I always glued my headbands with a brush until I saw a video from a binder in Kyoto

For years, I used a small brush to spread paste on my headbands, which often left them lumpy or uneven. Then last month, I watched a video where a binder in Kyoto used her finger to press and smooth the paste directly onto the spine. I tried it on my next project, a small poetry book, and the headband went on perfectly flat with no gaps. Has anyone else switched to applying paste by hand for things like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

fox.david1mo ago

Honestly, I was so proud of my lumpy brush technique for ages... felt like a real artisan. Now I just feel like a guy who didn't know he could use his hands.

patriciap521mo ago

Felt like a real artisan" is doing a lot of work there. So what if the brush technique was lumpy. It got the job done, right? This whole idea of a "right" way to do things is overblown. You were making stuff, that's what counts. Calling it a wrong way just takes the fun out of it.

martin.paige1mo ago

My friend felt like a real artisan with his special way of stirring paint. Turns out he was just holding the stick wrong the whole time.