sunrise )strata( design toggle closure construction sequence

Building a cotton fiber bracelet from bits of colored cord, a few beads and some nylon thread.

Start with a length of 3 mm cotton cord. This piece has been dyed a cool grey. Tie a 3x3x3 monkey fist knot at the 1/3 point in the cord and make a loop bound with waxed nylon thread.

There will be two loose ends. These will be used to adjust and strengthen the outer edge.

The cord has been placed around the mold with the monkey fist placed inside the loop. A length of pink cord has been positioned inside the parallel outer strands. A long needle is used to hold the cords temporarily in place.

Here's a side view showing the loop and toggle closure. When making the loop be sure to leave enough slack so the monkey fist can slip through it easily.

Orange and yellow cords are positioned inside and parallel to the outer cords. All are held in place using the long needles.

Two red glass crow beads are bound into the bights using 4 ply waxed nylon thread. The beads are strung loosely from top to bottom using a thin needle then pulled tight and ends knotted.

At the other end the loose ends of the colored cords are wrapped around the mold in parallel and secured with needles. Adjustments are made to get everything even. Needles can be removed and cords repositioned and tensioned to lie flat.

Starting near the middle the cords are bound together using 4 ply nylon thread working back and forth across the cords. A long needle and a small pair of pliers is used to do the sewing.

Here you can see the compressed cords where the binding has been applied.

Working around the bracelet with the nylon thread binding. The cords must be held flat against the mold to ensure that the binding thread penetrates each cord. Slack is worked towards the ends where it's needed to nest the glass beads snugly into the weave.

The finished product with the ends of the nylon thread trimmed off.
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