My attempt at a 'quick' kettle stitch with a toddler in the room

I was trying to finish a small notebook yesterday, just a simple kettle stitch to close the signatures. My three year old was playing quietly, or so I thought. I turned around for maybe ten seconds to grab my bone folder, and when I looked back, she had very carefully 'helped' by putting a whole row of those big, chunky toddler stickers right down the spine. I had to carefully peel each one off, and the glue left this weird, shiny patch on the leather. Has anyone found a good way to clean sticker residue off book cloth without damaging it?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyattbennett1mo agoMost Upvoted

That shiny patch might be a happy accident. In my experience, that kind of personal mark from your kid becomes the best part of the book later on. Trying to clean it could damage the cloth more. The sticker glue is part of the story now. My old workshop notebooks have coffee rings and pencil jabs, and they mean more to me than perfect ones. Sometimes the quick project with a toddler nearby gives you a memory you can’t plan.

theagarcia1mo ago

You're right about the sticker glue being part of the story now. A friend of mine was so upset when her daughter drew on the cover of a favorite cookbook with a marker. She tried everything to clean it, but it just smudged. Years later, that book is the one her now-teenager always asks for when she comes home, pointing at the little blue squiggle. It's exactly what @wyattbennett said, those marks become the best part. She would have lost that memory if she'd managed to get it perfectly clean.