2023 Workshop Series: Making Books from the Land
 June - Sept 2023 :: ​​one weekend a month

I'm doing something different this year. I'm guiding you on a journey to make books from locally available plants and waste stream materials over the course of 4 weekends throughout 2023.

Are you curious to explore your options for making art with plant materials growing in your backyard? In this 4 part workshop series, you will learn how to:

  • make paper from old clothing and abundant plants
  • naturally dye gently used or repurposed cotton fabrics to make book cloth
  • sew 2 journals using coptic and pamphlet stitch methods that include your handmade paper and naturally dyed book cloth

This series will take place one weekend a month from June through September 2023. All weekend sessions will be from 10-5pm Saturday and Sunday. While the series is designed to build off one another, each workshop's skills can be applied in a myriad of ways. 

Papermaking with Repurposed Textiles
Saturday & Sunday, June 24-25 10-5pm

From their invention, papers have been made by turning scraps of woven cloth into pulp. In the era of fast fashion, making paper from your old clothes and linens is a creative solution to the rag bin under your kitchen sink. It's a nod to the days of old while keeping valuable resources out of the landfill.

You will learn how to transform your old cotton textiles (think denim jeans, button up shirts, and bed sheets) into paper that will be suitable for writing and drawing. We'll also be making book board to be used as the hard covers in our coptic stitch journals.

This is a hands-on, knee deep adventure intended to get you thinking about how you can incorporate locally abundant resources into your creative practice.  You will build a strong foundation for your paper making practice: from learning about the tools and equipment needed, the process for making pulp and turning it into sheets of paper, and the potential for upcycling textiles for artistic endeavors. In addition, you can explore adding threads, plants, and other treasures into your sheets to make unique works that can be incorporated into handmade journals and beyond.

Papermaking with Plants
Saturday & Sunday, July 22-23 10-5pm

This workshop builds on the skills you learn in part one, Papermaking with Textiles, and adds another layer. Transforming plants into pulp is a multi-step process that gives you the opportunity to think about how you can utilize leaves, inner barks, and other plant fibers to make creative and textured papers. There will be discussion of harvesting, fermenting, and drying plant fibers as well as what types of plants lend themselves to papermaking.

This workshop is a dive into each step of the messy plant based paper making process and we do the work collectively. You will be cutting, cooking, and rinsing fibers. You will see how the hollander beater turns these fibers into pulp and most exciting, you will pull a stack of your own paper to use in our upcoming book projects.

Class plants will include kudzu and iris and possibly others.  

Natural Dyeing on Cotton Fabric:
​Making Hand Dyed Book Cloth
​Saturday & Sunday, August 26-27 10-5pm

Fast fashion culture is made of disposable goods that exploits humans, environment and material resources. Let’s challenge the system. In this workshop, you will repurpose gently used linens into book cloth by adding color with plant dyes and then backing each piece.

You will learn natural dye basics for cellulose fibers (cotton, linen, hemp) which include:
  • Learning easy to grow and wild dye plants
  • How to prepare textiles to accept the dyes (scouring and mordanting) 
  • Making dye baths from extracts and home grown plants
  • Adding patterns and textures to your dyed goods
  • Making book cloth that will cover hardback handmade journals

There will also be room to dye some clothing. We're going all in! 

Coptic and Pamphlet Stitch Bookbinding
Saturday & Sunday, September 30-October 1, 10-5pm
Coptic Stitch and Pamphlet Book Bindings are hand sewn book making techniques used to create both hard and soft cover books that lay flat when open. These books can be made in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, allowing for versatility in its end use. 

You'll learn each step of the bookbinding process which includes: 

·      How to plan your book size and layout of materials
·      Covering book boards with book cloth
·      Sewing the pages to create the body of the book
·      Ways to incorporate your own personal style

Combining your handmade papers, book board, and naturally dyed fabrics, you will complete 2 books in the last part of this series. 

And then we'll celebrate our time together, what we've learned, what we've made and of course, the plants!

Registration closes Sunday, June 11th.


Not ready to take the full series? Individual topic one day workshops are also available.
​Learn more here.