builders and seaweed

Full bracelet with woven latex and fabric seaweed

Yesterday and Today were all about the builders bracelets and weaving the latex sea weed into the links. there are 6 sets in total of the bracelets so each builder gets 2 each. As well as this I had to take into account one of the builders is in a wheelchair, meaning none of the latex can hang from the bracelet as it could get caught up in the wheels and cause unwanted injury.

During Breathe Club, volunteers made some latex seaweed which was coloured with acrylic paint and some of them having wool threaded and stuck to the latex.

Layers of latex folded over the end loop,stuck together with glue

Tightly woven fabric painted and a thin layer of latex

Weaving the latex into the various chains was tricky as the elasticity kept pulling and then snapping, meaning I had to glue parts together in order to make the length continuous.  As well as this I had to glue the ends around the final chain to make the seaweed dangle at the wrists.

Currently I am hoping  that no one  has allergies to latex as this has become a major material within the bracelets.  Overall these have been a success , the seaweed woven into the bracelets looks authentic from a distance and stands out well.  If  were to do this again however I would ask  the volunteers to make some seaweed without string placed into the latex. This is due to the string tugging on the latex when weaving. I would also trim the seaweed into thinner strips to account for the smaller links in the chains.

Also over the past two days I have been making more barnicals in the evenings:

9th may:

7 x String using a 4mm crochet hook  -  the string had a tendency to split, was harsh on the fingers and frayed at the ends
4 x Blue (Double Knit) using a 4mm crochet hook

10th may:

8 x Blue (Double Knit) Wool using 4mm crochet hook
2 x Beige (Double Knit) 100% Acrylic, using 4mm

Over the next week I am going to have to divide my time up between braiding and beards as I still have 2 beards to make and all the braiding for on the builders costumes.