These are a pair of modmes which have been modified with crochet (ignore the website address, we couldn’t register modme.com as someone already has that address). Our plan is to sell the base modme shapes which people can then modify themselves.
It’s taken a few steps to get this far. This was the first modme prototype and I had it 3d printed. The quality was great for prototyping but not for the finished product. You can see the ridges, which was part of the 3d printing process.
I designed the modmes in 3d and this is an example of the 3d model and the photo below is of the finished modme made into earrings. The finished products will also be 3d printed, however they are made using a process called SLS which is selective laser sintering. Nylon powder is lasered to melt into shape. The end result is matte, slightly rough and amazingly strong. We tried to break a modme and were unable to do so using normal strength. The modmes come in white so I am dying them to make them coloured. I used normal wool dye for these, however I have spoken with the dye company who have recommended a special type of dye for dying nylon and I am getting some of these to try.
These earrings were also modded with crochet. I have designed some square sided modmes which will work with knitting (although I do have designed a couple of patterns knitting around a round modme).
This is a flower modme. Here it is made into a snowflake – perhaps it could be used for Christmas decorations? However modded in a different way it could look completely different. I didn’t dye this modme, one material option is something called alumnide, which is nylon and aluminum powder combined.
This project would have been impossible – well not feasible – without 3d modeling and 3d printing. 3d printing offers us the opportunity to manufacture modmes but in really tiny numbers. It is low cost as you only pay for what you produce – there’s no moulds or dyes to be made or minimum production runs. So for once, I’ve been able to take one of my pie in the sky ideas and turn it into something tangible!