This is an excellent technique and there is none better to teach it than the master – Pim Van Den Akker.
I have used this technique leaving the stockings on show (as I like it that way) for a number of designs recently.
I have used perspex rods, painted dowel, bamboo, tree branches and solid stems of plant material (Doryanthes excelsor/ Gymea Lilly) for the structure.
For the stockings I go to my local charity shop where they sell them as garden ties. So far I have managed to get yellow, white with black spots, white with sequins and black ones. When I can’t find the right colour, I thin down water based poster paints and soak skin tone stockings. You just need to stretch them as they dry so the paint doesn’t get too thick on them.
Here are a couple of design examples:
