Making Fabric Paper

My friend and I decided to make fabric paper together.  We used a technique I learned from a video by mixed media artist, Beryl Taylor.  The supplies include muslin, glue, paint, brushes, and art tissue paper (not to be confused with regular tissue paper).

muslin, wrapping paper, scrapbook paper,
paper napkin, glue, and scissors

Lay out a piece of muslin (no bigger than a pillow case) and paint it with a coating of watered down glue.  Elmers glue works fine for this process.  I usually do this messy project on top of a sheet of plastic wrap or a dry cleaning bag.  You will have to move the whole piece in the end, when is it still wet, so make sure your plastic is portable.

After the muslin is coated with glue, lay out your paper pieces. I like to cover as much of the muslin as possible, but don't worry if there are small spaces. For this project I have used wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, telephone books, dictionaries, paper napkins, and candy wrappers.  The colors of your papers don't have to go together perfectly because you will be adding color later.  Cover all the papers with another coating of the watered down glue.

glue the paper pieces to the
glue covered muslin

telephone book pages work as well

The final layer is the art tissue paper.  Regular tissue paper doesn't work for this project because it is thin and easily rips.  Art tissue paper can be hard to find.  I ordered mine through Blicks.

Cover the entire piece with the tissue paper.  Next you will use watered down acrylic paints.  Fluid acrylics work really well for this project because you want the color to be transparent.  Cover the whole piece with the watery paint.  It's OK to let the colors blend and flow together.  If you overwork the piece at this point the tissue paper will start to tear so be somewhat delicate.  Don't worry if you have some bubbles under the tissue.  Those are inevitable.

cover the piece with art tissue paper
and paint on top of that

Let the piece sit in the sun to dry.  It will probably be overnight before it is all dry.

if possible, put the piece
in the sun to dry

The final product is fabric paper that is somewhat stiff and brightly colored.  It can be used for all kinds of mixed media projects.  My friend and I are going to make big paper flowers.  I will post a picture when they are done.

-christina