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Crafting with plant residues

 
May Lotito
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When I looked up online for information on growing chayote (Sechium edule) earlier this year, one article mentioned people can make hats out of the vines. Although I couldn't find any picture I kept that in mind to make use of the spent vines.

After the plant came down I clipped off the leaves and harvested the vines one by one to maximize the usable length. The longest one was over 20 ft. I tested a few methods based on experience dealing with other plant fibers and finally came down to this.

1. Let the vines sit until wilted and turned olive in color but not dry and brown
2. Cut a slit along the vine with a knife
3. Scrape up the ends of all vascular bundles and peel them off. If the vine is green, this step will take much longer since the bundles are attached to the skin stronger.
4. Roll remaining skin into circles to dry indoors (turning brown)
5. Soak to soften the skin before using. It can be sliced into desirable width the entire length.

The skin prepared this way is long and very strong and good for twining or weaving.
20231123_073358.jpg
Load of vines harvested
Load of vines harvested
20231124_081155.jpg
Peeling off the vascular bundles
Peeling off the vascular bundles
20231124_081701.jpg
Entire length of skin/bark removed
Entire length of skin/bark removed
20231124_084500.jpg
Weaving and twining samples
Weaving and twining samples

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Timothy Norton
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1967
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Beautiful samples! They look amazing.

Thank you for taking us through your process. I am amazed by weaving technique and one day will take the dive to trying it.

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May Lotito
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I made this hat by braiding the skins and zigzag stitching the braids together, same as making a straw hat.  Half of the vines were dyed with black walnuts and gave the resulting hat a camouflage pattern to hide the flaws. The hat is crownless so I can use it when having a ponytail or high bun. I also put a wide stay inside so the rough surface won't snag on my hair and the hat won't sit uncomfortably on my ears and glasses. It looks funky but actually is quite comfortable to wear.
20231204_143023.jpg
Crownless chayote hat
Crownless chayote hat
20231204_143010.jpg
Stretch woven hat stay
Stretch woven hat stay
20231202_083006.jpg
Estimating the size
Estimating the size

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Joylynn Hardesty
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That's awesome May!

'What we do now echoes in eternity.' Marcus Aurelius
How Permies Works Dr. Redhawk's Epic Soil Series

 
May Lotito
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I kept the majority of the vines intact for weaving. They turn brittle and break easily when dry but if They are soaked then dry slowly to slightly damp they are perfect for weaving. There will be some shrinkage so I try to get the moisture as low as possible while the vines are still pliable.

Here's a birdhouse made of broomcorn stalks, chayote vines and gladiolus and iris leaves.
20231206_095905.jpg
Vines coiled for drying and storage
Vines coiled for drying and storage
20231206_094432.jpg
Birdhouse
Birdhouse

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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I made a planter for this jade plant (thanks Pearl!).
20231215_121452.jpg
Jade plant and woven planter
Jade plant and woven planter
20231215_121328.jpg
Bottom view
Bottom view

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Pearl Sutton
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Wow May, that's all so COOL!! Mom read the thread and says to tell you you are brilliant! I agree with her totally :D
AWESOME WORK!!
:D

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Timothy Norton
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You are so incredibly talented. Bravo

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May Lotito
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Thanks all for your kind words! There are endless possibilities working with the materials.  
Does any one want to guess what are these for?
20231215_233100.jpg
Project
Project

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Judith Browning
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May Lotito wrote:Thanks all for your kind words! There are endless possibilities working with the materials.  
Does any one want to guess what are these for?



Beautiful work May!

And my guess for that last photo would be mason bee homes?
Thats been on my mind since I've been cutting similar lengths of teasel stalk for that.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

 
May Lotito
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They are just pencil size. When I get some real bamboo sticks I will sure make the mason bee homes! One more thing on the to do list.
20231216_131243.jpg
Yurt model work in progress
Yurt model work in progress

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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My 9 pullets are laying 5-6 eggs a day. They deserve a custom egg basket!
20231225_141624.jpg
Egg basket
Egg basket

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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Love working with hexagon weave. It's very economical material wise yet very strong. This egg basket is made with 22 3mm by 330 mm sticks. Have no problem holding a dozen eggs.
20231227_094309.jpg
Egg basket made from broomcorn stalk
Egg basket made from broomcorn stalk

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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My basket weaving turned unexpectedly into some geometrical fun. It's easier tp make models with paper straws. I've finished a random weave bird house, next will be a random weave Klein bottle ( not for the birds or they will hate me).
20240106_213633.jpg
Paper straw models
Paper straw models
20240106_213940.jpg
Random weave bird house with reciprocal scaffold
Random weave bird house with reciprocal scaffold

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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More random weave planters to decorate the window sill
20240203_090753.jpg
Hexagon and random weave
Hexagon and random weave

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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I made some improvements on the earlier egg basket and submitted this one for the weave a basket BB.

The oval shape is more stable as the sides won't extrude when eeight is added. The main body use 22 strips of 2.5 mm or 0.1 inch wide by 0.7 mm thick. Finished weight is 53 g or the weight of one egg. At full capacity it can hold 51 eggs.

The design starts with a flat hexagon botton with 6N strips and various number and position of pentagons are introduced to change the surface curvature as well as strip orientations. Here are other examples and the principle is the same.
Resized_image_1000000275.jpeg
Oval open weave basket holding 51 eggs
Oval open weave basket holding 51 eggs
20240123_110349.jpg
Wip picture
Wip picture
Screenshot_20231119_033025_YouTube.jpg
Boat shape
Boat shape
Screenshot_20231112_174727_YouTube.jpg
Tray
Tray
Screenshot_20231115_100020_Chrome.jpg
Filling in with colored strips
Filling in with colored strips
Screenshot_20231225_195644_YouTube.jpg
Round Basket with bottom filled
Round Basket with bottom filled
Screenshot_20231225_185312_YouTube.jpg
6 ft tall irregular shape by inserting other polygons (4,5,7) at critical positions
6 ft tall irregular shape by inserting other polygons (4,5,7) at critical positions

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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Found an article about the math behind the triaxial weave basketry and other stuffs I have done.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263523001061
A computation design method for architectural artifacts adapted from traditional Kagome bamboo basketry techniques

I tend to find everything ended up with math behind it. I have the intuition but lacking the knowledge and I feel the need to learn more math so badly.

Screenshot_20250303_132336_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot from paper
Screenshot from paper
Screenshot_20250303_132421_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot from paper
Screenshot from paper

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
May Lotito
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Another variation of triaxial weave is to weave the strips in a over 3 under 3 pattern instead of over 1 under 1. It will have less tension and gives closer spacing. Maybe you all have seen it in the cubic illusion quit made with 3 different colored fabric strips.

I practice with colored craft paper and move on to my fake bamboo strips. Some said this kind of weaving is  of 9/10 difficulty level.i feel it's about 7/10 for 2D, 8/10 for 3D and 9/10 for 3D with half of the strips having a translation to form a triangle grid.

Anyway, I'd like to make one of this ball similar to rattan sepak takraw ball with thin willow. If you look closely, the ball is basically a truncated  icosahedron.
IMG_20250303_130420.jpg
Practicing with paper
Practicing with paper
IMG_20250303_130418.jpg
Coaster and sieve
Coaster and sieve
IMG_20250303_130457.jpg
Triaxial ball
Triaxial ball

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
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