In my previous post, LINK, I showed how to make lucet cord with the Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that have peg legs.
There are also links to a whole slew of videos that I have made about what to make with lucet cord in that post.
I have made another video tutorial that shows how to make lucet cord with the Bee and Ladybug Vasilisa Doll lucets that I design and make.
Here’s the for the video:
I have been enjoying designing and carving Vasilisa Comfort Dolls that are also lucet cord makers.
If you would like to adopt one of the Vasilisa Comfort Doll lucets, please send me a message.
Here’s a video that I made to show how to make lucet cord with the Vasilisa dollies with legs:
Here is a list of ‘how to videos’ for lucets:
#1- Basic cord:
#2- How to add buttons, beads and charms
#3- Button closures
#4- Celtic knots and interlaces
#5- Shoe laces
#6- Celtic Interlace Hearts
Lucet cord butterfly:
How to attach lucet cord to garments:
Normally, we wrap all our presents in bags that I have made over the years. We never buy paper for gift wrapping.
But, this year, my husband and I made some gifts that needed special packaging.
So I set my mind to working on how to do this in an eco friendly way.
(I’ll show the special gifts in my next blog post)
It came as a roll that is 12 inches wide by ever so long, and it’s been kind of in the way ever since, but I didn’t want to get rid of it because I have a huge fondness for cardboard.
Jim wrapped the first gift in a protective swath of the cardboard, but that seemed rather ‘less than’ to me, so I mulled it over and came up with the folder idea.
I LOVE it.
It’s super simple:
I cut a 36 inch long piece of the cardboard and cut triangles off one end to make the point.
Then glued one triangle to the inside of the point to stabilize it.
I traced a tray to make the curve and then glued the edges.
Next time I will add strips of cardboard along the sides to give more dimension to the folder.
I used the off cuts to decorate the front.
The cord is made from crochet cotton that was given to me last summer (see Tea Towels) and a Lucet (LINK) and I am pleased as can be.
Another cluster of gifts needed special packaging, so I tried to fold origami boxes with the cardboard.
FAIL.
Instead, I came up with trial and erroring in making fitted boxes that were a time consuming pain in the neck to make. I tried using this technique, which works great with ‘normal’ card stock and paper: LINK
I won’t bother doing this again- not with this cardboard.
(Note- even though these were the pits to make, they were still made with love and some mild cussing).
BUT, by now, I was seriously on a roll with this whole box/package designing thing and remembered those nifty containers that are tubes that have semi-circular ends that push in to close them.
Of course, I probably could have looked up a tutorial online and found the simple way to do this, but, oh no, that’s not the way my brain works.
My brain likes ~to figure things out~…..
So I pushed cardboard around and flipped and folded it and measured and hummed and finally came up with this ‘Slightly Tube-ish’ container:
I had made several of the ‘Slightly Tube-ish’ ‘ containers when I twigged to the fact that they had a big old mistake, which I then fixed.
I made proper templates for the ‘right’ ‘Slightly Tube-ish’ containers , since I really like these and plan on using the concept again.
But, I wasn’t going to waste the ‘wrong’ ones, so I used them anyhow, with an apology to the recipients of the gifts and an explanation that I have got it right now, and they’ll get a better iteration next time.
Until then, the wrong ‘Slightly Tube-ish’ containers can be re-used and eventually be recycled or used as fire starters.
Here are the proper templates:
All in all, it was a lot of work, but I loved doing it and I hope that my family liked the nifty boxes and folders.
Even though I used cardboard that we had bought years ago for another project, these techniques will work really well on regular upcycled cardboard and cardstock, which pleases me very much!
Happy Upcycling! ❤
People have been asking about working with both thin yarns, threads and cords as well as thicker yarns on the Latchet Lucet.
This video shows the stitch wiggle trick that draws up the excess thread when working with fine cords, threads or yarns. As for thicker yarns, no problem- working with roving yarns makes very effective lucet cords.
Lucets are not like crochet hooks or knitting needles that have to be specific to the yarn.
You can work with a huge range of yarn thicknesses, types and weights of yarn on lucets. The one trick to be aware of with the Latchet Lucet is to keep the yarn that goes across the latchets at a very light tension, and then tighten the stitches up AFTER they are formed.
To buy a Latchet Lucet, please go to:
https://www.dewberryridge.com/products/latchet-lucet#
Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, Lucet, tutorial & how to, video tutorial
In my previous post, LINK, I introduced the wonderful Latchet Lucet that I designed and Dewberry Ridge looms is building and selling.
A lady asked me if it’s possible to make lucet cord with just one hand when using the Latchet Lucet.
My first response was- Of course!
Then then, I thought: Oh! I should try it…
And I did, and it works great!
I made a little video showing how to do the One Handed Lucet Cord (very Zen 🙂 )
I am so pleased that people who have an injury or a challenge of some other sort will be able to create beauty with the Latchet Lucet! Yay!
My Celtic Interlace necklace pattern in my etsy shop works great with Lucet cord: LINK
All the lucet cord projects on my youtube video channel LINK work beautifully with the Latchet Lucet cords.
Here’s the link to buy the Latchet Lucet: LINK
Happy cords!
Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, jewelry, Lucet
I am just over the moon 🙂
I love working with Lucet cords, and sometimes, I work with miles of them.
So, I wanted to be able to make oodles of lucet cords more quickly.
After a LOT of tinkering around, and much experimenting and many different iterations, I was happy with the prototype for the Latchet Lucet.
I talked to Donna and Gary McFarland at Dewberry Ridge Looms to see if they were interested in making it.
Yes!
Yay!
Gary is a master craftsman and excellent designer.
He took my design and fine tuned and honed it and here is the result:
This glorious piece of work:
Here it is, attached to the table with the spiffy clamp that Gary found after a lot of research:
It is a very happy tool for co-creating with the Thumbelina, Mollie Whuppie, Vasilisa and Star looms.
(well…. any and all looms, really).
Here’s a video of it in action:
Here’s the link to order one:
The projects made with Lucet cords in the following videos work perfectly with the cords made with the Latchet Lucet:
It’s just sooooooooooooooo much fun!
Filed under Dewberry Ridge looms, Lucet, video tutorial
In my previous post, LINK, I showed how to set up the loom, warp and start the weaving.
I posted the list of materials and equipment that you need to weave a bias vest on the 7 foot triangle loom.
In this video, I show how to finish the weaving, including:
Here is the second video:
Happy weaving!
Butterflies are the symbol of transformation, and since everyone I know seems to be experiencing some kind of transformative experience or another, it seems to me to be a good time to make some little butterflies.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com
They are very quick and easy to make, using a Lucet – although you can also use spool knitted cord, if you prefer.
They can be used to embellish anything that you can think of, or can be stitched to a ribbon for a book mark, or have a pin sewn to the back so they can be worn on a hat, bag, scarf or lapel. They can be attached to a key ring.
They can be used in scrapbooking or card making.
It’s lovely to have one in your pocket to give to a friend who just needs a little comfort…..
Here’s the video for how to make the butterflies:
We are in deep, cold, snowy mid winter in Western Canada, so it’s lovely to have butterflies flittering about the studio, even if I had to make them myself! 🙂
That just reminded me of something that I hadn’t thought of in years….
My mother used to give us ‘Butterfly Kisses’, which were a quick little flutter of her eyelashes on our cheeks.
That’s a dear memory to suddenly pop up… sweet!
Butterfly kisses all round! ❤
For the longest time, I have been meaning to design and weave a Venus of Willendorf that would be the same size as the original tiny statue (4 inches/10 cm) tall.
So, I finally sat myself down and worked it all out!
And, here she is:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
While I was photographing the step by step photos, the sun moved across the windows in my studio (it does take all day to do step by step photos), so I chased it around in the studio so I could have little bits of rainbow in the photos.
Luckily, because we are still in ‘Very Long Day’ mode here, I had lots of hours to chase those rainbows!
By the time I finished the Venus of Willendorf, I had to go to the kitchen to follow the rainbows….
and was delighted that I was able to find a handful of rainbow just waiting for me to pour it into my dolly!
She also posed in one of the Jade plants in my studio:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
and on the woven placemat that I used as the backdrop for the step by step photos:
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
I take hundreds of photos when I am doing the step by steps, because I want to be able to capture the essence of each step, ‘just so’, as I think that we have all become visual learners nowadays, and good pics are essential to showing how to do things.
It makes the editing process long and slow, but, I think it’s worth it to make a good pattern.
She’s woven on my beloved potholder loom, and her hair and arms were made on the Lucet.
She’s just the loveliest little handful- so comforting to give little squeezes to.
The pattern is in my etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/193949230/venus-of-willendorf-to-weave-on-the?ref=shop_home_active_1
Happy weaving, and enjoy the sweet summer rainbows! 🙂
This is the 6th how to video in Noreen Crone-Findlay’s series of Lucet technique tutorials.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
In this video, I show how to make gorgeous Celtic interlace hearts that you can use to embellish woven, knitted, crocheted or sewn fashion accessories or home decor items.
They are also great for scrapbooking and can be used on stationery.
They are perfect Valentines or as Christmas or birthday decorations and ornaments.
Another wonderful way of using these Celtic Interlace hearts is to hang them up as ‘Yarn Bombs’ for people to find and adopt. What a lovely way to brighten someone’s day!
The video shows how to make different sizes of the Celtic Interlace Heart.
Here is the template- print it out so that it’s about 5 inches square, but smaller or larger works just fine, too.
copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay http://www.crone-findlay.com
Spool knitted cords work fine for making the Celtic interlace hearts, too.
Here is the video tutorial:
Please go to https://www.etsy.com/listing/190037126/handmade-wooden-lucet-by-noreen-crone?ref=listing-1 to purchase one of my handmade lucets, and to check out all the nifty spool knitting patterns and eBooks, as all those patterns will work beautifully with Lucet cords.
This is Noreen Crone-Findlay’s original design and concept.
Filed under Lucet, tutorial & how to, video tutorial
Noreen Crone-Findlay, designer and author
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 