My task here was to make plaits and braids out of three and four strands of material. I found it quite a tricky exercise from the dexterity point of view. My fingers seemed not to be flexible enough to guide the threads and get any sort of rhythm going. However, I made some braids and used a variety of materials. I'm slowly learning not to dispose of anything however remote the chance of it being reused. I've found I very much like using things that would otherwise be thrown away. A case in point is the elasticated edging from the sheet I used for fabric manipulation. I used it to make a four strand braid with sari silk as the other material.
It's wonderfully bumpy and unsurprisingly, it's stretchy. Some of the braids are quite stiff but this one has quite a lot of flexibility.
Another example of waste not want not is this one:
It's made from four strands of the nets that fruit comes in and it's given a strong, shiny and smooth finish. I plaited loosely so it's quite bendy.
The next one is four strands as well but is much more swish (although it too is "rubbish"). It's made from the cut off hemmed edge of organza I used some time ago. It's a standard three strand plait and it's hard, stiff and quite scratchy.
This is my least favourite. I cut bubble wrap into strips and combined it with some paper ribbon (four strands)
On it's own the bubble wrap easily broke but the paper added some strength. The result is unattractive and very lumpy. However I quite like the combination of the shiny plastic and the matt paper.
The next two are sari silk. I love the deep, midnight colours and they lend that sort of quality to the braids. There's a sort of huskiness to them. The thicker one is longer and flexible whilst the shorter one (only three strands) is altogether finer, more like a bracelet. The thicker one has some glue in so it's stiffer but the other one is soft and one of the threads picks up the light beautifully.
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| The smaller, finer braid |
The next ones are wool.
The first one is four colours of tapestry wool and it's quite lovely.
Most of the time I've managed to get the tension right so it looks uniform. The four different colours give it a spotty sort of look that's attractive.. It has a rustic, workaday feel because the wool is quite hard. It looks efficient and traditional.
This one is two sorts of wool but it couldn't look more different if it tried. The wool is novelty yarn with a graduating bobble effect. This makes the braid change dramatically throughout its length such that you can't tell its a braid at all; it just looks like a length of novelty yarn. This would be suitable for couching and rolled it makes a good flower.
This shows the variation in the braid
Rolled into a flower which could be couched on.
The next is my favourite. It's made of four sorts of silk and they're special because they were part of a Christmas gift. Each thread is beautiful in it's own right; there's a silk chiffon ribbon, a rolled ribbon, a 75mm striped one and what I think are called silk tops. Together they make a lovely braid. Their individuality is lost in the new material which is quite extravagant and sophisticated in its look.
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| My collection |
I've got lots of variety in my work in this exercise and can see the possibilities for lots more. I do have a real problem with arthritis in my fingers but if I needed to work in this way I'd manage.
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