Shoutout to the person who taught me grain direction matters on bookcloth

I was binding this little poetry collection for a friend, and after I glued up the spine, the cloth just rippled weird on the boards. I thought it was the glue or my technique, but I rewatched an old video from DAS Bookbinding and realized I'd cut the cloth with the grain running the wrong way. Now I always do a quick bend test before cutting, and it saves so much headache. Has anyone else had a project fight back because of grain direction?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantw3229d ago

Yeah but grain direction on bookcloth is actually grain of the paper backing not the cloth itself.

the_sam29d ago

Actually it goes deeper than that. The cloth itself has a grain from the weaving process, which is usually the warp direction. That grain in the fabric and the paper backing grain can be different if they didn't align them during manufacturing. Most bookcloth makers do keep them the same, but it's not guaranteed. You can actually feel the difference if you handle enough cloth, the fabric grain is stiffer than the paper grain.

lunag3028d ago

Paper grain matters more for how it folds, cloth grain is just the weave pattern.