Creating and Using Your Own Bookcloth
Ruth Brown, 17–18 October 2026
This workshop will be a combination of demonstrations and practical work. Using my binding of ‘The Secret Garden’ as a design source and my background working with textiles, I will explain how I came up with the concept for the cover and then interpreted it on to fabric.
We will experiment with screen printing, dyeing and layering a variety of mark making techniques with everyday tools and equipment to create visual texture and patterns on fabric. I will demonstrate how to print on fabric with a cheap, home, inkjet printer and how to back fabric to make book cloth.
Finally, we will use at least two different methods of making neat corners with fabric on to board.
Equipment List:
Ruth can supply if advised ahead of time, otherwise bring your own:
- Cutting mat
- Knife/scalpel
- Ruler
- Bone folder
Also bring whatever you have of the following but do not buy anything specially Ruth will have spares of most things:
- Acrylic paints – tube sort rather than acrylic inks.
- Old towel or piece of smooth blanket to make a lightly padded surface. The only important thing is that it lies flat.
- Small piece of commercial fabric with colour or pattern – a piece something like A3 would be plenty.
- A4 piece of book cloth – any sort.
- Old credit/debit/hotel/shop card – this will be used with paint.
- A few pieces of kitchen roll
- Mesh bag – the sort of thing fruit or kindling comes in.
- A small hard roller/brayer
- Twig
- Old, coarse brush eg washing up brush, nail brush, piece of astro turf
- Small natural sponge
Skill Level
This workshop is suitable for all levels and you do not need any artistic skills to do this workshop.
Date and location
17–18 October 2026
The Scrapstore, Hull, Dairycoates Avenue, Hull HU3 5DB
Price and other costs
- £185 for members of either Society
- £205 for non members
- Materials charge of not more than £20, payable during the workshop
After working for many years in IT, Ruth spent 20 years working in textiles using screen printing, digital imagery, cyanotyping, paper lamination, discharge and dyeing to produce her work. Ruth often works in layers to achieve a richly patterned and textured surface. During this time she taught these subjects extensively and authored two books, ‘Cyanotypes on Fabric’ and ’Digital Imagery on Fabric’.
Then, following an inspiring workshop with Glenn Malkin, she became addicted to bookbinding, often using her own fabrics on her books. She was delighted to win the case binding category at the last Society of Bookbinders’ competition with her cloth covered binding of ‘the Secret Garden’.
For more information about Ruth go to https://stonecreektextiles.co.uk