Playing with Braiding and GImp

After I made my Solstice trees back in 2013, the product I used to assemble the trees seemed to disappear from the face of the earth.

I tried many many fabric stores and even made the round of a few upholsters to see if I could buy some through them. I was told it was discontinued.

Sigh.
I searched the shelves for a suitable replacement and found nothing.......... until today.
I only went out to curb my husband's grocery spending. (He still thinks he's feeding 4!)
I wandered into Fabricland just to see what was new.

I found SEVERAL possibilities. So I bought ALL THEY HAD!

Hopefully it will last me several years.

This one was a knitted cord, four strands, and after fixing the ends with tape I began unraveling and let it go wherever. Lovely twists and curves where ever it fell. Not the same, but very usable.
After anchoring the bottom cut edge under a small piece of cloth, I pinned it into place under a washable stabilizer. Then I couched the whole thing with a dark monofilment thread.

The back shows the singular path. This is a sample piece so I placed the cording on white and stitched it with black in the bobbin. On an art piece I would match the bobbin colour to the background.

After rinsing away the stabilizer, I pinned it to shape. Lots of work, about 2 hrs worth, but what an effect!