Doublures:

Once dry, the doublures were then added to the inside of the boards. The great thing about doublures in Islamic bindings is that they are so varied. Historic Islamic bindings use textile, lacquer, leather, marbled paper, filigree and a range of other materials to finish the inside of the boards, so the design and colours are completely up to you!

I used two pieces of paper cut to the same size as my boards. I also lined the inside of the envelope flap. The paper was wet out so it expanded slightly. It was then pasted up. When adhering, we didn't paste down the last 2cm of paper closest to the spine edge of the board; this eventually formed an inner joint, but again there is infinite variety to this part of the Islamic binding structure!

Jumping quickly to... Board attachment!

We used the two-piece board attachment method, where the two leather flanges extend from the boards and are adhered to overlap on the spine of the textblock. This is a structure which Kristine has observed commonly in small, decorative Islamic bindings. It is best to start with the left-hand (lower) board to ensure it sits squarely with the edges of the text-block. The board is offered up to the textblock, and the pasted leather flange is worked firmly down to the spine. We made sure to work the leather into the joint so that the point where the board hinged was secure and flat. I left this board to dry completely before attaching the second board, lining up the foredges to ensure it all stayed nice and square.