No. 2: The sound of a stitch
Fold with the grain. It matters more than you would think.
Several of you wrote about paper grain. Apparently I am not the only person who spent an hour trying to make a sheet lie flat that had been folded the wrong way.
This week
The first of the signatures is folded, seven of them in all, and they are stacked on a shelf under a plank. I did the folding in one evening with a bone folder and the radio off. I can report that nothing improves a paper fold like silence.
The sewing begins on Monday. I am using waxed linen thread, a curved needle and a wooden frame borrowed from the workshop, and I am slightly afraid of all three.
One thing to listen to
Not a recording: the sound of your own hands. Next time you are doing something small and repetitive, such as peeling potatoes, folding laundry or shuffling cards, turn off everything else and listen to the rhythm. A good motion is regular. A wrong one has a hitch in it. I have started to use this as a test of whether I am paying attention, and it is humbling.
A reader asks
Maya wrote: “Is it worth buying a bone folder, or can I use a spoon?” A spoon works. Use the back of it, and expect to shine the paper slightly. A plastic folder is better than a spoon and a bone one is better than plastic, but you can begin with whatever you own. The tool is secondary to the attention.
A small thing. The second essay, on sewing, goes out on Monday. If you are subscribed to essays as well as the letter it will arrive in your inbox. If you are not, it will be on the site by breakfast.
N.