Antique Embroidered Book

If you haven’t yet taken a peek at the new Dark Fairytale series, you’re in for a treat! (Or at least, we like to think so) Crafters in general seem to love their myth, lore, and legend, and also seem to share a love of books. And who doesn’t love books?

Though, I will be honest, every time I go into a used bookstore I’m secretly hoping to come across a copy of the Necronomicon with an old, tattered leather cover with intricate engravings and spooky designs. I usually leave with a beat-up copy of a mystery novel. Nice, but never quite what I’m after.

Part of the beauty in some books is simply how they look, and if we can’t find them that way, we’ll make 'em! It’s a perfect and unusual way to display your favorite literary embroidery designs and give your book a little more character.

Step 1 What you need

To make your antique embroidered book, you’ll need:

• A hardcover book (decide now if it’s just for decoration, or if you want to be able to read it after we’re done)
• Vintage looking fabric (I love linens)
• A container for hot water
• Some tea
• Mod Podge
• Brush and/or sponge applicator
• Scissors

Depending on how you want to finish your book, you may need a few extra supplies, but we’ll get to that at the end.

Comments

[electfire]

I like the tea staining idea! (Bonus - good tea! I love strong tea....)
One little question ...rather a two part one... I have never done embroidery so I have no idea how to do it (how hard is it?) also for those who don't know how to embroider I had an idea - using fine pointed makers designed for fabrics (might be hard to find fine point ones - majority I've seen are broad or chisel tipped) and drawing the design onto the fabric... Anyways back to my original question is embroidery done as little stitches, dot by dot? (think like pixel art) or is it done line by line- (like line art)... So whole are close up would it look like xxxxxxx or ----------?

[UrbanThreads]

The embroidery on this book is actually machine embroidery, so it's as simple as hooping some fabric and choosing your thread. You can do it by hand as well, and then the techniques vary quite a bit, but it's a very easy art to try.
I heard Sharpie has new fabric markers that should come in finer tips, those might do well to draw a design like this.

Here's a larger photo of the embroidery so you can see what it looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanthreads/6083481270/in/set-72157606108792135

Hope that helps!

[electfire]

Hmm, thanks for the help! All the more reason to get a sewing machine! Though I like sewing by hand anything of a decent size (like the bag I made for a camping water bladder) and it takes a long time... though I do find sewing by hand quit relaxing, sometimes though in order to finish something within a decent time frame, I really wish I had a a sewing machine... (It's not like I don't have enough unfinished projects already!... sarcasm doesn't work well in type.)

[rrfxxxr]

Or if you plan to glue the pages together, why not try this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Better-Book-Safe/?ALLSTEPS

[porcupinemamma]

Excellent Instructable. Thanks so much for sharing! I would like to share a fun embroidery site I found. It's called sublimestitching

[agis68]

greate job done here....i remember in villages some years ago the local housewifes used tea to paint the household fabrics.....

[AdamVanMeter]

I've been making my own simple books, and this seems like a nice alternative to regular book cloth covers. Nice and antiqued. I'm definitely going to give it a shot!

[bcaldwell3]

I can see this as a way to give truly outstanding books to my friends. Not only will they receive a book I think they will enjoy but also a beautiful treasure of art to show.

[zanzibar_stallion]

you always find the good old books at garage sales

[probablepossible]

I did this back in the 70's, doing the embroidery by hand. I still have this book. My covering skills were a bit minimal however! This once-paperback book has replacement boards of heavy grey stuff, and I didn't know how to space them away from the spine. It's a testament to the quality of the publisher's binding glue that the thing is still in one solid piece.

[Doris Huber]

great idea!
hint: instead of using paper to keep pages from adhering, use wax paper, it will not stick!

[hassi]

I've bound and covered many books and I think this is a wonderful presentation. Bravo!

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is great, I have a few books I think I'll apply this to.

[sunshiine]

Love this! Very creative! Thanks for sharing. Have a splendorous day!
Sunshiine

[mikeasaurus]

The tea staining adds some great depth to the fabric.