Really gotta love it when a topic of discussion on social media gets you thinking in certain directions to design something new.
I have had a Fitbit Flex now since last January and while I love the technology, I really hate the limited options of bands to use with it. A girl just needs to have options when you wear one all day long, no matter where you go. A plain band is okay when you are sweating and working out but it is sorely lacking when it comes to dressing up. It's not like I dress in designer fashion but a girl does like to look her best when out on the town. Flex just has too few options in that department and none of them come in a leather or lace style.
So, I've been thinking (yeah, I know that can be a dangerous thing). Why not come up with a few design ideas and see what people will want to wear. The first hurdle is dealing with the 1 inch long device that has to be recharged every 5 to 7 days. Lace itself is just too light to keep it on the back of the wrist. It would always travel around to the bottom of the wrist and always get in the way. Further examination of just the lace option, you would need to build in a compartment feature that would allow you to remove the piece every few days for the recharging process. This will actually put added stresses on the threads causing them to wear out faster.
Now having eliminated a just lace piece, you may need to think about a combination piece. Leather and lace or cloth and lace, or even netting and lace. These hold great possiblities and then there is adding beadwork to the piece. I have even considered a lace piece that encompasses the Flex band itself. So, short of recreating the band in leather or beadwork, I have decided to develop a cover for the Flex involving a "tape lace" base that will encompass the original band. I am going to try two options: 1) tape lace on top and bottom that allows the band to slide in and out, 2) tape lace on top with pieces of tape lace for either side of the underside of the band which still allows the insertion and removal of the Flex itself.
This will allow me the space to create something using various motifs on top to make each band cover unique. The idea of this came from a lovely image of a lace bracelet done by Ms Corina Meyfeldt. She gave us the clue that her bracelet had a base piece that was a simple tape lace. From there it was a combination of various motifs and beads to create a unique look.
Since I am currently not in the testing process and am waiting for a little calmer weather to continue my shuttles, I will be working out the Flex covering. I will most likely be working on this in the coming weeks while we are on vacation as well. My shop will be closed during vacation time. There are still 5 shuttles remaining from the first batch. They are completely hardened now and ready for immediate shipping. I am actually closing the shop on Etsy for vacation from August 1 to August 8. As soon as the weather changes again, I will be back at creating the next round of shuttles with the new images posted on my Facebook page. While waiting on the weather change, I will also begin to generate some new fractals to use on more shuttles. I have one hundred shuttle blanks prepped and ready for images but will release them 20 at a time because of the time involved in creating the new images. One fractal image can take 3 or more hours for the computer to generate.
Well, this is all for now. Need to go look through my threads and pull out the right beads to create something pretty for a Fitbit Flex cover.
Happy tatting!
Arial - the Tattered Faerie
I have had a Fitbit Flex now since last January and while I love the technology, I really hate the limited options of bands to use with it. A girl just needs to have options when you wear one all day long, no matter where you go. A plain band is okay when you are sweating and working out but it is sorely lacking when it comes to dressing up. It's not like I dress in designer fashion but a girl does like to look her best when out on the town. Flex just has too few options in that department and none of them come in a leather or lace style.
So, I've been thinking (yeah, I know that can be a dangerous thing). Why not come up with a few design ideas and see what people will want to wear. The first hurdle is dealing with the 1 inch long device that has to be recharged every 5 to 7 days. Lace itself is just too light to keep it on the back of the wrist. It would always travel around to the bottom of the wrist and always get in the way. Further examination of just the lace option, you would need to build in a compartment feature that would allow you to remove the piece every few days for the recharging process. This will actually put added stresses on the threads causing them to wear out faster.
Now having eliminated a just lace piece, you may need to think about a combination piece. Leather and lace or cloth and lace, or even netting and lace. These hold great possiblities and then there is adding beadwork to the piece. I have even considered a lace piece that encompasses the Flex band itself. So, short of recreating the band in leather or beadwork, I have decided to develop a cover for the Flex involving a "tape lace" base that will encompass the original band. I am going to try two options: 1) tape lace on top and bottom that allows the band to slide in and out, 2) tape lace on top with pieces of tape lace for either side of the underside of the band which still allows the insertion and removal of the Flex itself.
This will allow me the space to create something using various motifs on top to make each band cover unique. The idea of this came from a lovely image of a lace bracelet done by Ms Corina Meyfeldt. She gave us the clue that her bracelet had a base piece that was a simple tape lace. From there it was a combination of various motifs and beads to create a unique look.
Since I am currently not in the testing process and am waiting for a little calmer weather to continue my shuttles, I will be working out the Flex covering. I will most likely be working on this in the coming weeks while we are on vacation as well. My shop will be closed during vacation time. There are still 5 shuttles remaining from the first batch. They are completely hardened now and ready for immediate shipping. I am actually closing the shop on Etsy for vacation from August 1 to August 8. As soon as the weather changes again, I will be back at creating the next round of shuttles with the new images posted on my Facebook page. While waiting on the weather change, I will also begin to generate some new fractals to use on more shuttles. I have one hundred shuttle blanks prepped and ready for images but will release them 20 at a time because of the time involved in creating the new images. One fractal image can take 3 or more hours for the computer to generate.
Well, this is all for now. Need to go look through my threads and pull out the right beads to create something pretty for a Fitbit Flex cover.
Happy tatting!
Arial - the Tattered Faerie
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