Rant: Why does every tutorial skip how to actually sew the signatures?

I've been watching binding videos for a couple months now, and almost all of them go right from 'here's how you fold the paper' to 'and now here's the finished book block.' They never show the actual sewing process step by step. I taught myself by trial and error on 50 sheets of copy paper, and my first three attempts came out loose and crooked. It took me four tries just to figure out the kettle stitch. I work with my hands every day installing fencing, so I know how to pull thread tight and keep things even, but the videos still skipped over it. Why do people put out tutorials that leave out the hardest part? Has anyone found a resource that actually walks through the sewing without cutting away?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_adams1d ago

I burned through a whole spool of thread on my first try because nobody showed me how much tension was actually needed on the kettle stitch. DAS Bookbinding on YouTube is the only channel I found that finally shows the needle going in and out without fast forwarding through the real work.

the_john13h ago

Yeah but why do they all speed through the actual knotwork though? DAS is the real deal, I agree, but even he sometimes skips the fumbling part where your fingers slip and you gotta rethread. That's the part I need to see, not just the perfect final stitch. The tension thing took me forever to get right too. I ended up snapping three needles before I figured out you need to pull snug but not tight tight.