My friend in Portland said hand sewing is a waste of time for modern bindings

We were talking about my latest project, a 300 page case binding, and he said a good adhesive and a sturdy machine stitch is just as strong and way faster. He argued that the old ways just add hours for no real benefit. It made me stop and think about when tradition matters and when it's just extra work. What do you all think, is hand sewing still the gold standard or are we holding onto it too tight?

3 comments

3 Comments

corastone12h ago

Your friend has a point about speed, but craig.viola nailed it about the process being the point. A machine makes a book, but hand sewing makes your book. The extra hours are what turns a project into something personal.

brookeellis18h ago

Craig.viola is onto something with the cat thing, mine chews on my linen thread like it's a fancy treat. That whole debate about speed versus tradition reminds me of my grandpa fixing his old truck. He'd spend a whole day hand-filing a part you could buy for five bucks, swearing the new one wouldn't fit right. Sometimes the right way is the slow way because you learn the why of it. A machine stitch might hold the pages, but learning the hand method teaches you how a book is really built, you know? Then you can choose which way to go.

craig.viola20h ago

Okay, your friend saying it's "just extra work" makes me laugh. I've spent whole weekends hand sewing only to have my cat attack the thread. The old ways can feel like a huge waste of time, I get it. But for me, that slow process IS the benefit. My machine-made books feel like products, but my hand-sewn ones feel like they have my actual breath in them. Maybe the gold standard isn't about being the strongest, but about making a thing that's truly yours.