PAPER AS TEXTILE: FABRIC IN DISGUISE

Hi everyone!

Just lately I’ve been exploring a few ideas that have been sitting quietly in the back of my mind — and one of them has taken me down the most unexpected path. Paper. Not the kind I write class notes on but paper as a material. I’ve started looking at it differently and it has completely shifted the way I think about what “textile” really means. So today, I’d like to share a few thoughts on this idea of paper as textile — because once you see it that way, you can’t ‘un-see’ it!

PAPER AS TEXTILE

PAPER…FABRIC IN DISGUISE

If someone told you to bring a piece of paper to your next textile art meeting, you’d probably arrive with a notebook, not materials. What if I told you that paper is a textile? It might sound odd at first — paper belongs in sketchbooks, patterns and lists, not in an art quilt or stitched artwork, right?Well, I’m here to change your mind.

When we think of textiles, we picture woven or felted materials made from threads and fibres — something flexible and soft. Paper is also made from fibres. Cotton, flax, mulberry, abaca and many other — these are all plant-based fibres beaten into pulp and formed into a sheet. The structure might look different but the principle is the same. That sheet of paper you’re holding is, quite literally, a non-woven textile.

FIBRES IN PAPER

So, why do we treat paper as if it doesn’t belong in our textile world?

PAPER AS CLOTH

Paper has strength, structure and surface — three things that make it irresistible once you start stitching into it. Some papers are soft and flexible whereas others are crisp and sculptural. Handmade papers, recycled sheets, old book pages or even brown paper packaging all bring their own textures and personalities to a piece.

When you stitch into paper, you quickly realise how responsive it is. It tears beautifully, holds folds nicely and shows off every stitch with clarity. It behaves a little differently from fabric — it can’t take too much unpicking, for example — but that’s part of its charm. You have to commit, to trust your stitch and to let the process show. Remember, trial and error are the two things that help us to grow and to broaden our knowledge! Isn’t that exactly what we love about textile art?

PAPER USED AS CLOTH BOOKS

WHERE TO USE PAPER IN TEXTILE ART

Once you stop thinking of paper as fragile, the possibilities open up. Here are a couple of ways paper can live comfortably alongside fabric and thread in your textile work:

• As a stitched surface: Treat a sheet of handmade or heavy rag paper just as you would cloth. Draw, paint or apply ink on it, then add free-motion machine embroidery or hand stitch.

• As a layer: Combine paper and fabric in collage. Tear, overlap and stitch them together — the contrast of soft and crisp creates wonderful texture.

• As structure: Use paper to build form — pleated, folded or sculpted elements stitched into your work add dimension and strength.

• As fibre: Some artists spin or twist paper into thread or couch strips of paper onto their work. It’s surprisingly strong!

• As message: Recycled or written-on paper carries history — a perfect medium when you are telling a story with your work.

HANDMADE PAPER

Paper can also be painted, rusted, dyed, eco-printed or even burnt to reveal beautiful marks. Each surface tells its own tale and the combination of paper and stitch brings something entirely new to textile artworks.

ARTISTS WHO WORK WITH PAPER AS TEXTILE

Many fibre artists around the world have embraced paper as part of their textile vocabulary. I put their Instagram handles in for you to explore and to be inspired.

• Raija Jokinen @raijajokinen from Finland creates ethereal, stitched figures from flax paper fibres and thread — her work looks fragile but holds great strength.

• Isabell Buenz @isabellbuenz constructs delicate garments and accessories from discarded books and tea bag paper, sewn and shaped like fabric.

• Siân Martin @sianmartin1335 combines stitched paper with natural materials like willow to form mixed-media installations.

• 
  

 Their work reminds us that paper is not a substitute for fabric — it’s a material with its own voice, perfectly at home in the textile world.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRY IT

If you already love thread painting, couching or free-motion embroidery, you’ll find paper exciting to work with. It challenges your control, rewards experimentation and gives instant results. It’s also sustainable — you can recycle packaging, old notes and offcuts to create something meaningful and textural.

Most of all, working with paper will remind you of the joy of discovery — that feeling you get when you try something new and realise it belongs in your creative vocabulary!

PAPER PREPARED FOR ARTWORK

A FINAL THOUGHT

The beauty of textile art is that it’s never limited by rules. If it can take a stitch, it can be part of our world. So, the next time you look at a piece of paper, don’t see something ordinary. See the fibres waiting beneath the surface. See the potential for texture, layering and story. See fabric in disguise! So yes — paper is a textile. It definitely deserves a place next to your threads, fabrics, needles and sewing machine.

Until next time, may your creative experiments surprise you and your stitches take you somewhere new.

Happy creating!

Tilly