cookbook project

a while back, a customer approached me about re-binding an old beloved cookbook for her friend. i warned her that i had zero experience in this type of thing, but she reassured me that she's seen my books and has faith in my abilities. how nice!

i got the (old, stained, falling apart) cookbook and after surveying the scene, realized that it wasn't in as bad of shape as i originally envisioned. the pages weren't falling out, but the spine was a totally wreck. i decided to get a couple of titles on restoring/preserving books to see if there were any tips or big NO-NOs that i should avoid.

i've been working on deconstructing the book and am coming across many challenges. i carefully detached the covers, which i am going to preserve and re-bind, and the process left me with an uncomfortable & old feeling. i really didn't like "destroying" this book, even though it was a crumbly mess. it had character & was obviously well loved.

my next big task is breaking down the spine - so i've removed parts of the spine and am currently battling dried glue. a 9" x 2" section. which doesn't sound like much. except when i'm trying to carefully remove yellowed pieces of yuckiness and they only come off in 1mm bits. 18 square inches suddenly becomes an eternity.

i debated on taking a picture of the book in process...but decided against it. mostly because i should have taken a "before" pic already & completely forgot (which i do quite regularly with other makeover projects) and also because to book is looking rather vulnerable right now. all naked without its covers. i don't want to make it feel bad. to give you an idea of how it looked (aah, the joys of the internet), here's a similar picture:

just imagine this, but without anything covering the spine. (picture credit)

so wish me luck on this project, because i am gonna need it. after the glue removal, i'll be taking apart the sewing. eek!