I love cotton rag paper - also known as khadi paper. Can you guess why? It's so tactile, a real pleasure to handle and so pleasing to look at. Plus, it makes artwork look amazing! Cotton rag paper is handmade, so no two pages are exactly the same, and it has attractive deckle edges because it's made in a mould.
And the icing on the cake, for me, is that it's environmentally sustainable - it's made from recycled textile manufacturing waste (e.g. t-shirt offcuts) that would otherwise end up in landfill. But that's not all - it's also fairtrade so you know the people who made it are fairly treated and given a decent wage. Win, win, win!
The cotton rag paper in my sketchbooks is strong and sized for extra wet strength. So you can use it for watercolour and ink, as well as dry mediums like the Graphitint pencils I used in the image at the top of this blog post. Oh, and have you tried embroidery stitching into paper yet? Scroll down for inspiration!
I've taken the guess work out of gift-giving and I'm delighted to now offer gift sets of my most popular cotton rag books; they're a great way to treat yourself or buy a gift for your creative loved one. What's more, bundles save you 10% compared to buying the books individually.
The Complete Cotton Rag Sketchbook Set will delight any artist - buy yours here. It contains 3 art journals: a Japanese, Concertina and Wabi Sabi, each in a different size but all bound with the same tactile and versatile handmade cotton rag paper.
A4 large cotton rag Japanese Sketchbooks stitched in the traditional 'Hemp Leaf' pattern.
A6 small Japanese Stab Stitch books in the Noble and Simple (4-hole) styles. Order your Japanese cotton rag books here in a choice of 4 styles and 4 sizes
Sustainable materials, handmade style: exposed spine, lay-flat Wabi Sabi Cotton Rag Sketchbook in 'Chunky' size.
Luxurious versions of the Wabi Sabi Sketchbooks bound with tactile velvet ribbons are available to buy here. Available in Old Gold (pictured here), Olive, Forest Green, Red, Russet and Black.
If you'd like to archive your Wabi Sabi Sketchbook once it's full, you can now add a cover when you buy your book. Covers are available for both the original linen ribbon Wabi Sabis and the newer, luxurious Velvet ribbon versions at A6 small and A5 medium size.
Concertina books - also known as Accordion or Leporello folded books - are stitched at their centre page, each 'arm' extends outwards, but folds in and tucks into the covers for travel or storage. Their heavyweight cartridge pages are suitable for all dry mediums, ink and light watercolour. The cotton rag covers can be decorated or left plain for a minimal feel.
A6 Concertina Sketchbook, Olive.
Concertina Sketchbooks are stitched in Olive linen thread as standard, but you can now choose from over 30 colours by selecting the 'Bespoke' option.
Belinda chose Orange and Yellow for her Concertina books (above), which she used to display her wedding photographs.
By popular demand, here's a larger version of my Concertina Sketchbooks: A5 medium size (around 8.5 x 6 inches), with 12 pages that extend to a generous 1 metre 78 cm! These folded books, also known as Accordions, are a great way to keep a travelogue art journal, or depict a narrative.
This A5 Concertina Sketchbook is a portable yet expandable art journal that's great for narratives and travelogues. Buy your Concertina Sketchbooks here.
From watercolour to ink and pencil, collage to stitching, cotton rag paper is great for every artist's medium. I use mine for gouache, ink, pencil, embroidering stitching and collage. My artist customers also use their cotton rag sketchbooks for acrylic and oil, calligraphy, collage and mixed media. I think the only shortcoming is that fine-nibbed fountain pens struggle with the fibres and tend to pick them up.
Textile artist Samantha Boot used her Wabi Sabi Cotton Rag Sketchbook with ink and used the optional pockets for storing WIPs, inspiration and found objects like feathers. This image is by kind permission and copyright © Samantha Boot, 2024.
I'm almost always thinking of new ways I can put the cotton rag paper to use, so please join my newsletter community to be the first to know when exciting new options are released. And you can find my full range of Artist's Sketchbooks here, from paperback cotton rag paperbacks, to watercolour sketchbooks with leather covers and vegan sketchbooks bound in cork with recycled cartridge paper.
I hope this blog post has inspired you to try a handmade cotton rag sketchbook, whether you prefer wet or dry media, or both!
Susan Green
contact form | info@boundbyhand.co.uk | +44 (0)7748 759371
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