The Papermaker's Companion: The Ultimate Guide to Making and Using Handmade Paper

by Helen Hiebert

Craft your own colorful paper goods and personalized stationary. With clear, step-by-step instructions, Helen Heibert covers all aspects of the papermaking process — from growing and harvesting plants for a malleable paper pulp to embellishment techniques like dyeing, embossing, and laminating. With tips on building your own papermaking equipment, ideas for transforming junk mail into dazzlingly unique notecards, and much more, you’ll be inspired to let your creativity shine as you explore the endless possibilities of handcrafted papers. 

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts, Reference

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2000

About the author

Helen Hiebert constructs installations, sculptures, films and artist books using handmade paper as her primary medium. She teaches, lectures and exhibits her work internationally, and she is the author of the books Playing With Paper, Papermaking with Plants, The Papermaker's Companion, and Paper Illuminated. She is the vice president of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists and a regular contributor to Hand Papermaking Newsletter. She lives and works in Colorado. Visit her website: http://www.helenhiebertstudio.com

Reviews

[Pamela]

If you are interested in the papermaking hobby, this book is a must-read. If you are serious about papermaking, this book is a must-own. Hiebert includes detailed instructions for constructing molds, presses and dryers. She also includes recipes for cooking plant fiber, descriptions of various methods of beating fiber. She somehow even includes a wide range of projects, including a small section for children's projects. Hiebert manages to pack an enormous amount of useful information into these few pages. Highly recommended.

[CR Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

not as exhaustive as I'd like...

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen Hiebert is an excellent teacher and I've learned so much from her. I decided to check her books out from the library to see if they were books that would be good to keep on hand for referencing as I get into more advanced paper making.

As much as I love this book, and will probably buy a copy for my shelves, I suggest beginners start with a different book. If you're a beginner wanting basics to get started, start with Arnold Grummer's Easy Papermaking. It's straight forward, has loads of photos, the flow is perfect, and he helps you keep it very budget friendly.

The layout of this book doesn't flow well for me. That's my biggest issue. Early on it has some much more advanced stuff that could intimidate a beginner. I'm also a very visual person, so personally would like some actual photos, but that doesn't knock off a star.


This book not only teaches you how to make paper, it also teaches you how to collect and prepare your own fiber, teaches you techniques such as laminating and embedding, using inclusions, embossing, watermarking, casting, pulp spraying,.and more. There are also projects included at the end of the book.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative and helpful!

I started putting materials aside for paper making about a year ago and never got around to it (as things go). I decided that I wanted to try making my own paper during a winter snow storm and checked this ebook out from my local library.

The author does a wonderful job of compiling many different methods of paper making and projects for hand crafted paper in the book. I learned a lot about the historical paper making process which made me more appreciative for the tools I had at my disposal. I made about 10 sheets of paper with this guide, but there was definitely the potential for many more projects!

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the hands-on approach of this book. It is everything you need (and then some) to start making paper. I very much appreciate the alternative suggestions for various techniques. I also enjoyed that the author casts mistakes as potentially valuable artistically. The inclusion of cross-cultural styles is a nice touch and is a good branching point for diving deeper into other approaches. A very valuable resource.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great reference book, and I picked up quite a few tips. I'm sure I'll use it many times!

[Aman Kumar]

I want to read the book.

[Jean Ni]

Thorough guide with lots of DIY options for tools - should return to this for reference when I actually try to start making paper

[Lydia Kass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as detailed as her Papermaking with plants, it does include general techniques and materials needed for making handmade paper and some project ideas to try. In black and white.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book for anyone thinking of getting into papermaking. Such a great resource!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a Christmas gift from my mother, along with Arnold Grummer's Guide to Easy Papermaking. Apparently there was a deal going on Amazon for a discount if you purchased both, so she did. Otherwise I may not have ever chosen a book like this for myself.

While I definitely enjoyed and learned from this book, and was delighted that the author lives in my own dear city, the content in this "ultimate guide" was ordered in a way that it was kind of shooting itself in the foot with both its beginning and more advanced papermaker audiences. I came to it as a beginner, and at one point questioned if I was going to make it through the entire thing.

First though, I'll mention the things that excited me about this book, once I got past the overwhelming part that could have discouraged me enough to stop reading. Many interesting projects are described in detail. Projects I'm particularly excited to tackle as time allows are making chinese paper lanterns, paper molding, and making a card and envelope set. Hiebert also writes in a way that inspires you to be creative and do a lot of experimentation to find new things to do with paper.

Unfortunately though, one of the first chapters is about making your own paper fiber from plants. Um, wow, I would have put that subject in the back of the book as part of "advanced papermaking," as you can do most any of the other projects without this whole other can of worms. Considering most people starting out aren't going to have access to these mostly uncommon plants, equipment to prepare it into pulp, etc., if I were her editor I would have used this as a springboard for some larger discussions about the goal audience of the book, etc.

Another early chapter discusses building a large-sheet mold (think 2'x3'), which could require hoses, buckets, fair weather (this is a real issue here in Portland), garbage bags, and more patience and skill than most beginners are going to have. Another instance where it's great material, but I would have liked it moved to the back of the book as it's more advanced.

This "ultimate guide" should have either been restructured in an order to not be as daunting to beginners and possibly boring to more advanced papermakers, or all the content should have just been more advanced, making the "ultimate" epithet more apt.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

great reference for papermakers, Helen is an amazingly energetic artist/writer/teacher