Last week, I shared my rather aggressive plans for the hand-made ornaments that will go in my holiday cards this upcoming holiday season. I mentioned the twisted cord finish, and that I'd share the how-to in a future email. Well, this is the email.
I'm playing with two options to finish the ornaments as shown in the photo on the left. The ornament on the left has twisted cord around the ornament AND as the hanger, and the second version on the right has twisted cord only around the ornament with a separate, simple thread hanger.
But first, I need to make the cord.
My first attempt at making the twisted cord wasn't what I'd consider a success. The cord is indeed twisted, but I used three different thread colors and they all look mish-mashed together. I didn't realize there was a trick to create the candy-cane alternating-color cord. At least not until my stitchy friend, Maryann clued me in. And now you know it too. . .
For my example, I'm making a very VERY short twist, so I can fit the steps into photographs.
For the example, I cut two (approximately) 24"-long 5-weight perle cotton threads - one blue one white.
For a thicker cord, I folded each length of perle cotton in half.
Then they are folded in half again, this time with the intersection overlapping.
Then I knot each end (red arrows).
You can do this next step by machine or using a hand mixer (that can get exciting if you turn the speed on too high), but I prefer to twist by hand.
I dig into my knitting supplies and pull out a stitch holder, a nice large one that I can hold and manipulate easily in one hand. I hook one thread loop into the stitch holder
Holding the white knot firmly in one hand, I extend and start twisting the blue end (with the stitch holder).
And keep twisting . .
And twisting. . .
While pulling outward.
Until the cord starts to twist back on itself. This one is starting to re-spiral in the center, but it can happen anywhere in the twist.
I fold the cord in half and knot the already-knotted ends (red arrow) immediately, and the twist kinda just happens.
Adjust the twist with your fingers to even out any lumps, bumps, or oddly-twisted sections.
I did not knot this example, however, on my fa-real cords, I knot them right away to keep them from untwisting.
Notice how much shorter the final result is from the original 24" cut. This twisted segment is maybe 2-3" long.
The process to attach the cord to the ornament is a bit fiddly, so I'll save the rest of the how-to for another day . . . meanwhile, consider where the cord might be used.
Besides a fancy finish for an ornament, it could also be a cute finish on doll clothes or dollhouse furnishings. Couched onto a quilt block or a stitchy piece for added whimsy . . . What about making the cord with three colors, or four?
24 hours in a day isn't nearly enough. . .
Happy Stitching!
Head Hummingbird
Hummingbird-Highway.com
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