Making French Fold Books

Bookbinding sounds much more intimidating than it really is, especially considering how loose the definitions of 'book' and 'binding' are individually, more so when combined.

One of the easiest books to make is the French Fold.  There is no sewing necessary, it can even be done with tape instead of messing with glue and dry-times, and you can easily incorporate mixed media.  'French Fold' is in reference to the pages of the book being joined together on the outward facing fore-edges, instead of the interior edges/folds at the spine.

This is an instructional hand-out that I made for students (details below):

These instructions are for making a book from standard typing paper (8.5x11 in.), which has been folded horizontally.  I am violating one of the first rules of paper crafting here because I am literally going against the grain, paper grain that is, in my folds.  If I were doing this properly, the fold should be running vertically on the full sheets of paper.  The reasoning for this fold orientation is that it makes the spine of the book parallel to the grain direction in the paper (the normal grain direction for typing paper).  The rule of thumb is: the grain direction in paper (or material with a grain) needs to run parallel to the spine of the book.  This will allow the book to expand and contract according to varied moisture levels, both internal and environmental, without warping the book.  However, this project was for school children and the sizing above was more useful for the journals that they were making.  Their moms will love it no matter how many archival laws are being broken.

I am going to follow along with the instructions to make my own French Fold book, but I am going to make it smaller.  I am cutting my typing paper in half horizontally (so, maintaining the correct grain orientation) because I desired a smaller book.  Also, I am using double-sided tape to adhere my pages in lieu of glue (lazy, very lazy).

1. paper for your interior pages
2. paper or material for your cover
3. adhesive: double-sided tape or glue
4. straight-edge blade
5. self-healing mat
6. bone folder (to make crisp folds)
7. ruler (assist you in making straight cuts)
8. pencil (possibly, if you are inclined not to eyeball fold positions)

Step 1:

Or.... fold whatever paper you are using.  I would also use this time to cut the paper/material for the cover.  Your cover needs to have the same height (top to bottom of a page) as your page but you do not know how long your cover paper has to be until you measure the thickness of your text block (stack of folded and adhered pages).  Best to hold off a few more steps before you make that cut.

I had pre-cut the cover paper for the school students making these books, so they did not have to worry about that detail.  I have learned not to bank on children cutting straight lines.  In fact, just limit any critical scissor use.

Step 2:

I used double-sided tape.

If you accordion-out your stack, once it is adhered, it looks like this:

Step 3:

Now you can cut the length of your cover paper.  The length should be the width (side to side) of your pages, multiplied by 2 (you have a front and a back cover) add the thickness of the spine, and then add on an inch or two for good measure... in case of accidents.

Step 4:

Now, for me, I am just taping my text block to one outer edge of the cover paper and then making my folds.  Again, this is a lazy choice.  

Here is the taping of the first edge to the cover (easier if you put the tape on the cover and move the text block onto it):

The position of the first fold of the spine

Gratuitous close-up

Make the second fold to enclose the spine.  Then, I am taping down the other outer edge of the cover paper to the text block before trimming off the extra cover paper.  This is easier than the method in the hand-out, but it was not a practical option for the kids, as you really should do the trimming with a straight-edge and that seemed like a "'tis but a flesh wound" moment in the making.

Ready for the trim

Step 5 (if you weren't avoiding the giving of knives to children or being lazy):

Again, there was the other method of adhering the text block to the cover.

Now, why would you want to use French Fold?  More projects with that to follow.

From Pattern to Pieces: Find the Starting Point

Alrighty, there was the pattern, then the break for snacking, misusing philosophy, and now pieces are slowly knitting crocheting together.  Bummer on 'knitting' being an actual activity, est-ce pas?

Also, tailoring and sculpting terms will be used interchangeably in this post.  I am very sorry to be mixing the two, but if one genera more accurately describes the motions or the end-goal, then that was the default.  'Accurate and Obscuring' should be made as a labeling sticker.  Onward!

Pattern:

Starting to form:

How does one pick a starting point?

Well, that is a great question.  I have had some trial and error over the years and many a project on which I am banking that 'it is the thought that counts' and 'my Mom will love it and love me, no matter what.'  Confessions aside, just look at any form and start by separating out the appendages from the trunk.

On the fish, the body/sausage is the trunk and the fins are appendages.  Appendages are joined onto the trunk, so decide what you want to make first.  I tend to make appendages first.  Basically, those all MUST be there and if I run out of yarn/materials, then there is no recourse (unless you are gifting this to a 3-year old who will still love a three-legged wombat).  That being said, if you suspect an impending material shortage as you work on the trunk, then the wombat is more stubby and the 3-year old thinks it is more cute.  We all go home happy.

As you work on appendages, start working on the end point, or what is the solid, plane of yarn, farthest from the joining (the seam) of the appendage to the trunk.  Consider Hemingway's eye:

Facing outward

The backside

It will join (the seam) at the start of the socket and the solid face, farthest away from this, is the cornea covering the pupil.  So, working circularly, start at the pupil, work out to the iris, and finally add on the surrounding, orbital flesh.   If that don't church up acrylic yarn...

Still, this does not help categorize the body segment to be deemed 'the head,' further complicated with a mouth cavity, possibly nostril holes.  Think of the entire form/animal/shirt/whatever as a misshapen ball (a sausage is a rolled-out ball, right?).  This ball has to have a start and an end.  Assign both positions to the mushed ball which is your trunk.  The head may as well be your 'start' end.  But maybe I am just an optimist.

Actually, the mouth is the true start, as it is where, from the perspective of form, the top of the ball, as the head, dimples in on itself and becomes an internal projection.  I guess this is a mobius strip for an intestinal tract connecting to dermal covering.... but I wasn't planning on being that accurate.  So, my mouth has an end/back-wall before things get too grotesque.

Starting point identified: mouth.  Then finish the head and move on back through the trunk.

I am not going to do appendages (fins) first on Hemingway because the Coelacanth has lobed fins.  These lobes make the fins big, meaty parts of the body.  It would look funny if they were clearly attached, as opposed to limbs that seem to ooze out in fleshy protuberances.

I have another fish, a river trout, that I am working on for an art installation.  This has a simpler construction.  It is farther along, but the piecing and seams are simple and clear.  More on that coming...

Nietzsche Meatzsche

"He who fights with monsters 
                    should look to it that he himself does not
                                                                
                                                                  become a monster...

                                            And when you gaze long into an abyss

                                                                                                       the abyss also gazes into you."

I am pretty sure that this is EXACTLY what Nietzsche was visualizing.
And chewing.  Okay, all done with the snacking and now it is back to crocheting.

Still thinking about the fish-sausage metaphors...

... the pig in a blanket bit, to be more specific, at the end.

So, what did I do with my day off from work?

1.  Find a sausage and make some pastry dough (see recipe below).

See, I said the head was just a draped triangle while describing pattern-making.  Not just my normal delusional ramblings...

2.  Finish draping the sausage and make the necessary upgrades.

Try not to get too attached.  You will be exposing your new friend to high heat, dispatching with a sharp instrument, then supping on the meaty-goodness.  Most likely with ketchup.

3. Brush with egg wash and decorate.

I think his name is Edgar and he is a Chinook Salmon.  Not that accuracy or standards will have a dramatic impact on the finished product, mind you.  Anywho, I am using paprika (red), matcha (green), turmeric (yellow), salt (pink), and nigella (black) for my pigments.

4. Bake, remove, and greet Edgar.

Hello there, Edgar.

5.  Sorry, Edgar.

This is just awkward now.

Multi-Purpose Pastry...

In all fairness, this is a crime against pie crust, biscuits, and puff pastry, but you wind up with a very forgiving dough.  As in, it will hold up to reheating, sculpting, and oozing fillings, while still possessing a good flake.

I am giving volumes and not weights because I am too lazy to use a scale.

Sift into a bowl (or dump it in and stir with a nonjudgmental fork):

2.5 cups of unbleached flour

0.25 cups of white sugar

0.5 tbs baking powder

2 tsp kosher salt

For later: 1 stick of chilled butter and cold water 

Here's later:  Gently work into the dry ingredients 0.5 cups (1 stick) of chilled, unsalted butter, pre-cut into 1.5 in. cubes.  Do this very gingerly with just your finger-tips.  Once the butter inclusions look to be the size of peas, either in the round or that same volume transformed to a crushed flake, stop touching.

Add in just enough cold water to get the dough to come together.  The amount of water will change depending on the day's weather and the freshness of your flour, so be prepared for anything.  Generally, it is about 0.75 cups.

Make a 'brick' of the dough, approximately 5x8 in., on a sheet of plastic wrap.  Wrap up your brick and chill for half an hour.

On a floured surface, roll out your dough to 0.25 in. thickness.  Fold inward in thirds, one direction, then in the other (so right to left, then up and down).  Basically, 4 folds total.  Or whatever.  The folds give you flaked layers, so fold as you like.  Re-wrap and chuck brick back into the fridge to chill for another half hour.

Do this folding and chilling procedure two more times.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 F., with a rack in the middle.  Get an egg wash ready (half egg, half water) and any other items to tart up your dough.

Roll out your dough to 0.25 in. thickness and use it as you like.  Bake until golden.

Textile Sculpture, aka: pattern-making

'Textile Sculpture' is pretentious enough to give me a small eye tick, but 'pattern-making' does not seem to describe the activity or required skill.  You literally make a pattern by lining up candy according to color and deliciousness.   This hardly seems on par or relevant to converting two-dimensional shapes into a three-dimensional object.  Just think of the lavish Halloween costumes your Mom produced for you as a kid (or you phoned-in over the years... impromptu lumberjacks do not count here).

I enjoy patterns.  They are like recipe books for form and, like a recipe, they must deliver on function with bonus points awarded for materials and aesthetics... so, taste, truly.

Depending on the project, the complexity and detail in planning a pattern will vary dramatically.  I am currently working on Hemingway the Coelacanth's head, so I guess this will be the instructional launch point.

Here it is, my pattern, in all its informational glory (sorry):

Now, let me explain what I see when I look at this.  I am looking for planes.  Being an organic form, and stuffed/squishy to boot, almost all of these planes are parabolic.  We are entering into conic section territory so I will keep most of my descriptions to metaphors with sausage or other winsome visual cues.  Okay, so, do you see how the fish is a sausage with some upgraded attachments?

Fantastic and horrifying.  But now you know my deep, dark secret: how can any form be reduced to a tube?  Or something tasty?

But there is a problem because Hemingway's head is the terminating cap of the tube.  Worse yet, there is an inversion for a mouth.  So, now there are edges and points.  This is your visual clue to start looking for shapes with edges/points (polygons) at the end of the hotdog/fish.  As lazy is the wisest starting point, look for the easy polygons, like triangles.  Yes, these triangles will be wrapped/draped, but...tube-food, people.  It is a little tougher to see the triangles in Hemingway's head because of the distinct surface paneling on the species.  So let's imagine he is something more generic:

Better?  Okay, back to Hemingway.  Now, to overcome his reluctance to embrace the triangle, some wonky rectangles/trapezoids/parallelograms will join the party.  All fixed, sans the eyes and mouth (stay on target, Gold Leader).

Now, I have sliced up this poor head into all these small shapes because the textile is constructed in linked stitches (crochet) as opposed to piecing a woven fabric (sewing).  The advantage for knitwear is the ease of expanding and contracting forms: no gussets, pleating, or tailored seaming.  Instead, you add or eliminate stitches to encapsulate space.  Just think about a pig in a blanket.

So, this is the beginning with much more to follow.  Joints and attaching the planes together will be up next.

The Collector and The Hobbyist

I say 'The Collector AND The Hobbyist' because I think they can coexist.  A hobby is for dabbling.  It amuses you.  A collection is work.  Work is rewarding but it requires consistent effort.  And there went the amusement.

My front yard succulents amuse me.  Nothing but hardy sedums and sempervivums.  I completely forget about them, except when I take a turn with drink in hand, provided I get home from work before sunset (a physical impossibility for this latitude most of the year... not me kvetching, I promise).

My indoor succulents give me guilt trips.  They sit there, stoically impassive.  Then they plunge into death-throws if I call their bluff, thinking, "no plant REALLY wants that kind of neglect," and give them a measly tablespoon of water in the apparently improper month/week/day/hour/temperature/light-level/moon-phase/bird-migration/they-don't-like-my-sweater.  Seriously, they make me insecure and clingy.

But, all collections take work and I am getting something out of the relationship.  I keep records (see below), not too detailed because I am trying to limit my 'calls for help' these days.

I currently have a bit of a mystery.  This is my Pachypodium rosulatum:

This flower has an intense, gardenia-like scent.  Unfortunately, there should be no scent.  I dunno what that means, but I am very accepting of the gift.  That little guy to the left of the P. rosulatum, Matalea cyclophyllus, has a rotting-meat scented flower.  Can't all be winners.

Still, I am counting this year as a win.  I have only killed two plants, one of which, really wasn't my fault.  Unlike most Crassulae, the 'special' ones tend to die after flowering.  I was an unsuccessful pollinator, so I did not get any seeds to ensure my progeny.  I would take it in stride, but arthropods with underdeveloped cerebrums seem to do this just fine.  Whatever.  They have smaller hips and so, can actually wiggle in towards the necessary anatomy.  I blame my genetic heritage.

A selection for your amusement (feel free to ignore)  Also, the P's stand for poisonous.  The Adeniums are used to tip arrows for hunting.  See, I said I was getting something out of the relationship:

Adenium arabicum (Shada) P: loses leaves in fall, leaves grow in late spring, water infrequently when dormant and frequently when it is growing, let dry between waterings, this plant has two growing seasons (April to July, August to Nov), rare

Adenium obesum P: loses leaves in fall, leaves grow in late Spring, water infrequently when dormant and frequently when it is growing, let dry between waterings

Adenium somalense P:water occasionally while losing leaves and dormant, water infrequently when leafing begins, but water frequently when it is hot, loses all leaves by February and sends out new leaves in late spring, this plant has two growing seasons (April to July, August to Feb)

Aloe conifera: water occasionally throughout year, avoid direct sun, winter flowering of yellow, sweet scented, corn-cob resembling flower, rare

Aloe deltoideodonta var. candicans: water occasionally in summer and rarely in winter, summer grower, avoid direct sunlight, red and white flowers, rare

Aloe laeta: winter grower, water less in summer and reduce amount of light, rare

            Died after over-watering during summer dormancy 8.2014.

Avonia alstonii ssp. quinaria: slow growing, stays short, flowers late spring to early fall, pink flowers that open in the heat of late afternoon, very water sensitive so only do light, flowering, rare, infrequent waterings in cold weather and light, frequent watering when hot

Beaucarnea (formerly Nolinia) gracilis: infrequent  watering year round, full to partial sun, caudex form rare

Cissus tuberosa: loses leaves in fall, grows new leaves and vines in late spring, water occasionally when dormant but frequently in summer, keep pot small and watering shallow to encourage caudex growth, can prune aggressively

Cotyledon paniculata (now Tylecodon paniculata, Botterboom or Butter Tree) P: dormant in summer, water infrequently when dormant and remove from direct light, put in direct light when leafing begins in late fall and water frequently, red, tube-like flowers at end of growing season, slow growing, rare

Crassula pyramidalis: bloom in late spring and then die, grow from cuttings like other crassula, mist seeds to start them in well-draining soil, water frequently, red tint on leaves in direct light

            Died after flowering 8.2014, no successful propagation

Cremnosedum (Little Gem): moderate water year round, spreads to a low mat of rosettes, leaves turn bright red in direct sun, yellow flowers in late summer into early winter

Euphorbia milli var. milli P: dryer in winter/spring, fewer leaves

Euphorbia obesa P: almost dry in winter, infrequent water in summer, can scorch in direct sun

Euphorbia susannae P: clumping mound of offshoots, occasional watering year round with a decrease in winter, prefers indirect sunlight, do not water when hot because plant is dormant, use extreme care when handling due to potent sap

Fenestraria aurantiacia (Baby’s Toes): moderate watering year round, let soil dry between waterings, needs full to partial sun, yellow flowers in early winter

Gasteria batesiana (Black Belle): infrequent watering year round but frequent in hot weather, leaves turn red/black in strong light

Gasteria obtusa forma variegata (Fuji Yuki): water frequently, acquired after cold damaged

Haworthia magnifica var. atrofusca: occasional watering year round and do not allow to dry, can take light shade to partial sunlight, turns purple to red in strong light, rare

Haworthia scabra var. starkiana: occasional watering year round and do not allow to dry, prefers light shade but will turn red to yellow in strong light, offsets slowly, rare

Lithops karasmontanas var. aiaisensis (Orange Ice): moderate watering year round, let soil dry between waterings, in full sun the color will be red and grey while in partial sun it will be green and peach, white flowers in the winter

Lithops lesliei var. rubrobrunnea: moderate watering year round, let soil dry between waterings, in full sun it will be purple and pink

Lithops lesliei var. lesliei: moderate watering year round, let soil dry between waterings, in full sun it will be light green to pale blue

Matalea cyclophyllus: light shade, loses all leaves in mid fall and grows leaves in late spring, light watering when dormant and frequent watering otherwise, flowers dark purple and smell like rotting meat, rare

Pachypodium densiflorum var. densiflorum: yellow, unscented flowers in May, never loses all leaves during winter, water all year (heavy in hot weather and less in cold) but let dry between waterings

Pachypodium lamerei: more dry months than densiflorium and rosulatum (leaves start in June), otherwise same watering, light, and temperature, will get to height of 2.5 m, will not flower until mature (at least 1.5 m)

Pachypodium lamerei var. ramosum: almost to completely loses all leaves in winter (unlike rosulatum and densiflorium) but grows new leaves in late spring, otherwise care is same as for rosulatum tall) and densiflorium, stays dwarf, will not flower until mature (at least 1.5 m)

Pachypodium rosulatum var. nova: yellow, unscented flowers, never loses all leaves during winter, water all year (heavy in hot weather and less in cold) but let dry between waterings.  Waterings season.  Roots should not be allowed to remain submerged in water or damp should be between a tablespoon to half a cup of water, depending on growing material between waterings. If new leaves are black in color, then plant day.  Do not let plant get below 55 deg. F, except for brief periods. is too dry and getting too much sun.  Keep plant in South-facing window (preferable) or East-facing.  Allow plant to receive direct light during

            Deacquisitioned, 7.2014

Pachypodium rosulatum var. rosulatum: yellow, scented flowers in early June (supposed to be unscented flowers but these are quite sweet), never loses all leaves during winter, water all year (heavy in hot weather and less in cold) but let dry between waterings

Pleiospilos nelii: water frequently but let dry between waterings (less in cold weather), turns pink in direct light

Pseudolithos migiurtinus: needs strong light but not full sun, very infrequent watering in cold weather, shallow frequent watering in warm weather, ventilate after watering, red flowers that smell like rotting meat, do not let it get cold

Sedum frutescens (Joshua Tree Sedum): full sun, occasional watering year round (a tablespoon in cold weather and half-cup in hot weather, about once a week), do not allow roots to remain submerged in only trim old growth in spring water between waterings, white flowers in summer, can be used for bonsai

            Deacquisitioned, 7.2014

Senecio kleiniiformis: water moderately throughout the year but let soil dry between waterings, prefers indirect sun, pale yellow flowers, can develop caudex

Schizobasis intricata P: very drought tolerant, self-pollinating flowers all year, occasional watering year round

Veltheimia bracteata (Forest Lily, Sand Onion, or Red-Hot Poker): summer dormant, prefers indirect light and shade, can tolerate low temperatures, water occasionally year round while decreasing the watering during dormancy, begins to lose leaves in spring, begins leafing in Nov.

Xerosicyos danguyi (Silver Dollar Plant/Vine): succulent vine from a gourd, occasional watering year round, full to partial shade, light green flowers in spring