Woven headbands are now to be had so cheap that it is no longer necessary for the binder to make his own. The cheaper kinds are woven of cotton, and of these there are bands made which have two pads, each edge having a different color. This band is cut along the middle for use; for the rest, it is cut into pieces according to the width of the book and then glued on to the back. Better kinds in silk are only woven on one side; therefore the cutting asunder is not necessary. For work in quantities, the headbands are cut the size of the back with the adjustable headband shears.

For extra work the headband is hand worked in silk. This work can only be learned by practice, although its execution is not difficult; such books are only head banded after boarding.

To make the filling for the headband, cut into strips pieces of vellum which have been pasted together, between which a piece of tough, thin pasteboard may be pasted to further strengthen. These strips are cut a little less than the height of the squares and a little longer than the width of the back. So as to facilitate the work, the strip is at once curved to the rounding of the back.

Take two silk threads of the kind sold as "Cordonnet" silk, each thread of a different color. Both threads are threaded in a sewing needle, the threads taken double, the ends of both double threads knotted together. The book is clamped in the ends of a press and stands slanting little outwards. The needle is inserted in the back groove of the first sheet at the left hand underneath the kettle stitch and the thread drawn out to the knots. Thus one thread is always above and another below. The strip of vellum is now placed upright on the outside edge of the head; the thread is brought over from below, and is stitched from above to below close to the head, with the hanging needle through the first sheet under the kettle stitch outwards. Bring the same thread once more up over the strip, let the needle hang in the hollow of the fore-edge, taking in its stead the other thread which takes up the first, bringing it out underneath the vellum strip. By this, the first thread is firmly drawn as a chain stitch into the headband now beginning. The second thread is now brought upwards but need not again be taken through the sheet; it is taken back under the vellum strip once, and at the second time the needles are changed in the hollow as the first thread one more takes up the second thread and draws it into a chain. Thus the work goes on ; after several journeys the thread is once again drawn out through a sheet until both threads are brought out at the other end of the back and pasted down. The first knots must also be undone and the ends pasted so that they do not show on the back. It is essential that the vellum strips should be always firmly and evenly sewn upon the edge, and also that every winding of the thread and the chain lies quite regular.

It is possible to make a variation by making a few stitches with a third thread of another color in the centre of the headband. Any vellum projecting at the ends must be cut off flush with the book.

Some books are given a marker; this is made of silk ribbon or of a cheaper kind specially woven for the purpose. It is cut long enough to allow of its projecting a little at the head and pasted there, and at the same time comfortably held by the finger at the corner diagonally opposite. The marker is glued on before head banding.

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