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Making the String

Kyle Fertig
Nov 7, 2016
3 min read

Today, the MZUMC Youth finally learned how to make the string for the mats. Each mat takes hundreds of plastic bags, which are each cut into four usable pieces of string about a foot long each. When enough string is assembled (which apparently takes the majority of the time), a mat can then begin to be made. Below are the steps to create the string.

1. Take the bag the flatten it out so that there are defined corners on the bottom and it's a rectangle. Because a bag has width to carry groceries, the excess width will need to be folded inside as symmetrically as possible to make even strands when the bag is later cut (visible with the picture on the left). Make sure that there is as little air inside of the bag as possible.

2. Fold the bag hot dog style twice (crease through the long side). This will aid in making the cuts in the bags straight. With regular scissors, up to three bags can be folded on top of each other at once. It's important that before the fold, the bags are lined up correctly. While the long side may not be lined up perfectly when folded, this is alright as long as the short side is.

3. Use scissors to cut off the seam at the bottom and and handles at the top. These are scraps which can be recycled. Make sure that the entire handle is cut off and that the seam is cut through entirely. Failure to do so will result in warped pieces of string which will be weaker/unusable in comparison to a proper strip.

4. Fold the bag hamburger style (crease through the short side). Unfold after a visible has been cut into the bag and then cut along the crease. There should now be two rectangles.

5. Fold the bag hamburger style, the same way as in step four. Unfold and cut along the crease. There should now be four rectangles close to squares.

6. The four rectangles can now be unfolded completely. If done correctly, there should now be four circles, per bag, which will be used as the string. If there are imperfections such as the string looking corkscrewed, it means that the bottom of the bag was not cut fully through. This can usually be fixed with some scissor work, although if cut too thin or broken, the piece of string must be scrapped.

7. Take one piece of string and put it through a second piece of string. Hold both sides of the piece on the outside as shown in the first photo of this step. Next, feed the end of one side (A) being held through the other side of the same piece (B) as in the second picture of this step. Finally, take hold of side "A" and the side hanging down from the first picture of this step. Pull one side of section "A" outwards and the knot will begin to form and

tighten. Occasionally, the bag may catch on itself and makeit hard to pull. In this case, take the opposite side of section "A" and pull from there. What is created is a slip knot.

8. Multiple pieces of string can be tied together to form long strands for weaving. When a new piece is being strung onto a longer section, the short piece is to be fed through the end of a longer section. It is important that when the knot is being tightened, that there is no slack in the section connecting the end piece. If there is slack, the end piece must be either untied or cut.

9. Large amounts of string can be stored compactly in a tightly made ball. This is done by first wrapping the string around your hand. After this is done a few times, the string can then be slipped off the hand and more string can be wrapped tightly around the section to begin forming the ball. As the ball grows, it's important to wrap the remaining string in different directions, as to keep the ball round.