Slow notes on making things by hand
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A record of making, thinking, and learning — written from the workbench and shared in good faith.
There is something quietly sacred about sewing the pages of a book together — each stitch a small promise that these words will hold. I learned the Coptic stitch from a bookbinder in Lisbon who had been practising for forty years, her fingers never once hesitating.
Making paper by hand requires you to surrender your schedule entirely. The fibres float where they will, the water drains at its own pace, and the drying depends entirely on the generosity of the day's weather.
Every cut you make into a lino block is a subtraction — you are removing the light, keeping the shadow, working perpetually in a world that will only reveal itself once ink meets paper. It demands a particular kind of trust in your own decisions.
I bought a nineteenth-century smoothing plane at a flea market in Lyon for eight euros. The seller said it was decorative. I knew the moment I picked it up — by the weight, the careful set of the blade — that someone had used this thing every day of a working life.
Shibori works by hiding parts of fabric from dye — folding, clamping, binding, and stitching to create resist patterns that only reveal themselves when the cloth is unfolded. The first time you open a dyed piece is always a form of surprise.
Mending is the craft that asks the least and gives the most. No specialist tools, no prepared materials, no particular space — only a torn thing and the willingness to attend to it carefully.
When Martin publishes a new journal entry — a new craft, a reflection, a story from the workbench — you'll get a quiet note in your inbox. No marketing, no noise. Just the writing.
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Crafted by Hand, Told with Heart
A personal journal of traditional handmade crafts — celebrating slowness, skill, and the beauty of things made with care.
© 2026 Martin Wilbert Li — All rights reserved.
Made slowly, with love — Beyoğlu, İstanbul.