Having tons of old sheets and clothes, I wanted to try the dipping of fabric onto cement to create a plant pot, but I wasn’t really appealed by the look of it. Being used to 3D printing, I thought about making a kind of dipping filament that I would twist to get a nice “rope like” texture and a more controlled look.

Step 1: Collecting What You Need

1 used Bed Sheet (mine was 250x5cm)
1 plastic bottle (you can also use a pot)
adhesive tape
600g of Cement
300ml of water
Latex gloves (to protect your skin from the cement)
Something to mix the cement (any large container and a stick for example)

Step 2: Prepare Your Working Space, and the Fabric “filament”.

Firstly, cut a 10x10cm piece of fabric that you’ll use for the bottom of the pot.
Then prepare your fabric filament; measure 5cm and cut the side of the sheet with a scissor and tear it apart. The fibers should create a straight line.
To make this 9x6cm pot, I needed one strip of 5x250cm but you can do it with multiple strips placed endwise. If you use multiple strips, just carefully overlap them. (you can even create a nice pattern this way !)

Step 3: Prepare Your Support

In this project I used a plastic bottle but you can do it on pretty much any type of support.

Prepare the bottle, remove the stickers, and cut it on both sides (you can cut only one side if your bottle has a flat end) to get a 9x6cm cylinder.
If you cut both sides, stick four lines of tape on one end to create a support.

Step 4: Prepare the Cement

Put a tightly stretched plastic bag on your table, it will prevent damage and smooth out the surface in contact with it.
Find a large container, clean it, and put your cement inside.
Mix it with water until it is homogeneous. (It has to be pretty liquid; if it isn’t, add a little bit of water. Also keep a glass of water next to your mix in case it dries out while you are dipping your fabric).

Step 5: Create Your Pot

Don’t forget to put gloves on, cement is corrosive and could burn your skin.

At first, dip the 10x10cm base, and apply it to the flat side of your cylinder. It has to be soaked in cement.
Then, dip the 250x5cm filament until it’s soaked, and twist it on itself.
Apply it on the support, starting on the bottom. Continue twisting the filament tightly while you’re putting in on the support.

Step 6: Unmolding and Sanding

Wait at least 48h so it can dry completely to avoid breakage.

The plastic bottle should come off easily, try finding a spot where you can bend it, and do it until you can remove it completely.
Then sand it with a very fine grain, don’t do it too much as it could reveal the fiber of the fabric underneath.