Bespoke Recycled Paper from old shirts!

At the end of last week I received 10 sheets of SRA2 paper from Lez Paylor who makes it at a Creative Paper makers in Wales. They make paper from all sorts of stuff - one being sheep poo - and one customer had wedding invites of paper made from the jeans they were wearing when they met (ah!) I had a number of old shirts which I had worn until they were full of holes so I decided to have some paper made with them instead of just throwing them away. Not only did it appeal to my attempts to be as green as possible (flights to New York making this even more important!) but I also liked the idea of drawings relating to touch/ trace being done on paper which had once been worn. I spent months cutting up all of my old linen and cotton shirts. The fabric had to be cut into 1 x 5 cm strips, no seams/ fastenings etc. and I needed about 1.8 kg for 10 sheets. At one point last November I got very excited as I thought I had nearly got enough until I realised I had 1.8 lb not 1.8 kg - bit of a low point!! However, when the paper came it was worth every minute spent - it is absolutely beautiful. I was going to post a picture but I couldnt come even close to doing it justice. It is a cream/ off white with a deckle edge and a textured surface - similar to khadi paper but nicer. Can't even think about using it yet - still at the looking/ stroking stage - but I will use it for a series of drawing at some point.

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