Handmade Paper from Stinging Nettles

Since 2023, I have been handmaking paper from stinging nettles. I use nettles foraged on Midsummer Common in Cambridge, UK, and I follow a process I have pieced together through trial and error, learning from folks who use nettles for textiles, and from folks who make paper from other fibres. The process is documented in my pamphlet “Making paper from Stinging Nettles”, which is available for purchase, and in a 60 second video of the whole process, from plant to pulp to paper.

The nettle making process was developed during a residency at Cambridge Artworks. I made paper for 3 weeks in the summer of 2024, and invited the people around me to choose a page to work on in images or words. I have bound all the contributions together into a book called Gathering Pages.

This work was shown in an exhibition called “Gathering Pages” at Cambridge Artworks on Feb 14-16 2025. Here is a walkthrough of the exhibition.

I am currently taking pre-orders for nettle pages to be delivered in October 2025.