The edge of hardware cloth can be sharp enough to wound. Bound on a rope to act as an edging.
Then filled in the border with a couple of stitches.
Completed Background
Detail of Completed Background
I am considering binding pennies onto the border with a message in Tap code. In Tap code the letters of the alphabet are laid out in a 5×5 grid.
The code for E is 1,5. The code for the letter K is the same as the letter C.
Often when I refer to Tap code I actually use a grid of 11, 5 spaces for the row and 5 spaces for the column with a space between. I fill in the empty spaces with a filler component; and add three spacers at the start of words, in between words, and at the end of words. This is a quick example of how I start laying out text in code–
The word see in my altered version of Tap code.
I am pretty sure that I am going to give the background an application of liquid starch before binding the blocks to it. The starch will prevent fraying and any knots from coming undone. Usually the “fabric” will feel quite like canvas.
Or I might decide to age the hardware cloth which will alter the appearance of the fiber. The appearance of weeping stain might occur.
An example of oxidized metal that stained the fiber.