Beaten Kozo

Kozo (mulberry bark) is harvested to make paper. It is used to make anything from soft absorbent paper to the finest, most expensive Japanese paper. The sheet form of Kozo is bleached, soaked and beaten to produce the irregular 'twiggy' form of Kozo. In home craft papermaking this would be soaked overnight to soften the fibre and to start the process of breaking down. It would then be cut into short pieces, and put into a liquidizer for a few minutes to successfully separate the fine fibres. The fibres are then added to the trough of water from which the paper is made, using a mould and deckle.

Alternatively, a fine lace panel can be created from the Beaten Kozo. Soak a piece of crisp 'twig' in warm water for an hour or so. This softens and relaxes the fibres so they can be manipulated. Gently tease the fibres open to reveal a fine lace of fibres. Slowly and gently work across the width of the piece opening up further. Repeat this down the length of the 'twig'. Work across it again, teasing open the fine fibres to reveal even finer fibres. The wet, soft open meshed piece of fabric/paper is still soft and drapey, but will revert to a crisper feel when dry so can be left to dry draped over a 3D form and it will retain that form once dried.

Kozo is a natural fibre so takes dye and paint beautifully.

Beaten Kozo and other fibres (e.g. silk and Angelina) are in the Fabric Art section of our catalogue, on page 34: take me to the catalogue download page...