The endband is used to determine the square of a binding (ie: how much larger the covers are than the text block). It is very important when working in miniature to take into account the size of materials as they will effect the overall size of the binding. For this book, I have chosen a thin core and silk thread in colours that complement both my cover design and endpapers. The sewing is done using very fine needles so as not to punch too large a hole in the sections.

Hand Sewn Silk Endbands

Silk Threads

I have begun making a maquette of ideas for my cover design based on preliminary illustrations on paper. It can be very difficult to directly translate a drawing to a cover design without experimentation, as the switch from 2D to 3D often requires some creative problem solving. For instance my design concept envisions 12 three-dimensional leather roses on the cover. My idea was inspired at a fabric store where I found flowers constructed with ribbons. When I began crafting miniature flowers I found I needed to play with the size and thickness of the leather in order to make them look realistic. I also needed to experiment with different means of attaching the flowers to the binding.  The maquette will help test that all this works when it comes to my final binding.

Leather Rose Maquette