Paper Making and Art Journals

The projects in this post started out as an experiment in upcycling fabric scraps into a usable "paper" product.

I began my quest with a search on Pintrest.  I was not disappointed as I found numerous recipes and ideas for making paper from fabric.  

What I settled on was a recipe for a homemade glue using flour, water, sugar and vinegar. I used a recipe I found at SustainableEcho. The instructions on this site were clear and easy to use. The recipe made a smooth mixture, was easy to make and used ingredients that were at hand.  If you are looking for other ideas there are many similar recipes available from other sites.

I made two sheets of fabric paper each with different fabrics but both appr. 11" X 35".  One batch of the glue mixture was used for whole project. Above is a detail of one of my fabrics.  This piece is a combination of two layers of hand dyed cheese cloth with lace, paper fashion sewing tissue, and small fabric scraps sandwiched in between. 

One of the interesting qualities of this piece of fabric  is how light it is. I wasn't expecting to be able to sew it on my domestic sewing machine.  Being able to sew on it enabled me to make pockets and add cording for an embellishment.

My second handmade fabric was a bit thicker.  For this fabric I used the same glue mixture but with a large piece of lace for the back and a piece of cotton patchwork for the front. The patchwork area is a combination of scraps of hand dyes from other projects. Because this piece is so much thicker I wouldn't suggest trying to sew on it with your machine.

My finished project is an art journal, using my handmade fabric to cover a basic composition notebook. I have done a few doodles and embellishments and foresee adding more as I use my  journal.

I really enjoyed this project and like my two fabric papers.  Unfortunately I do feel like they weren't exactly what I had in mind.  I was looking for more of a sheet paper for writing on.  So the search goes on for more ideas for making fabric paper.  I hope you will be back to see where my search may take me.

Have a wonderful day,

MaryEllen