Make a book snake

Of the countless activities available for those of us preservation-minded, nothing quite delights as much as book snakes.

“Snakes” are great for gently holding open book pages for repairs, or, if in a cradle, to be used for readers’ use. They also (and I speak from experience) are a handy tool to have while trying to lay open a folded map.

The materials for this are relatively easy – you may or may not even want to deal with a sewing machine; I also found numerous instructions out there on what to ‘fill’ your snake with – some recommend rice or beans (I would steer clear of either of these – while this organic material is lovely and will break down, for this activity I would lean heavily on the “Go Inert!” before “Go Green!”

My friend S.J. Wolfe recommended filling it with any of the following:

Small stones

Steel shot (not lead)

Polyethylene Pellets (as in what make the beanie baby ‘beanie’)

For the exterior you may want to use:

Unbleached cotton

Felt

Velvet

All I can say is, have fun with this – I made mine wiggle, gave it a tongue and, of course, eyes (another caveat – some sites suggest adding accessories such as button eyes, glued on pieces, etc. – while I am all about limitless creativity for this its best to err on the side of caution – you’d hate to tear pages with a button-eye while trying to preserve the spine). 

Supplies - needle and thread, fabric, filler, scissors; sewing machine (optional)

Fold felt/fabric and cut to your desired length and width

If you are using the fold, sew up along the side and bottom of your snake (if you cut out a specific shape - just make sure three of the four sides are well-sewn; you want to leave one opening large enough for a funnel to fit in

Trim away felt

Using a funnel, pour in your filler (I used polyethylene pellets) - make sure not to over-fill, you want the stuffing to have a little give so it can drape over the side of a book.

Stitch across the opening at the bottom; sew on (by hand) the eyes and tongue (feel free to use a different color felt).