Coptic Book Binding
Adult jumpstART Workshop | Registration opens Monday, February 9, 2026 8:00 AM EST
Students will learn how to use a curved needle, waxed thread, and paper to create journals using the coptic bookbinding technique. This workshop will cover the basics of sewing a coptic binding, kettle-stitching, paper-folding, measuring through folds, and general troubleshooting. By the end, students will walk away with a blank handbound journal of their own.
What you will learn:
- How to use folded paper for measurement
- How to kettle-stitch
- How to bind a soft-cover book using the coptic binding technique
- Curved needles
- Waxed thread
- Paper (Loose Leaf Drawing Paper or Watercolor Paper)
- Colored or Patterned Cardstock (for bookcovers)
- Bookbinding Awl or Similar Tool
- Bone Folder
Ally Messer
Ally Messer is an interdisciplinary artist and maker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2017, Messer co-founded Laika Press, a cooperative, community-based print shop aimed at increasing accessibility to printmaking in her hometown of Reno, NV. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Nevada, Reno and an MFA in Fibers and Material Studies from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally.
Dedicated to storytelling, Messer's work often takes the form of books, zines, animation, puppetry, and installation. Her most recent body of work highlights instances of care and reciprocity in communities of species-not-our-own; with the hope that humans may learn from the entangled world how to better support one another in this time of ecological crisis.
https://www.allymesser.com/