This video is the first in what will be a series of Tips & Tutorials on bookbinding. We begin with a simple but perhaps overlooked topic: how to select the right needle for bookbinding and how to best attach your thread to facilitate ease of sewing. Sewing a book can be accomplished with almost any type of needle, but is made easier if you select one that has a small eye with minimal swell. A needle that bulges at the end will have great difficulty in passing through the stitching holes, which could be made worse by excess thread or bulky knots. Specialty bookbinder's needles are ideal, as they are made specifically to be as slim as possible around the eye. Furthermore, the technique for attaching the thread I demonstrate in this video gives a secure connection with minimal bulk. In this video I am demonstrating attaching a 18/3 waxed linen thread to a #18 bookbinder's needle