Truth be told, I was hoping this would be a good way of using my fabric scraps... if I was making hundreds of sheets of paper every week it undoubtedly would be. Since I'm not, it isn't exactly the most effective way to use scraps. But that said, it's still a really neat process and the texture and color of the paper when mixed with newspaper is really beautiful.
If you'd like to make your own, here is a rough guide:
Supplies:
Fabric scraps
Newspaper
Blender
Two picture frames with a flat side
Screen
Lots of towels
Iron
Directions:
Trim fabric scraps very, very small. I used linen/rayon and cotton scraps.
Add a few scraps and water to the blender and blend them up until the scraps turn into a pulp consistency.
Tear up some newspapers, add them to the blender with more water and blend them together. (Note: I actually broke my parents' blender doing this because I had too much in there at one time. Do small batches!)
Pour the mixture into a large basin with lots of water.
Place a screen in between two picture frames and scoop out the pulp.
Place the paper face down on a towel and press out the excess water.
Iron dry and set under something large and heavy so the paper flattens.
Enjoy your new paper and try very hard to not be so attached to it that you never actually use it for anything.
At this point, you can either let the paper dry on the towel, or you can iron them dry. I prefer to iron them so they dry flatter and the imprint from the screen is smoothed out.
