Bangles, Re-materialising

These are my first attempt at making bangles by using old materials, old bangles and giving them a new life.

This first bangle involved several strands of material that I plated and weaved to create this effect.

After creating this bangle I realised that f i wanted to progress further i would need to use thicker material to give the bangle strength and to hold its own shape.

Here I used 2 materials that were the same pattern and then an individual one. I like the colour combination and think this bracelet is more appealing. However i used thicker material which was harder to weave but the overall it created a much stronger bracelet.

Here i developed the idea further by creating a plait made from 4 strands of material instead of 3. This made the bracelet a lot thicker but also created an interesting effect because it is a lot more busier and chaotic.

The Materials Sourcing

I sourced all my material from a dress maker who had collected strands of material from as early as the war. These are pieces of material she could  not throw out but had never found a use for. Therefore influenced by postmodernism values I am using these 'wasted' strands of material to create items of jewelry that beautiful and giving them a new purpose.

I went to a charity shop to source the thin metal bangles that form the frame of the bracelet, I also had some old ones of my own.

The Making

It is a simple process that i have improved through trail and error, however i think they create individual and interesting designs. I simply measured and cut the material into strands, i braided the material whether using 3 or 4 strands to create a neat plait.

i then secured one end to a bangle, stretched the plait to make it taught and then weaved the plait inbetween the two bangles. This took a couple of attempts to get the correct thickness and to create a neat pattern.

I simply repeated this process adding on about 4 plaits per bangle to make it tight and secure.

Improvements

1. Thicker Material

2. Iron the plait before weaving

3. Strong bangles to act as a sufficient frame

4. Create new designs and develop further