painting!

well this is turning into a long reply. i hope you're comfortable with me publishing this ask, if not just let me know! i wish you all the luck in the world with your finals!! <3

[alloftheimaginess]

Met

"Good morning" I say to my live as I walk to the sliding door to get some better light. I sing along to Beautiful as it plays through the hotel room.

"Today is Met Monday and it's currently 5:45 am" I say looking at my watch.

"It's time to start the process for my outfit because it literally has to be built" I say laughing.

"The sun just rose like 2 minutes ago and I've been up for 20 minutes now so this is dedication because I’m exhausted" I say looking around.

"I'm here with my team" I say turning the camera around and everyone waves.

"They have so much energy I don't know how they do it" I say.

"It's called not being out until 2 knowing we had to be up at 5" my hair stylist says.

"Damn just expose me then" I say laughing.

"I was out simply because it's rare I get to be in New York with a bunch of other celebrities" I say.

"True" she says laying everything out.

"Did you run into Zendaya?" She asks.

"Yeah I did" I say rolling my eyes looking down.

"Hi guys. How are you this morning?" I ask responding to the hi's.

"What am I eating for breakfast. Only the best, it's Met Monday I can't do anything less" I say holding up a McDonald's bag and I start laughing.

"Sausage Egg McMuffin with egg whites is legit heaven" I say.

"Hurry up and eat so we can get started" my best friend aka my designer says and I nod.

"Okay, okay" I say sitting down and I prop up the phone.

"What am I wearing? Something so great I feel like it really fits the theme" I say answering questions as I eat my breakfast.

"Alright guys I'm ending this but be on the lookout for me on the carpet"

——

I pose as my assistant goes around in circles recording my look as they put it together. There's about 20 of us in this room working to make sure that I fit the theme of this year which is 'CAMP' "we can't be one of those celebrities that half ass the theme especially since I'm debuting my line" Lily says sticking needles to hold pieces of the dress in place.

"It's like they don't get the memo that there is actually a theme in place" I say.

"Even though they look gorgeous I prefer for them to fit the theme. Is that just me?" She asks and I shake my head.

"No, it's not just you" I say and she starts sewing the sleeves on I sing and dance to every song that comes on shuffle, her poking me a few times to calm me down but I don't stop.

"Help me I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open eyes" I sing dramatically doing different poses as I get recorded and everyone starts laughing.

"Seriously be still" she says and I stand still.

——

I get out the car and as soon as I step on the Pink carpet the flashes go off and I start walking up the carpet making sure to stop so everyone can get pictures and I run into Benedict "hey, you guys look great" I say hugging them.

"You look amazing" Sophie says hugging me back. "Where's Tom?" She asks.

"He's headed to Los Angeles for his press tour" I say.

“That sucks he couldn't be here" he says.

"I don't think he would enjoy this though it's not really his speed" I say laughing.

"Very true" Benedict says.

"Shall we get some pictures?" Sophie asks.

"Of course" I say and I stand with them smiling as the cameras go off and Sophie walks past.

"I'll see you guys inside" I say walking off after hugging them.

"Sophie" I say and she stops.

"Oh my god you look amazing" she says and I laugh and we do our handshake.

"How's that married life?" I ask.

"Better than I could have imagined, there's been problems but nothing we can't work through" she says.

"That's so good to hear, I've been meaning to text Joe but I had to replace my phone and I lost his number" I say.

"Oh I can give it to you" she says.

"Ghat would be great" I say.

"How are you and Tom?" She asks and I sigh.

"I don't really know. If I'm being honest, we've spent a lot of time together between filming infinity war, endgame and Spider-Man that I think were just happy for some time apart" I confess.

"Is that why he isn't here?" She asks.

"Yeah" I say.

"He had the day off and he was going to be my plus one and lily got him a whole outfit put together to go with mine and everything but we decided it was best if he didn't come" I say.

"You guys are going to be okay, you are always are" she says.

"Yeah that's just the thing, there's possibly another person in the picture" I say.

"Wait seriously?" She asks and I nod.

"I have to fix my lipstick so let's go and we'll talk in there" I say and she grabs my hand and we stop for pictures first and then we go to the bathroom.

"Who is it?" She asks.

"Zendaya" I say grabbing my lipstick out of my bag. "He likes Zendaya?" She asks surprised.

"Don't sound so surprised she's absolutely gorgeous" I say sighing and I have to calm myself down.

"I'm going to sound surprised because I am, are you serious" she says and I nod.

"I wish I wasn’t" I say.

"Did anything happen?" She asks and I nod.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks hugging me.

"Because I feel stupid, like why did I think he wanted me when he works with her" I say and the stall door opens and Zendaya walks out.

We make eye contact through the mirror and I close my lipstick shoving it into my purse and grabbing Sophie's hand pulling her out of the bathroom.