| How
to make cords . . . . . |
 We
use a pre-plaited black nylon cord with a hand-made toggle and bead made
from a polymer clay such as Dukit. The black nylon cord is readily
available and comes in a variety of widths. The polymer clay is
available from most children's toy stores or hobby shops and comes with
instructions for use.
SewingTime in Auckland (Ph 09
522-0863, Fax 09 522-0168, e-mail paul@sewingtime.co.nz)
can supply the black cord in 500gm rolls - just ask for: Weaverbird braided
polyester thread manufactured by Barbour. We use 550/8/6 Black
Classic Finish but they also stock 1200 waxed 1.0mm, 750 waxed 1.2mm and
350 waxed 1.8mm. They accept Visa and Mastercard, cheque and cash.
StoryTime in Whangarei (09 438-4406)
has a complete line of Dukit polymer clay in a wide variety of colours.
Any web search under "polymer clay" will lead you to more
instructions on usage than you will ever need!
All you'll need besides these items
is a large blunt ended needle with a large eye - similar to the ones
used to sew up knitted garments - available at most sewing supply shops
or better yet, get one from a shop that specialises in hand knitted
supplies - the wool shop. |
| Practicalities
. . . . . |
| We've
taken great pains to design our carvings so there is always a place to
put the cord - look at your design before carving - where will the cord
go? If you plan on merely drilling a hole for the cord attachment
- leave enough bone there to accommodate the hole. And, ask
yourself if the wearer will be able to replace the cord without too much
trouble if it wears out - they do wear out and we'd hate to think that
something as simple as a cord replacement would mean that one of our
carvings ended up in the dresser drawer or jewelry box unworn. We
tell our customers that we will replace worn cords free of charge except
for postage anywhere in the world if they just let us know what length
they require.
Length of cord? Well, that
generally depends on the size of the person and where they want the
carving to be on their chest - the most popular lengths are 54cm, 55cm
and 56cm from toggle to loop. |
| Steps
. . . . . |
| As
I make dozens of cords at a time, I usually spend one evening a month
making the toggles and beads. Since these do take time (the clay
must rest between handlings and has to be baked to harden), it's more
practical to make a heap than to just do one or two each time you need
them.
Then, I cut the cord into 90cm
lengths - this is way too long for a short finished cord but start with
this length until you figure out just how much you'll need for your use.
Showing someone how to make a cord
and actually making one takes about 5 minutes. You'll get to that
level very soon. |
|
|
Form a loop
at about 15cm from one end of the cord. Put the short end of the cord
through eye of needle and thread this end back through the throat of
what will be the loop to go over the toggle (pierce gently through the
center of both strands as shown). If you skip this step and just
start binding, you will have made a nice slipknot that will pull out the
first time you tug on it. |
|
|
You'll now
have something that looks like this - remove needle. You'll have a
loop with two strands - one is the short one of about 15cm and the other
is the long end. The short end is then used to form a
binding. The binding makes the cord look nice and anchors the loop
in place. |
|
|
The
binding is formed by tying half-hitches around the long cord with the
short end. To avoid the knotted area from twisting, the
half-hitches should be done in the following sequence. The short end is taken over the long end, then loops back under
and then over itself. Pull this knot up reasonable tight.
The next half-hitch is done under-loop over-under itself. |
 |
Confused?
In any macrame book, the result of these two knots is called a larks
head sennit. I generally tie 3-4 larks heads under the loop and
toggle (that is you repeat what you see below, middle drawing - 3 or 4
times).
|
 Looks
like this and that's the hard part done. The toggle end is the
same except you just place the loop over the toggle, skip piercing
through the strands below the loop as the toggle will keep the loop from
pulling out and begin the larks head knots just under the toggle.
Tie the same number of knots as on the other end to keep the cord looking
uniform. |
  The
toggle end will then look like this. And those
loose ends sticking out? Use the needle again to thread them down
through the middle of the main cord, cut them off and let the short ends
pull up inside hidden and tidy. After that, I slip a small
handmade bead onto the cord and it's ready for use. If you have
any questions, please, e-mail me at candykay@ihug.co.nz |
