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From: Patty22
Date: 06-29-2006, 07:29 PM (1 of 10)
 I have gotten side-tracked in my sewing when I found a box (about 1,000) cut 4" triangles out of feedsacks and some questionable ugly fabric. This is even uglier than what I have purchased on my very worst of fabric excursions. My sense of adventure has me seeing how I can salvage them for a quilt. Certainly it would be easier just to toss them and pretend they never existed, but it isn't in my nature. In two days, I have accumulated a box of dog ear trimmings, thread clippings, etc......and then I felt bad throwing those away. (I'm sure there are children in China that would love these trimmings that I am just wasting.)I have always wanted to try making paper from the scraps and was wondering if any of you have tried it. I have a frame from silk screening I thought I would use it for drying the pulp. Do you add any kind of glue to the mixture? I've gone through some web sites for tutorials and I haven't seen anything other than the scraps with water. Any feedback would be appreciated.... Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: LeapFrog Libby
Date: 06-29-2006, 07:35 PM (2 of 10)
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I've seen people on TV shows make it a lot.. They always use a blender , paper scraps torn and fabric threads or very small scraps .. Most of them use junk mail and laugh about finally finding a use for it.. Check HGTV website and Carol Duvalls Show and see if you can find instructions..
Sew With Love
Libby |
User: LeapFrog Libby
Member since: 05-01-2002 Total posts: 2022 
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From: Chrysantha
Date: 06-29-2006, 09:40 PM (3 of 10)
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Yep...you use a blender, water and the cotton rag to make a slurry. Then you pour it in a pan thats large enough to take the rack you'll be using to make/dry the paper on. (it's usually an 8X11 screen...like a silk screen.) You dunk the screen, pull it out, if you have to dunk it some more to make sure the screen is covered. You can then add bits of dried flowers and things. Let it sit on some towels, after the water is soaked out a bit, not all the way, turn the screen over on some more toweling and let it dry. If you want it perfectly straight, make sure you dry it on something flat. no glue...glue is only for papier mache... Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414 
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From: MaryW
Date: 06-30-2006, 08:57 AM (4 of 10)
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This is new to me, fabric to make paper. How small do the pieces have to be?
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: Chrysantha
Date: 06-30-2006, 10:00 PM (5 of 10)
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about 1x1 or so....that way the blender doesn't work itself to death...(unless you own a nice heavy duty Waring. (the metal kind they use in bars.)
Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414
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From: Patty22
Date: 07-02-2006, 05:19 PM (6 of 10)
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Kath.....do you need to sort your scraps? say lights and darks? Have you ever added coloring? I remember one woman telling me she saved her dryer lint......cotton fibers.... but then again, mine would have scraps of paper from my husband's pockets and a sundry of items 
Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Chrysantha
Date: 07-03-2006, 01:19 AM (7 of 10)
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If you don't sort your fabric, you get some strange colors...I don't add dye, you can, but what if you use the paper with something wet, (glue) or your hands are wet (when writing, if you use it for that.) sometimes the dye will not 'set' like it does on fabric. Orange and blue make avocado green. Red and green make brown. So be careful when mixing your fabric... I don't do dryer lint...I have 4 ferrets and they leave hair....(yuck...) Not to mention all the kleenex, threads, etc... Chrys
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User: Chrysantha
Member since: 09-06-2002 Total posts: 2414
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From: Bama
Date: 07-03-2006, 03:58 PM (8 of 10)
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My daughter and I have made hand made paper using bright junk mail papers, sales papers, and sometimes added dried flowers or leaves to the top after we "poured" the paper. When she was in the Brownies, they made some one time using scraps of denim fabric. They made it the same way Kath described. We used a coffee can with both ends cut off and put it on a piece of screen, then put that on top of a pan a little smaller than the screen so the screen hung off the sides. Of course our paper was round when we used the can. I'm sure you could build a simple screen frame to make a square one. We "chopped" up the paper scraps with some water in an old blender til it was pulp.(the Brownie girls used tiny bits of denim scraps they cut up) Then quickly poured the pulp into the can. The water went through the screen and left the pulp. We carefully moved the screen to paper towels and covered it with another paper towel. You can add confetti or other things to the top at this point. We put a towel on top and gently squeezed out as much water as possible, then ironed the paper dry. The denim fabric made some interesting paper. |
User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116 
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From: Butterflyrf71
Date: 07-05-2006, 06:06 PM (9 of 10)
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When I made paper, using fabric, as a project for VBS, we used a cross cut paper shredder to cut the fabric into the small pieces - no hand cutting! A heavy duty shredder that cross cuts (up to CD thickness) runs about $40-$45 at Walmart. But there are places you can go to and they do it for free, or next to nothing. Some office have them too. Take your scraps to Staples and tell them you want to test out all their shredders! You Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm, and place their trust in you. Isaiah 26:3, AV
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User: Butterflyrf71
Member since: 05-02-2006 Total posts: 257 
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From: MariLynntex
Date: 07-08-2006, 04:58 PM (10 of 10)
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Anyone who has fabric scraps they don't want to make paper from, send them to me. Ilost all my scraps when I moved, thanks to the movers who didn't listen well to me, or didn't understand English (very possible in Texas). I had enormous quantities of scraps and now I have NONE. I will gladly pay postage and whatever you think they are worth. E-mail me at: <email address removed for privacy> |
User: MariLynntex
Member since: 01-05-2006 Total posts: 107 |
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