Making Covers for a Concertina

 

A concertina does not have to have covers. You might just want to display the book, like in the photo below.

Or you might choose to use the outer first page as a cover, as in this collaged concertina I called ‘Moon Tulips’. I had the concertina folded already (this is handy when you find yourself with an hour or two, you want to make something, but you’re too tired or too uninspired to start a project from scratch). 

Making covers, though, is fun! For one thing, it’s a good use for the interesting papers – both commercial and hand-printed -- that you may have stockpiled not quite knowing what to do with them. Below are examples of covers made with gelatin and relief prints, paper decorated with dots of acrylic ink (an exercise from book-maker Rachel Hazell), hand-marbled paper (not by me!) and Japanese origami papers.

You can make your books any size you like, although 5x7-inches is the biggest I make. It's easy to go smaller -- the dark blue book on the left is 2.5x2.5-inches -- and one way to make use of tiny, but precious, bits of paper.

I had only samples of these Japanese metallic papers, just enough to make a single tiny cover from each piece. Paired up, they'll make a little concertina I'm calling Night and Day.

Bridget Morris, whose Skillshare class I mentioned in the previous post, uses proper book board for her covers. Book board is dense and strong, but it's not always easy to come by and it takes muscle or specialized equipment to cut down to size. I use mat board instead. An artist friend, who is also a picture framer, passes on her off-cuts. Large covers made with mat board would likely warp (sturdy book board eliminates that problem) but for my small covers it's a good weight, readily available and easily cut with a heavy-duty paper cutter.

Okay, let's make a few covers. Please note, this is the method I've come up with that works for me. I'm sure an experienced book binder would have tips to improve both the process and the end result. But, as with everything, practice is the trick.

Choose your decorative paper. I'm using calligraphy paper (lightweight but tough and it takes printing ink well) relief printed with a botanical pattern from a rubber block I carved. A tip -- when you're making papers you might use for covers, create enough for the two covers, something I often neglect to do.

Here we've got two sheets of printed paper, mat board cut to 5.5x5.5-inches (you want the covers to be a quarter-inch larger all the way around than the 5-inch concertina pages), glue (I'm using thinned Yes! paste), an inexpensive brush with stiff-ish bristles (a 3/4 or 1-inch flat works well) and a bone folder (or blunt table knife).

Cut the decorative paper  with a good margin for folding over -- here about 7x7-inches. If you're using mat board one side may be coloured -- mine was pale green -- but the back side is usually white. To make sure the mat colour doesn't show through the white of the decorative paper, I put the glue on the white side of the mat. Spread the glue evenly, paying attention to the corners.

Center the glued mat board over the wrong side of the decorative paper and lay it down -- this way you can see exactly where you're placing it. Press into place, then turn the cover over and smooth out any air bubbles with the bone folder, working from the middle to the outside edges. Check the corners are well-adhered and then run the bone folder along the edges of the mat board.

Flip over the glued cover and trim off the four corners, but not too closely! Leave at least the thickness of the mat board -- here about 1/8-inch.

Working on some waste paper (old flyers and magazines are good), spread glue on two opposite sides of the decorative paper. Fold snugly over the mat board and press firmly.

Brush glue on the other two sides and then, using a finger nail, poke in that little bit of excess paper you left when trimming the corners. It's almost like making a hospital corner on a bed sheet. Then fold down the decorative paper and press firmly. 

Here you can see I cut this corner a little short and a tiny bit of mat board is showing. I checked and once the concertina is glued in place, my mishap will be hidden. If it did show, I could cut a sliver of the decorative paper, trying to match up the pattern as best I could, and glue it into place. This fix works easier with thin paper -- thicker paper is more challenging. 

Ta-da! Two finished covers. Choose which will be the front and the back. 

If you plan to have a ribbon tie to hold the book closed, now is the time to glue it in place. Run a line of glue in the middle of the back cover, pressing the ribbon in place.

I decided not to use ribbon and went straight to attaching the covers. Lay the folded concertina on the back cover to remind yourself you don't want to spread glue over the entire cover. Here you can see that 1/4-inch margin you want to leave free of glue. Spread glue evenly on the back cover (putting some on the ribbon as well if using) and then press the concertina in place. Lay a piece of waxed paper over that back page and, using the bone folder, press firmly in place, paying attention to the corners. If any glue does squeeze out, wipe with a slightly damp cloth. Before moving onto gluing the front cover, lay in a fresh sheet of waxed paper. You don't want to inadvertently glue the book shut! 

Brush glue on the back side of the front cover, leaving the 1/4-inch clean border. Place the folded concertina, attached to the back cover, facing up. Standing directly over, lower the front cover down into the first page of the concertina, lining it up with the back cover. Feel with the tips of your fingers that you've got it in place. Carefully open up the front cover, lay down a piece of wax paper, and press. When everything is well-secured, tuck in a clean piece of wax paper, sandwich the whole book between two more clean pieces of wax paper and place under a stack of books or magazines for a few hours to dry.

There we go -- a blank concertina waiting to be filled! If you made it to the end of this lengthy post, thanks so much for following along. And for those who are thinking -- "This method is way too fiddly, there's too much measuring, I don't have any long papers and I hate glue!" -- have I got a treat for you. See you in the next post!