Cleethorpes in October

Glorious! Great day out to search out inspiration for Marine project. Decided that my connection with 'Marine' has always been the beach, so it was the perfect place to seek some inspiration. Before I went I definitely had seaweed on my mind so wanted to check some out and other stuff besides.

The tide was out this afternoon at Cleethorpes which was perfect. Loads of ripples in the sand and a chance to see some of the crusty bits clinging to the buoys and breakwaters which would normally be under the water. This was all great, but I want to twist the theme somehow.

A-ha! Found a fisherman's net washed up on the beach. The knotting and the colours have made me want to use some sort of macrame/crochet with string to form either the top of a dress or a bag. Sketched out a dress and thought about using a retro vibe as the shapes of the sand and seaweed automatically lend themselves to the shapes used in fabric and design in the 70s.

Other ideas buzzing in my head:

• small shells - like sequins - could use them in this way
• dying string - dipped or some technique I don't know the name of yet
• using something to stiffen the string in places - wax maybe?
• look at fishing net - do they use fine nets? 
• using seaweed shaped applique 
• spraying fabric with sand
• sandwich seaweed between plastic/fabric. Bind together somehow. Felting?