Safety Nets

Safety Nets was originally made as part of a Textile Study Group project for British Textile Biennial, responding to the BTB theme of technical innovation but also the requirement to look back to ancient and indigenous technologies for ways forward for the planet. The idea of a safety net for the world caught my attention. The globe came next, providing a scale at which to work, and then followed an exploration of different materials for net making and a playful take on representations of the globe: Repurposed polyester fabric; hand twisted cordage from allotment grown and hand processed flax fibre; fragments of string from ‘the string drawer’; hand twisted nettle cordage made into a flat net; and paper yarn.

Repurposing the donated polyester fabric provided a strong and flexible net but resulted in many tiny fibres (micro plastics) being released whilst working. Twisting cordage by hand from allotment grown and hand processed flax fibre was much slower but provided a strong and rather beautiful net. Fragments of string from ‘the string drawer’ were brought together to make a characterful net with different thread weights and fibre types. Hand twisted nettle cordage made into a flat net, rather than one worked in the round, holding the sphere in a slightly different way. Paper thread, combining fragility and strength made the fifth net.

Shown during 2026 in Costing the Earth.