Am I the only one who struggles with thread tension on thick paper?

My stitches keep coming out loose on the spine. How do you guys handle this?

3 comments

3 Comments

Oh man, my first try at a leather journal looked like a toddler sewed it after three cups of juice. The thread just gave up and made a sad little nest on the spine. Sometimes I wonder if the paper is judging my life choices. Tried adjusting the tension about a hundred times before it finally kind of worked, and even then it wasn't pretty.

elliot6073mo ago

Disagree on judging your first attempt like that. See those messy stitches as proof you were figuring things out hands on. My first bookbinding project had glue in places glue should never go, but now I appreciate how much I learned from that disaster. Perfection straight out the gate would mean you didn't push any limits or try anything new. That tangled nest on the spine is just your first step, not a final grade.

wren6523mo ago

Actually, @elliot607 has a point about the glue disaster. My first journal had pages that fused together from too much paste, so opening it felt like breaking a secret code. The cover was so off-center it looked like it was trying to escape the book. Those messed up steps taught me more than any perfect tutorial ever could. Now when I see that sad thread nest, I just nod like it's an old friend who means well. It's all part of the process, and each weird stitch is a reminder of how far you've come.