Name: Creative Class - Hardcover Japanese Stab Binding
Start: 2026-03-22T13:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-03-22T15:30:00-05:00
Location: 1301 3rd st SE, Cedar Rapids, IA, United States, Iowa 52401

Creative Class - Hardcover Japanese Stab Binding

In this class you’ll learn how to create beautiful hand-bound books through the process of Japanese stab binding (JSB). Books made with this technique have an exposed spine and use decorative stitching to bind single sheets of paper together with a front and back cover.
For this class, we’ll borrow some materials and techniques from traditional bookbinding, including use of binder’s board, bookcloth, and decorative endsheets. This will allow us to create books with hinged front and back covers, as durable as they are lovely.
We’ll walk you through the process step-by-step, which includes creating a 2-piece hinge for each cover, turning in your bookcloth, gluing the endsheets, screw punching your covers and pages, and executing a classic 4-hole stitch.
At the end of the class, you’ll leave with a finished handmade book that can be used for sketching, journaling, or scrapbooking. All materials will be provided, but you can also bring your own if there’s something specific you’d like to incorporate.
The course is suitable for bookbinders of all skill levels, though some basic experience with either bookbinding or paper crafts would be helpful.
Please register for the class at farmhouseartcollective.org/classes at least 24 hours in advance if possible. This helps ensure we have the correct amount of materials prepared :)
Tickets are $20. If you’re interested in taking this class, but find ticket price to be a barrier, there are a limited number of spots available for volunteer assistants. Please contact Missa at [email protected] if you’d like to volunteer.
Missa has taught bookbinding to a wide range of people, from casual art clubs to home school students to college classes. She designs and creates books and zines for herself and others, publishing under the imprint First and Last Draft Press.
She is the Owner of Tree of Liminality and Cofounder of Farmhouse Art Collective.