Instructor: Bari Zaki

No group Zoom workshops are currently scheduled. That said, the full-length live recording is available, either on its own, or with the option of scheduling a private or semiprivate workshop (in addition to the recording). No previous bookbinding experience is necessary; a bit of glueing experience is a plus. See the dropdowns below for pricing.

What you’ll make: A pair of albums whose “pages” are a set of elegant hand-folded envelopes. Perfect for arranging & annotating a series of letters received, or organizing photos, or cataloguing seeds for your spring garden, or filing ephemera and other small crafty supplies. Your album will open entirely flat, so you can access your envelopes’ contents with ease (and delight).

About the structure: Measures 5½ x 7½ x ¾, with 7 hand-folded envelopes bound in using the multi-needle Coptic-stitch. For your envelopes, I share my “paper sandwich” technique, which provides elegant sturdiness.

Part #1: We begin by hand-folding an envelope without a template, using a piece of practice paper. Next you will learn how to make a “paper sandwich” with the Hahnemuhle Bugra + adhesive sheet + Wanderlust Paper. You will make six more sandwiches, each from a different Wanderluscious design. These will become your 7 hand-folded envelopes, which in turn become the “pages” of your book. You are welcome to take a mini-break (to s-t-r-e-t-c-h & rotate your wrists), before glueing your front & back covers with Wanderlust Paper, so they’ll be pressed and ready for stitching.

Part #2: You will begin by preparing the covers & envelopes for stitching. Next you will use the multi-needle Coptic-stitch to bind in the envelopments. After you finish stitching you will adhere the side flaps, securing & completing the envelopments—Oh-là-là!

Your kit includes all the materials (but not the tools) you’ll need to make two collector’s albums:

4 bookboards cut to size for your covers (5½ x 7½ )

4 sheets of Wanderlust Paper cut to size for your covers (7 x 10)

14 sheets of Hahnemühle Bugra for 7 paper sandwiches (10 x 13)

14 sheets of Wanderluscious papers for your sandwiches (10 x 13)

14 double-adhesive sheets (the sandwich “filling”) (10 x 13)

2 spools of complementary 7-ply waxed-linen threads 

1 sheet of Cambridge Imprint petite labels

2 curved needles

The 3 cover combinations shown here (left to right) are Navy Stars & Pink Gingham, Blue Flora & Pink Flora, and Blue Gingham & Green Flora. Please order from the dropdown menu below. If you’d like to purchase an additional set of materials, you certainly can. However, you cannot accomplish this in the dropdown menu (because one set of materials is included with the workshop fee). So, please e me, and I will be in touch extremely promptly. It’s $145 per additional set. Shipping is gratis if you order at the same time as your workshop registration.

Tools needed: Bonefolder, lightweight awl, medium awl, X-acto knife. My Bookbinding tool kit Coptic or Japanese has all the tools you’ll need. You can also purchase these items individually, and I am pleased to offer a 20% discount on any tools ordered for the workshop (via refund after your workshop purchase).

Ancillary tools needed: PVA glue, glue-brush, ruler, triangle ruler, pair of sharp scissors, pencil, scrap paper for glueing on, and a cutting mat. And your phone to take photos of your oeuvre in progress!

If you have the necessary tools but are in need of the glue & glue brush, you’ll find them in a separate shop listing here.

This two-part recording (because it is a two-part workshop) is 8-ish hours in total. Both parts include the “natural pauses” from the original workshop sessions, giving you time to complete the various steps. You can pause the video wherever and as often as you’d like, but you may not need to at all. You could complete your album in a single sitting, but that would be fairly exhausting.

To schedule a date & time, add this class to your cart, and then email barizakistudio@gmail.com with your preferred date(s) and time of day. Feel free to call or e me with any questions (773-294-7766 or barizakistudio@gmail.com).

I look forward to sharing my long-standing love of bookbinding, glueing, handfolding envelopes, stitching—and my love for Wanderlust papers—with you.