Bathymetric Chart Journal: An underwater topography map!

Bathymetric Nautical Chart Journal 1

I just love the gradation on this cover from dark to light and it just so happens that my light blue waxed linen thread matches really well!

So earlier I posted a sneak peek of an up close look at the chain stitching on a coptic stitch journal I’ve been working on. Actually, I’ve been working on a bunch! A lovely student of one of my bookbinding classes gave me all of these absolutely gorgeous bathymetric charts that her workplace was going to recycle. A bathymetric chart shows under water topography in shades of blue, with depths marked in feet. Gorgeous.

nautical chart journal view of the stitching really nicely

This picture shows off the symmetry of the stitching very nicely.

 

blue nautical chart journal

I'm quite proud of how nicely tensioned the stitching is in this coptic stitch book - yikes, you should have seen some of the first coptic stitch books I made!

 

More nautical charts for the endpapers. These charts were a little thin - it's important to keep the weight of the paste-downs and cover paper the SAME or very close to the same, or you risk warping your boards, so I went with the same chart, but a different darker part.

nautical chart endpapersThe

This book is one of a kind, and it’s currently listed for sale (SOLD but I do have other bathymetric chart books in my Etsy shop). There’s a sister book with a similar cover but WHITE stitching instead of blue, here. Which do you like better? I’m torn – the blue certainly photographs better, but in real life the white provides a subtle contrast with the filler paper that I like as well!

About the Author

Ruth

5 Comments

Jamie

In this case I like the blue – LOVE the contrast of the stitches against the spine. You’re so lucky to get all of these charts! = )

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Helen

Very beautiful this book. Hard to say which color thread I prefer. Think it’s blue, but that can be because of the photo. Hope to try coptic stitches in the near future.

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Ruth

Helen, Coptic stitch can be frustrating at first but if you stick to it, it’s a really fun binding, and nice because you can make the covers well ahead of the rest of the book, so you don’t have to make the whole thing at once.

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