How to Attach one Piece of Thread to Another

When sewing the textblock a binder frequently finds him/herself without enough length of thread to complete the work. What to do? Well, the binder must attach another length of thread to the end of the previous one so that he/she can continue uninterrupted.

The images below demonstrate one popular method of doing this (I’ve had to use it a lot). I don’t know what method Byzantine binders used—the sources do not say as far as I can tell, but I imagine it was not too different.

Here's the string...

Now make Mr. P...

Now Mr. P "bows" so that the loop touches the straight part of the thread...

Now pull the straight part of the thread through the loop of Mr P...

Hold the threads down so that it looks like this...

Tighten up the loop...

Insert the old thread through the loop...

Tighten up the loop until you hear a "pop"--which means it's done. Now back to sewing!