FREE SHIPPING on orders over $75
Every piece of paper is counted to create a signature. A signature refers to a set amount of pages that have been folded together.
I use a leather punch and hand rivet each snap for my luxury lines of hand sewn notebooks.
Here I am using a wooden jig to hand cut a faux leather cover.
Every piece of paper is counted to create a signature. A signature refers to a set amount of pages that have been folded together.
ABOUT the BOOKBINDER & OWNER Sara Charles
Hi! I am Sara Charles - professional book binder and stationery eunthisiast for over 13 years. I am the owner of Paper Chain Stationery and Book Bindery.
All the time I am asked how I became a book binder. So here is the quick version of my story...
While studying photography at the University of Oklahoma, I was introduced to book binding. I immediately loved it, but my focus was on photography and my career path was to be an educator and artist. In 2010, I earned my MFA from Indiana University and started teaching full time at IUPUI. After my year long contract ended, I decided to travel for a month by bicycle. In 2011, I moved to Asheville, North Carolina. I had no access to photography facilities and so I picked up bookmaking again. All I needed was paper, a needle, and some thread.
Orignally, I am from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I moved to Lexington, North Carolina in 2021 with my husband and son. We have 1 dog and two cats. When I am not making books, I can be found at the YMCA exercising or at home cooking or drinking bourbon.
I did a six month apprenticeship under Azalea Bindery in Asheville, NC. In addition, I have taken several workshops and classes at John C. Campbell Folk School and the now closed Asheville Bookworks. In 2013 I started my own book bindery, Original Brooks. In 2026, I opened the brick-and-mortar store Paper Chain and renamed the book bindery.
I have always felt a connection to books, whether writing in a blank journal or reading a novel. As a child, I enjoyed a visit to the library and spent countless hours at my neighborhood bookstore. In high school, I made and sold ‘zines and in college and graduate school I created artist books. The connection I felt to books in my early years still continues. Now in my early 40s, I own a book bindery and stationery store.
