Saving Sherlock Holmes

Fanbinding: Saving Sherlock Holmes by earlgreytea68

This project took me so long that the title page still says “Print edition by nianeyna — 2021” even though I finished it in February 2022, because I did the printing and folding back in October and then chucked it all in a box for four or five months while I faffed off to play final fantasy xiv like it was my job. Got there in the end though!

Major thanks to earlgreytea68 herself for helping me brainstorm the cover design — this one really stumped me for a while there, and I felt like I was really floundering for an artistic direction. But in the end I really like the way it turned out — the mix of modern (the flat back, the bright colors, the whimsical endpapers) and classic (the florentine print, the cloth corners, the sewn headbands) is something that feels very true to the fic itself — taking place more or less in the modern day, but in the midst of antique surroundings.

This was my first time doing a flat back on a thicker book, and I think it went pretty well! I’ve seen people say that you shouldn’t do a flat back on a book more than maybe 1⁄2 inch thick because of the swell, but I didn’t wind up having problems with that. I did press it flat pretty vigorously in between every step and used thin thread for sewing, so that probably helped.

Another first was the sewn headbands — previously I’ve always used pre-made ones that were just glued on. I was a little nervous about the process, and it is fiddly, but it went pretty well! I just used embroidery floss this time, but since it wasn’t a disaster I’ve since bought some nice buttonhole silk for future projects.

I made two copies — one for myself and one for the author.