I use the yarns from that heavy fiberglass cloth (woven roving) the same way. I usually use several yarns which I've pre soaked in epoxy

> I made paddles the same way. One thing I'll pass along to you is edging. I
> soak some soft 5/16 white polyster rope in epoxy and wrap it around the
> blade. I stretch it around and hold it on the bottom with some duck tape.
> I later sand and fill in the weave etc. I makes a really nice abrasion
> edge. I made quite a few of them and I used to go around the blade with a
> rat tail file and carve a tiny grove so the rope wouldn't slide out while
> I was stretching it around the blade. It also makes a nice looking
> finished paddle. My blades were a litle thicker than an 1/8 but you could
> do it with anything with a bit of thickness.