People instinctively fall in love with magnificently crafted  handmade paper.  The subtly textured landscape of an artisan handmade sheet demands that it be given a higher purpose. You don’t waste it or throw it away. It just feels so good.

The natural deckle of handmade cotton rag paper

Paper’s rich and storied past is relatively unknown. (Fact: paper has been made out of trees for 130 years only. ) Couples we’ve worked with over the years are thrilled when they learn that the paper they are using for their wedding invitations has such a romantic history.

This is an invitation that we letterpress printed on an Italian handmade paper. Artisan papermakers have been making this paper at the same mill since the 14th century:

Handmade Italian Deckled Edge Paper Wedding Invitation Letterpress Printed Calligraphy

We designed and printed this invitation back in 1999. (Calligraphy from the master hand of Bonnie Nelson, South Pasadena.) People think that this edge is torn to get this look, but not the case. The deckled edge is an intrinsic feature of the papermaking process.

Making Paper by Hand: Materials

The best western-style  handmade paper is made from old clothes – rags. Specifically, cotton, hemp and linen make exceptionally gorgeous sheets. (Look closely at a paper copy of the Gutenberg Bible and be in awe. The paper is just stunning.)

Making Paper by Hand: Process

The rag is shredded and pounded in water  – to separate each filament of fiber and open up the cells of cellulose — letting water into the cells.  (Called “Stuff” or “half-stuff”  – the original meaning of  the word “Stuff”.) More water is added into the vat, the fiber and water forming a soup or “Slurry” which looks like this:

The Vatman pulls a Sheet from the Slurry Vat at Griffen Mills, UK.

That sheet in the picture above, is being formed on the “paper mould” — a 2 part wood and wire device. The bottom is called the “Mould”  which is a flat sieve of fine wire mesh (usually brass or bronze). The wire mesh is in a “laid” or “wove” formation or pattern — leaving its  characteristic pattern in the sheet.

The top part of the device is called the “Deckle“ — it holds the pulp in place during the very critical few seconds when the sheet is formed. The papermaker gives the mould a quick shake both forwards and backwards, to get perfect distribution of fiber. Deckle is a German word, meaning to hold or to contain.  The top part of the papermaking device holds the pulp on the wire sieve for the few seconds as the fibers interlock, forming paper.  The fiber bond is both  physical and chemical.

Some of the pulp escapes into the space along the edges, where the two parts of the mould come together. This thinner layer of pulp forms the beautiful feathery edges of a handmade sheet: the “Deckled Edge.”

More Paper Lore

Before the industrial revolution, paper was all made by hand. In the very early days, papermaking was a guarded secret, and mostly made for the Church, royalty and the aristocracy. It was important to know that a document was not a forgery.  Paper made for a patron contained a “Watermark” — which was the insignia that was sewn into the wire part of the paper mould. Custom watermarks are still a symbol of exclusiveness — and still used to prevent forgery.

Watermark: Wire Design Woven into the Wire Frame Mould

If you want to see some of the rigors involved in making superlative sheets of handmade paper, you can explore more pictures from Griffen Mills in Wookey Hole, Somerset, England. Sadly, the mill shut down its operation a few years ago.

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