A visit to the old library in Salem made me see book spines differently

I stopped by the Salem Public Library last week to look at their local history section. While pulling a book from the shelf, I noticed the spine on a 1920s edition was sewn with a different pattern than I use. It had six sewing stations instead of my usual four, and the thread was a flat linen, not round. The way it held up after all these years, with barely any sag, really stuck with me. It made me wonder if that extra support is worth the added time on modern projects. Has anyone else switched their sewing style after seeing how older bindings have lasted?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenar1418d ago

That bit about the flat linen thread is interesting. Makes me wonder if the paper they used back then was heavier, so the binding had to be tougher from the start.

webb.jordan18d ago

Actually a lot of early paper was pretty thin and fragile. The flat linen thread was more about the sewing frame method they used, not the paper weight.