Butterfly Booklaces

My friend Sue saw the Butterfly Booklaces by Brooke Hunter-Lombardi in the May/June issue of Somerset Studio and wanted us to make some as our Saturday project.

Basically booklaces are little books the size and shape of butterfiles on a long ribbon worn as a necklace.

The instructions in the article were pretty basic so there were some things we had to work out along the way. I took a trial run and made a little square book first using some quilt wrapping paper. I would send this one to my grandmother as a birthday greeting.

I used embroidery floss for binding the book and some beautiful varigated ribbon for the necklace. The pages are a text weight cream with a lilac dotted swiss for endpapers.


I cut a 4" x 3" piece of the quilt wrapping paper for the cover. Since the wrapping paper was so thin, I mounted it on some card stock. I then cut out one 4" x 3" end paper from the lilac dotted swiss and (6) 4" x 3" pages out of the cream text weight. I folded all the pages and cover to make a 2" x 3" book.


With the cover and pages assembled tightly, I clipped along the open edge with binder clips. Using a Japanese screw punch, I punched 4 small holes 1/4" from the spine. The instructions recommending binding the book using Japanese stab binding with waxed linen. I used the embroidery floss instead.


The instructions indicated that you could thread the ribbon down through the threads of the binding. I didn't see how this was possible and, if it was, it would weaken the binding. Instead, I laid the ribbon along the spine and sewed around it when I did the stab binding. It was difficult to hold it in place but, once I got the first stitch in, it was easier.


When Sue and I got together, we each made a couple of books. Using the stamp I carved a couple of weeks ago, I stamped the inside covers of my book. The outside of my butterfly book (see picture above) is covered with Japanese lace paper. I hoped this would give it an organic look. Sue had an old beaded belt that I took a couple of strands from to make a tail.




Sue creates a lot like my friend Erin. She lets the materials talk to her and just creates. Before starting, I completely plan out my project from beginning to end. When you compare our two butterfly books you can see the difference. Hers looks like a butterfly, like it's flying. Mine looks like a book. Organic vs. planned. I hope one day to be able to work more organically.