troyjackson•28d agoMost Upvoted

French link stitch vs Coptic stitch for a 400 page journal I bound last week

I tried both on the same paper and the French link held way tighter with less sag in the spine, anyone else find one method clearly stronger for thicker books?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_campbell27d ago

yeah french link is definitely the way to go for anything over 300 pages. I did a 500 page sketchbook last year and the coptic just started drooping after a few months, the spine was all loose and the pages didnt lay flat anymore. french link locks those sections together way better because youre actually going through the previous section's thread each time instead of just linking them at the kettle stitches. the trick is to keep your tension really consistent and not pull too tight on the french link though, i learned that the hard way when my first try had the spine all puckered and weird. also if youre using heavy text paper like 80lb or thicker make sure youre not skipping any holes cause that'll throw the whole thing off balance.

wrenwilson24d ago

oh yeah, puckered and weird is definitely a look. mine looked like it had been through a washing machine with a brick. i spent like two hours on that first french link just to rip it all out and start over, which is basically a rite of passage at this point. the real fun is when you get three sections in and realize your tension is way off, but youre too stubborn to undo it so you just have this lumpy spine thatll haunt you every time you open the book. but hey, character, right?