In the summer of 2019 we decided to renovate parts our our house in London. As it wasn’t going to be liveable with 2 small children under school age, we very gratefully accepted residency with my husbands parents by the seaside. Spending so much time on the beach, I found there was an unbelievable amount of plastic washed up on the shores. The majority was tiny plastic-like pebbles called nurdles, lolly sticks, tampon applicators and fishing nets. Over the year we were there (delayed house works due to the pandemic), I went out for a few beach cleans putting aside fishing nets and bits of plastic I could reuse on a weaving project.

The smell and the muck was so bad that cleaning the nets took a couple days. First, an outside hosing down followed by many hot soapy baths with in between scrubbing. A vinegar soak then tossed into the washing machine (using a delicates bag of course). Once cleaned, it was all separated into usable fiber.

Although limited with net colours, they did not disappoint. The textures and vibrancy really came through in each piece.