Merry Christmas 2019, dear blog readers! 

It feels like the year had just begun and we are already at the end and looking forward to a new decade! Time does fly, doesn't it? 

Anyway, in the Christmas tradition, I decided to do something in the traditional colours of green and red. I had rolled a number of newspaper tubes some time back and had been wondering on the project to work on. So I decided to go ahead with the new style of weaving that I have been trying out these days. In case you, dear reader, haven't had an opportunity to see what I have been up to, do check out this blue leaf tray that I had done a few months back. Also check out the previous box and lid, done using the same red/green tubes. 

This style of newspaper weaving, called coiling or root-weaving, is tedious but results in really cool newspaper products that are absolutely eye-catching! The weave is without any form, so it is with some trial and error that I manage to do this style of free-form weaving. 

This bowl or rather, tray is about 7.5 inches in diameter and made entirely from newspaper tubes, coloured red and green. As with my previous blue tray attempt, here too, I attempted to paint both plain tubes and tubes with print still visible. Since the colours were both dark ones, I was able to obliterate most of the print after painting the tubes twice. With a single coat of paint, the colour is not very rich and the print is clearly visible. But with a second coat, the colour also becomes richer and most of the font are pretty much invisible! And what little is visible, is hardly seen in this style of weaving anyway! So that was a good discovery for me.

In total, to make this bowl, I have used a total of 50 plain green tubes, 25 green tubes with print visible, 100 plain red tubes and 30 red tubes with print visible. And as expected, with this style of dense weaving, the end product is very robust and strong. A coat of polyurethene and I have an absolutely amazing product!

So what do you think?

Model Details:

Model: Coiled Christmas Bowl

Difficulty Level: Complex

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Tutorial (coiling or root-weaving technique): Youtube

This blue bowl is the first large-sized bowl that I have tried, that has come out reasonably well! The problem with bowls that I have found is that, while the start is pretty standard with the help of a form, it is inward curve at the top that causes trouble.

The reason being that a form can no longer be used! So this is more of eye-balling the correct curvature so that the bowl is shaped uniformly. I have always had a problem with this and usually my bowls turn out a little too one-sided for my liking! So I am quite delighted that for the very first time, I have done a decent job and the bowl looks more centred.

I also like the way the edging has been done. The edge with a whole bunch of 'V's is more attractive than the usual edges that I use and gives a good finish to the bowl, I thought.

Model Details:

Model: Woven Bowl

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Shades of Blue is my current version of the bowl that I had initially tried out a few days back. I am very pleased with the way this bowl has turned out. The base of smoother than my previous efforts and the weaving is much improved, even if it is not where I want it to be!

As in my previous attempt, I went ahead with a gradation in colour. The paper I have used is without any print, so the lighter colours have turned out clear and without any marking. For the darker blue, of course, the tubes with print works just as well as the tubes without print, since the print is barely visible.

To achieve a more graded colour change, I weaved a couple of rows with a mix of dark and light blue, before switching to the lighter colour. I like the effect this produces.

The side view gives a good view of the rim of the bowl. The weaving pattern is the same as the base (tutorial link at the end of the post). The rim is harder to weave than the base, because it is narrower than the base. But that gives a fuller and smoother appearance I thought. What do you think?

The bottom of the bowl is by far, my favourite part of this project! I love the evenness of the base and I think I have much improved in this one area. Of course, this is the part that is lease visible! 😆😆 But that doesn't stop me from admiring my improved attempts!! 😂😂

So what do you think? Do you like it? Should I try other colours? Do drop a comment 😀

Model Details:

Model: Woven Bowl - Shades of Blue

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Picture Tutorial for the thick rimmed bottom: Stranamasterov

My second attempt at making a bowl was a better success I think! I have been repeatedly told that the tubes in which the print is visible, are much more unique in appearance. So I went ahead with printed tubes which were coloured in shades of blue.

The base started off with a deep blue, which forms the rim of the bowl. As in my previous post, the base is formed using the same method. One thing I noticed is that, the deeper the colour, the lesser the print is visible.

I had used 3 shades of blue. Deep blue at the base, a lighter version in the middle and finally, a light blue to finish it off. The finish needs some work and hopefully this will become better in the subsequent attempts!

Once the bowl was complete, since I had some more tubes, I decided to go ahead and make a pen stand. This turned out quite sturdy and useful.

Finally, a coating of varnish to strengthen and protect the pieces and I am all set!

Ok, New Year and new trials! 😆 So my latest trial in newspaper weaving involved attempting a bowl. And this has been a project of new attempts!

First, till now, my problem has been getting a good bowl shape. Why? Because one cannot use a base form when weaving the top half of the bowl. This is more of weaving by look-and-feel and frankly speaking, I am not yet very good at this look-and-feel weaving!! But, I am getting there. I hope!! 😄😄 And this bowl was my first attempt at that.

In addition, I tried out a new way of moving from the base to the walls of the bowl. This gives a nice, thick rim to the base, which makes the bowl much more stable than usual. I found this style of weaving quite difficult, but in the days to come I hope to master this technique.

And last, I ended up using a mix of 2 colours randomly! A rust-coloured base with a orange coloured tubes in the rim of the bowl. Well, this is my attempt to try out new combinations in the hopes of striking something interesting! I don't know if I have achieved what I hoped for, but at least I had a go at it!!

Model Details:

Model: Woven Bowl

Difficulty Level: High Intermediate

Tutorial (making newspaper tubes): Youtube

Picture Tutorial for the thick rimmed bottom: Stranamasterov

 

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

This heart dish is a modular dish, made from 4 squares. An apt origami for Valentine's Day I thought. I am not able to find out the creator of this model. The youtube tutorial that I referred to, mentions that it is Tomoko Fuse, but unfortunately I am not able to find this model under her name on the Origami database. And well, whether the creator IS Tomoko Fuse or not, it is still a good one to fold, especially for a day of love.

Origami paper might be a bit too thin for the heart bowl. Printer paper or gift wrapper, about 80 gsm or so should result in a good, not-so-flimsy dish. Fill it with some hearts and it should make a very nice, unique, handmade gift :)

Model Details:

Model: Heart Dish

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 4 inches

Model Size: ~1.5 inches tall and 4 inches across

Modules: 4

Tutorial: Youtube

This Japanese lamp shaped-bowl, is one of my favourite creations of Tomoko Fuse from her book, 'Fabulous Origami Boxes'. The bowl can also be made into a series of nesting bowls by folding nearer or further from the centre. The lid can be made with or without knob at the top.

I felt the bowl and lid looked best when using patterned paper instead of a single coloured paper. And the bowl I have made here was done using gift wrapper paper.

Effort required would be about an hour or so for a beginner, since the bowl is made up of 8 modules in total, 4 for the bowl and 4 for the lid.

Model Details:

Model: Lamp-shaped Bowl

Creator: Tomoko Fuse

Book: Fabulous Origami Boxes

Author: Tomoko Fuse

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper Size: 7 inches

Number of Modules: 8

Tutorial: Youtube