Friday, January 7, 2011

A letter a week - second alphabet finished!

I have reached the end of my second alphabet and have completed the final piece as well. I had been building a concertina book which would act as an exemplar book for teaching.

I knew it needed a slip case. I knew it needed to be more than a concertina. I left it on its shelf for a few days and walked past it, thought about this, pondered that. Tested a few options with Barry. The process unfurled itself.

In the end its nothing too clever or flash - but it fits its purpose.  I ended up stitching through the valley folds, using the same thread I had used for the letters, making exterior stitches that I could thread tapes through. I made the tapes from two pieces of the main paper. I made a hard cover, covered in rusted braille paper then glued an inner lining to it, just around the edges. I left additional flaps on the concertina, and cut them down so they would slide between the cover and the lining.

It was nice to have the time to to explore all the options and not be rushing towards completion.

I like that it works as a book-book; you can hold it and turn the pages and see the different letters, and it can also be detached and spread out beautifully like a long concertina. I will be able to use it whichever way to display or show the teaching alphabet.

Now onto the first alphabet of 2011!






5 comments:

  1. F - this has come together really well. Love the links between the colours in the pages, covers, threads and box. B

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  2. Lovely! Your craftsmanship and thoughtfulness show in every part.

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  3. Thanks Noela - its nice when pieces are just right for themselves!

    Velma - I'd love to know your solution as well! I enjoyed the time thinking about what I wanted to achieve in an unhurried manner.

    B - Yes, it's nice to bring the elements together and keep them feeling a part of whole not a distinct or random element on its own.

    Thanks Jo - I appreciate you appreciating how it came together! Go well.

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I appreciate your thoughts and comments; thanks for taking the time.