WATTLE
WEAVE
Making Time: 1 - 2 Hours
Age Group: 10 - 100
Project Designer: Mitchell Dose
Project
Overview 1:
This project is based on the techniques we’ll be learning to build A Universe, the 2020 Beam Camp Project designed by Ye Qin Zhu.
A Universe will be built using a natural building technique called Wattle and Daub. Traditionally, buildings in this style were made by weaving together large and small pieces of wood to form walls. Then these woven walls were coated on both sides with a mixture of clay, sand and straw called Cob.
See the Beam Camp project development site for more info on this project!
Project
Overview 2:
In this activity, we’ll be making the woven structure - the Wattle - from materials that are found in most homes. We’re essentially weaving a basket!
Prepare
Your Workspace:
Set up your work space. Clear a surface on a table top where you can work. Make sure you have some scrap material covering your surface to keep it clean (magazines, newspaper, cardboard, plastic trash bag...) Make sure to ask other people who are using the space if it’s OK for you to set up there!
Gather Supplies:
NOW LET’S BEGIN
‘WATTLING’
Step 1:
Cut Strips!
Using the scissors, cut Cardboard into strips about ½” wide.
Use the scissors to cut the plastic bottle into One long strip about ¼” wide. Can you cut one long spiral through the whole bottle?
*These are two materials we found in the recycling bin, you can substitute other materials you have - Metal wire, zip ties, sticks, etc...
Step 2:
Make a Circle!
Use the Cardboard Strips and tape to make a circle for the base of the basket.
*Tape Tip! - Pre-cut or Pre-Tear a bunch of smaller strips, as they are easier to use than wide pieces. Have a bunch ready to stick on when you only have one hand to adhere parts.
Step 3:
Big Loop Frame!
Use more of the cardboard strips to make hoops that intersect at the top. Use tape strips as needed to secure each piece of cardboard at the intersection. It will now start to look like a crude basket.
* Strip Tip - I used two layers of the cardboard to give the structure more ‘springy-ness’. If your cardboard has creases in it from its former life as a box, I’d suggest doing the same.
Step 4:
In-Betweens!
Use even more cardboard strips to fill In-Between parts of the Frame.
Add some horizontal strips in between the hoops.
Add partial strips parallel to and in between the hoops.
The structure will feel Less Wiggly.
Step 5:
Weaving! (er... Wattling)
Cut a couple arm-length sections of the plastic strips.
Tape the very end onto one of the the hoop pieces, with the rest of the strip dangling off in the direction of the circle - the Start. Then thread the plastic strip through the framework, alternating Over and Under for each hoop piece. You’ll develop your own technique for threading and pulling the plastic.
Keep weaving the plastic around and you’ll come back to the Start.
Step 6:
Next Row!
For the next row, weave just above the Start to keep going.
Make sure the plastic weaves in the Opposite Pattern to the strip below.
If the first row is Under, Over, Under... then the next row should be Over, Under, Over.
This is Weaving, when fibers intertwine or lock together.
Step 7:
Keep Going!
Keep spiraling around while weaving the plastic. Keep Track of the Over / Under pattern between the rows.
You’ve been using arm-length sections of plastic to weave... when you’ve woven to the end of a strip you can connect it to the next piece with tape.
Step 8:
Spiral to the End!
Keep on weaving Over / Under and stuffing the woven strips until you get to the end! You can trim and tape the last bit of plastic at the very end.
And you’ve got it!
Observe!
Notice how springy but strong the whole structure is.
At the beginning, all the materials are Wiggly.
When woven together, all of the accumulated connections make the structure Resilient and Strong!
This is the essence of what makes woven objects like baskets and textiles (all of the clothes we wear) so strong.
More Wattle:
All made from recycled plastic bottles and bags and cardboard.
Designed by Beam Center Project Designer Sarah Lammer!
Are there any Improvements or Modifications that you discovered?
1. Using skinnier strips (or other types) of plastic to improve the tightness of the weave.
2. Using a stapler (if you have one) to quickly make connections of cardboard instead of tape.
3. Using different shades of plastic to create a pattern.
More Wattle:
You could try:
You’ve made a Wattle Structure!
And… are you Ready for more?
A Universe will be made using Wattle and Daub.
You made the Wattle… now what is the Daub?
We’ll get into the second part of this activity using a Cob-like mixture that you can make at home to Cover your Wattle structure.
Stay Tuned at:
and
The 2020 Beam Camp Development Site
Good Job!
PLEASE SHARE WHAT YOU MADE:
#beamanywhere