I received a paper making kit for my birthday and I have to say I have enjoyed my foray into recycling paper enormously. I have been getting increasingly upset about the amount of paper I have to dispose of after pasting patterns together, as well as all the envelopes, bills, etc, which I discard.

I read the instructions and watched a few videos, then took a deep dive. I’ve been experimenting with different papers and fibres, as well as shapes and sizes. I began with a simple white A4 sized paper, made from some scrap paper but I added some lavender flowers which I pulverised with the paper. I added some sour grass flowers as well.

And this is my very first sheet of paper before it was dry, so it’s a bit dark. Some of the flowers didn’t pulp down so it looks very clumpy!

I was quite pleased with this, but after five minutes decided it wouldn’t do and tossed it back in the tub. That’s the very best thing about this activity: if you’re not happy, you just start again.

I faffed around practicing my paper pulling and then began adding things. I wanted to make paper with fabric in it, for obvious reasons, so I started with my son’s old linen doona cover that had ripped down the middle – possibly due to neglect. I cut off all the thin and raggy parts, preserving the rest for future activities, and pulped the cut off sections in the blender with rainwater and some white paper. This is how the tub looked.

I began pulling sheets, and notice quite a variation in thickness between the sheets. I think that the more water there is, the finer the paper can be. I love the look of the linen paper, and after this photo was taken I flattened the sheets with my heat press.

The obvious place to go from here, for me anyway, is to try denim. This is a much harder fibre as it’s difficult to shred and has to be cut up into almost crumb like sizes. I started with small scraps like these below and then ran across them many times with my rotary cutter. I can’t say my hand loved it, but never mind.

Oops, an out of focus photo as I was trying to stir at the same time, but it gives an idea of the denim pulp and the blue water, which was a surprise, given that I was using old jeans.

The results, though, are lovely I think. The colour is really pretty. When I remembered to, I embossed a corner with a stamp.

I made quite a few sheets and honestly love them. The colour varies here because some are still damp.

I then added the denim “brew” to the linen bucket and also added some shredded cotton shirting. The image on the left is the pure denim and on the right is the denim with additives.

A closeup of the blended paper.

I decided I wanted a bowl so used an old plastic colander to scoop out some fibres. It took many nights to dry sufficiently to remove it from the colander, but I really, really like it. The holes in the colander created a gorgeous texture on the outside.

As I got to the end of the tub I began scooping out the fibres with a sieve I keep for my soap making. I hung it over the fire guard to help it dry.

I made four, but had to do them one at a time and they took a couple of evenings to dry sufficiently to remove them.

Here is the set.

The problem with these, of course, is that they can’t be exposed to moisture, so I’m playing with that dodgy one on the right to see if I can coat them with something that might make them more robust. I’ve started with mod podge in a ratio of 1:3 and sprayed it on. It has certainly made the bowl stronger but I haven’t had the nerve to test it with moisture yet. Give me time!

My neighbour went away for the long weekend and asked me to collect her newspapers, of which there were six. I didn’t want to put them in the recycling bin so shredded them and started to turn them into paper, pulping them with ground up lavender flowers. The paper is quite fine and is very consistent in colour, but it is a bit dull.

Here is my progress so far: the bowls are all made from denim, linen and cotton shirting, as are the sheets second from the bottom of the frame. Bottom left are the denim sheets. Second from top are linen and top are newsprint, pre pressing.

This activity will be much easier when the weather warms up, so I’m going to do a bit more reading about it, gathering resources, and wait for spring. Unless I get carried away! I am keen to make an envelope deckle and make cards and envelopes. I shall report, of course.