Since my last couple of woven projects have been fairly successful, I decided to try out another shape - an oval container. I used a used oval ice-cream box as the base and started working on the box. My primary reason for trying out this shape was to figure out how to weave the base. Since the base is not circular, there are some calculations involved to figure out the initial weave.

Suffice it to say, for me, the base was a disaster (hence the absence of photos of the base!! 😀). But once the walls were formed, the task was much simpler. Since I had two shades of blue, I wanted to use both and so decided on using the Layer-wise Rope Style pattern. A detailed MK (MasterKlass, for the uninitiated) on Youtube (link below) by the talented Elena Tishchenko provided all the help I needed.

Overall, not too bad for a first attempt. One area that I really need to work on is uniformity of height! As is obvious from the picture, in some places, it is too short and in others, too tall! I also need to figure out how to hide the cut ends near the top edge. Well, practise makes perfect and I really need to practise! 😊

Model Details:

Model: Woven Oval Container

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (Layer-wise Rope Style Pattern): Youtube (Part 1, Part 2)

Well, well, well, it appears that I have completed 2 newspaper weaving projects in a month! This was yet another order that I had received. And I must say I was initially tempted to say no! I mean, I have never worked on a tissue holder, my magazine racks to-date were not really a success, so I was not sure I would be able to pull it off. But finally, after much research on Youtube and Pinterest and quite a few trials, I am done with it 😊

Of the three, the magazine rack was definitely the toughest. I started off with a plywood base with holes drilled every 2 cms. Walnut wood stained newspaper tubes formed the vertical racks. After that, it was just a matter of mixing the green and lavender tubes to form the pattern.

The pen holder was quite easy - circular base, raised the side tubes and used green and lavender to complete the sides. The tissue holder was a challenge because I have never done one before. I think I can improve on this in my next attempt. I added a little handle to hold the 2 sides and to keep the tissues in place.

Couldn't resist posting yet another picture of the magazine rack. I covered the plywood base with brown wallpaper to give it a more professional look. A closer look will give a better view of the base. 

How about that? An order for a serving tray and 4 coasters completed! Very happy with the way the project has shaped up 😊 The tray is 12 inches in diameter and the coasters are 5 inches across. I had made the tray with a couple of handles on either side, making it easier to carry it. I ended up using a total of about 250 rolls for the tray and 200 rolls for the coasters - 50 per coaster.

Also, notice the origami stars scattered on the tray? Courtesy of Little Miss, who decided that the tray will look even more beautiful with the stars scattered randomly. Well, can't argue with her, so there you go...

The best part of the project for me? The edging of the tray. Can you make out those long loops that form a thick edge? This was something I have been practising for some time now, but failing more often than not! So when it turned out perfect for this tray, I was over the moon! 😎

Finally, once all the gluing and drying was complete, I varnished the tray and the coasters and allowed them to dry over night and now, all I need to do is pack and send them to their new owners 😊 An exciting end to the day! Yay! 

Happy New Year 2018! 365 new days, 365 new opportunities. Here's to hoping that we make good use of it. 

My first project this year is a woven magazine holder. This project has been in the works for a couple of months now - mainly because I wanted a very sturdy base, so that the holder would not topple over once a few magazines were placed. So after trying out a woven base followed by a cardboard base, I finally decided to use a wooden base - got a carpenter to cut out a 10 inches by 4 inches plywood and drill holes into it. I spaced the holes 1.5 cms apart. Then I covered it will some pretty paper that I had from one of my old origami projects. I hope you are able to make out the lined based in the pictures below. 

Naturally I used the colours from the base for the tubes as well - cream, light green and pink. The cream was the dominant colour and the light green was sparingly used. 

I also wanted to try out different types of weaving, so I ended up using this opportunity to do just that. The bottom most weave is the standard Rope Weave. This is the one that is the easiest for me. And I think this comes out the best, if I say so myself :) 

The next layer is for the Cotton Weave. This is generally the easiest weave. The one that everyone tries out first. But for some reason, I still haven't got the hang of this one! And I am still not comfortable with the weave. 

The third layer is a type of Openwork Weave. Not clear on the name. I used a mix of green and cream for this layer. This weave looks much better if this is the only pattern used, but mixed amidst all the other layers, I guess it loses the appeal. 

Finally, the last layer is the reverse rope layer. Since I needed to go back and forth with weaving this layer, this seemed the most practical. 

Tutorial links: 

Rope Weaving

Cotton Weaving

Openwork Weaving

I guess my post has been sufficiently long for the first post of the new year! Hope I get to make many more of these holders :) 

Merry Christmas!

After viewing many, many, MANY images of newspaper woven, Christmas themed articles on Pinterest, I decided to try out Santa's sleigh - seemed easy enough - oval shaped basket, a couple of runners and we are pretty much done. Or at least that is what I thought!

The basket was easy enough to make. I used an oval container as a form, cut out a cardboard base, covered with Christmas themed paper, weaved the basket with red and green newspaper tubes.

The challenge turned out to be the runners! Threading my tubes with wire so that it will hold the shape was itself quite a challenge! The wire needed to be thin enough to go through the tubes but thick enough so that it did not bend too easily. Once I threaded the tubes, using red tubes, I made 2 long lengths, similar to the cup handle. Here, it appears I did not wet the tubes, because quite a few of them cracked repeatedly :( Finally, I needed to figure out a way to hold up the sled above the runners. I am still not happy with the way this turned out and I am yet to figure out an effective way to do this.

Finally, this was the result:

Not what I had hoped for, but I know that my next effort will be better :) 

A few months, my daughter, Little Miss and I had made a few pen holders using rainbow coloured newspaper tubes. I had a few tubes left over from that project, so this trial turned out to be a good use of those tubes. 

This project almost turned out to be too much for me, a beginner, but I was determined to see it through! The difference between this and the usual weaving I have done is that there are multiple working tubes in this style, so keeping track of which tubes I was working with was quite a challenge initially. Maybe once I have gained more experience, I will attempt this weave again. 

I had made a few errors in my calculations, so there is some slight discrepancy in the arrangement of tubes, though this isn't really noticeable. Another error was in the way I finished up at the end. This turned out to be more obvious, especially in the second pic - the circle is slightly flattened in one place. 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Wall Hanging

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Picture Tutorial for this weave: GoldenerWidder

When it comes to newspaper weaving, I tend to colour the tubes before I start weaving. But for a change, I attempted a weave with the newspaper print still visible. I saw an apple container while surfing the net and decided to have a go at it. And this was the result.

The start of the apple container and lid was done using black newspaper tubes. And the rest was made of regular newspaper tubes - no colour. As much as possible, I went for plain print without any pictures and other colours.

I love the way the stalk came out. Wetting the tubes before winding it works wonders and prevents cracking. The leaf also came out great. While the container was nothing unusual, the lid was done differently. To give an apple-like shape, after winding the stalk, there is a dip and then the lid is formed. Well, the dip came out well, but the lid turned out to be slightly skewed.

I added a little decoupage to the container. And that too turned out great I think.

I thought it came out great for a first attempt, but clearly there is still work to be done. 

In recent days, I have been experimenting with newspaper weaving. So what exactly is newspaper weaving? In this art, we roll up newspaper strips into tubes, paint the tubes using acrylic colours and then weave the tubes into various shapes.

Easy to write, very difficult to do - at least for me! I have been trying out various methods of rolling, painting and weaving the tubes. Have been fairly successful, but if I browse the net for what others have done, I can see exactly how amateurish my attempts look!

But in recent attempts, the output has been pretty good, if I do say so myself! My latest attempt at weaving is this cup and saucer combination, made from lavender and brown tubes. Tutorials abound on the net, both written and video tutes and I have used them as much as possible to finally complete this product. And I must confess, I am quite proud of how it has turned out :)

The saucer measures about 7 inches in diameter, the cup (which is attached to the saucer) has a 5-inch base and measures about 6 inches in height. The toughest part was making the handle, I just couldn't figure out how people got such close loops!! Finally, practise paid off and I managed to shape the handle well.

At the end, I coated the entire thing in a mix of fevicol and water and allowed it to dry overnight. And now I have a good, very sturdy (you would be surprised to see how sturdy newspaper tubes turn out to be!) and pretty cup and saucer set, made entirely from newspaper!

An excellent way to recycle, I think :) 

After my Christmas bells made from newspaper tubes, I have been working with a fair amount of enthusiasm, on a rather large project! Making a trash can!!

It has been a fairly large project for me, because everything about this is new! I am new to newspaper weaving, so rolling the tubes itself is a challenge. The shape I have chosen is also new - till date, I have only attempted round structures, so a square is another challenge. Then there is the painting - as you can see, I have used lavender, green and white tubes. The white tubes were tricky because they weren't as bright white as I wanted them to be; hopefully I will get there in my next few attempts. Finally, I am not sure how clear it is, but I have used lavender/white paper beads around the middle of the basket. For some time I had the feeling that I had bitten off more than I could chew, but finally, I managed to complete the basket 😀 And really really proud of what I have done. I do realise there are a lot of faults, but at least I completed it!! So yay me!!

Model Details:

Model: Woven waste basket

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Model Size: ~15 inches tall 

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube 

 

More newspaper weaving! This attempt was more successful I think. I decided to go with Christmas colours, since anyway, these decorations were for Christmas. 

For these bells, I rolled newspaper tubes (about 150 in total), split them into 2, used acrylic colours mixed with glue and water to paint the 2 sets and allowed the tubes to dry completely. 

Once the tubes were dry, as with my last attempt, I used a bell form and wove these ornaments. The woven bells were themselves quite robust, but to add a little shine and sturdiness, I coated them with polyurethene. Allowed to dry and lo and behold, 2 beautiful ornaments ready for Christmas! 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Christmas Bell

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~5 inches tall 

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Newspaper Weaving is one art that fascinates me, though till date, I have not been very good at it. But for this year's Christmas, I decided to try some ornaments using weaving. And this Christmas bell is one of my first attempts. 

For this bell, I first rolled newspaper tubes, colored them using acrylic paints, wove the bell using a form and finally coated with polyurethane.
Lots of work, but I am loving it! 

Model Details:

Model: Woven Christmas Bell

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~5 inches tall

 

In theory, it is pretty easy to make these dishes but in reality, it is quite a lot of work. And rolling those reeds and making coils from them becomes painful on your fingers too. But I must say, I absolutely love this dish, so I might give it another go and make another dish for myself.

How I did it:

1. Make a whole bunch of paper reeds. I had made about 150 reeds to start off. And in the end, I needed to make some more!! I had used A4 size magazine paper. I cut the paper in half, lengthwise and used it. So 1 sheet gave me 2 reeds.

2. For the base, start off coiling one reed. When you reach the end, glue another reed into the opening. Continue adding reeds till you have the desired size of disk. Keep aside.

3. Now, for the coils, I had made them in 3 sizes. The biggest ones were about 1.5 inches in diameter. For this, I used 2 reeds to get the desired size. The second one was about a inch in diameter, made from a single reed. I coiled it around a pencil, so that I got a circular hole rather than a pinpoint. The last one was about half an inch in diameter. I cut the A4 into 4 rectangles - once vertically and once horizontally. This I used for the final row at the top. Oh, I had used a total of 16 coils in each row, so a total of 43 coils.

4. Once all the coils are done, it is just a matter of gluing them to the circular disc base. Hot glue/quick drying glue is the best for this. I had alternated a large (1.5 inch) coil with the smaller (1 inch) coil.

5. The second row was the same - small coil followed by the bigger one, in between the coils of the first row.

6. For a completed look, I added the final row of coils, the 0.5 inch ones.

7. Finally, once everything is dried, I painted the bowl with a mixture of glue and water. This makes the bowl really stiff and fills all the gaps. So if any of your coils are not tight enough, this coat will ensure it doesn't come undone. Also there is a shine added to the bowl which is very appealing.

Model Details:

Model: Knick-knack Dish

Origin: Traditional

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Model Size: ~6 inches in diameter