Hit 500 coptic stitch bindings and I'm calling it a plateau, not a win

I counted my bindery log yesterday and I'm at 500 coptic stitch books since I started two years ago in Austin. Everyone posts about hitting numbers like this as a milestone, but honestly I feel like I stopped learning around book 350. The last 150 all came out fine, but they look identical to each other, same thread tension, same cover alignment, same mistakes I couldn't be bothered to fix. Is there a way to break out of a rut when you've done the same stitch that many times, or do I just need to switch to a different binding style for a few months?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

robert_anderson692mo ago

Plateauing at 350 out of 500 sounds about right. That's the point where muscle memory takes over and your brain stops paying attention. Try binding something small and weird, like a matchbox or a business card, with the same stitch. The size change forces you to think about every step again. Or just do 50 in a row with zero thread, see how the covers hold up on their own. That'll break the autopilot real quick. Honestly, switching styles is fine too, but the real trick is messing with the scale and materials before you give up on coptic altogether.

7