Constructing your own stitched book is an easy and fun way to use recycled materials!
Join printmaker and book artist Sarah Matthews for a bookmaking workshop inspired by Called to Create and quilts made by the artists of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, such as Mary Lee Bendolph.
Sarah Matthews teaches bookbinding and printmaking and is currently the Alma Thomas Fellow at the Studio Gallery in Washington, DC. She is a MA Art & the Book graduate from the Corcoran College of Arts and Design at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. as well as an MBA and a BS in Sociology in 2000 from Bowie State University in Bowie, MD. Matthews’ work has been exhibited in the US and is a part of the permanent collections of Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, George Washington University’s Gelman Library, University of Puget Sound, and Samford University.
Materials
- 6-12 sheets of paper 8.5 x 11 inches for the interior of your book
- 1 piece of cardboard 8.5 x 11.5 inches from a recycled box for the cover
- Scrap paper 8.5 x .5 inches
- Various pieces of fabric or household scrap paper like newspaper, magazines, pattern paper, construction paper, or wrapping paper
- Ruler
- Binder clip or clothes pin
- Bone folder or butter knife
- Awl or a push pin
- Waxed thread, string, or twine
- Needle with a large eye to fit your thread, string, or twine
- Glue stick and/or liquid glue
- Scissors and/or a craft knife
- Pencil, pen, and eraser
- Optional: Coloring materials like markers, crayons, or colored pencils