Introduction: Dreamcatcher
About: I'm a 32-year old music graduate now re-training to be a designer. I'm working very hard on these skills and I like to make things to kick back. The last thing I made was a dreamcatcher....got a picture here…
This is a home-made dreamcatcher, made for my girlfriend, Orsi. The idea grew out of a graphic idea, based on the phonics of her name:
1) The logical operand, OR, is sometimes represented by a circle with a cross in it, slightly resembling a gunsight
2) The female (SHE) symbol is represented by a circle with a cross beneath but attached to it
For clarity's sake, my girlfriend is Hungarian, where the letter S is our SH sound.
From this 'introduction' you may extrapolate your own dreamcatcher, graphic concept. Beyond that, here are the steps for how I created the dreamcatcher:
NB: You will need some cord, string and/or thread; chosen fabric(s); two curtain rings (one with a hook) and some additional decorative options (i.e. the button and bead in my design - both were reclaimed from the roadside, washed and recycled)
1) Use the coloured cord (turquoise in my case) to create the first stage of your design (in my case the interweaving loops to create the bottom cross shape)
2) Continue to weave/loop the cord around the curtain rings to fix the design in place and the curtain rings together
3) Trim the cord once your second (nth) design phase is complete (in my case the second cross within the top curtain ring)
This stage may be tricky and/or require some trial and error before you successfully proceed
4) Hide and fix the cord on the curtain rings by wrapping the design tightly with your fabric (in my case the purple fabric from a broken lampshade)
Don't worry about loose ends too much at this stage
5) To fix the wrapping fabric takes two stages
a) Wrap the two curtain rings further, using your "string" (I used a thick purple thread from Khadi Papers)
Be careful of wrapping the central join of the two rings: make it secure, keep it tidy; you may find it useful to use a needle
b) Once this wrapping is successfully completed, you will need your central object for the lower curtain ring: continue wrapping the string/thread around the lower ring (take care to go over the existing wrappings for tidiness) and now weave it through your
central object to hold it in a central suspension (this is to create the original look of a traditional dreamcatcher)
6) The upper cross may be wrapped in a different coloured thread (I chose the vibrant pink-red colour as a strong contrast to both the purple and turquoise)
7) Tie your second object to the centre of the second cross
8) Use additional string/thread to make a hanger for the dreamcatcher
9) You may like to attach additional objects - feathers are traditional but obviously anything will do
10) Present the finished dreamcatcher to your client/significant other and watch them sleep better!
1) The logical operand, OR, is sometimes represented by a circle with a cross in it, slightly resembling a gunsight
2) The female (SHE) symbol is represented by a circle with a cross beneath but attached to it
For clarity's sake, my girlfriend is Hungarian, where the letter S is our SH sound.
From this 'introduction' you may extrapolate your own dreamcatcher, graphic concept. Beyond that, here are the steps for how I created the dreamcatcher:
NB: You will need some cord, string and/or thread; chosen fabric(s); two curtain rings (one with a hook) and some additional decorative options (i.e. the button and bead in my design - both were reclaimed from the roadside, washed and recycled)
1) Use the coloured cord (turquoise in my case) to create the first stage of your design (in my case the interweaving loops to create the bottom cross shape)
2) Continue to weave/loop the cord around the curtain rings to fix the design in place and the curtain rings together
3) Trim the cord once your second (nth) design phase is complete (in my case the second cross within the top curtain ring)
This stage may be tricky and/or require some trial and error before you successfully proceed
4) Hide and fix the cord on the curtain rings by wrapping the design tightly with your fabric (in my case the purple fabric from a broken lampshade)
Don't worry about loose ends too much at this stage
5) To fix the wrapping fabric takes two stages
a) Wrap the two curtain rings further, using your "string" (I used a thick purple thread from Khadi Papers)
Be careful of wrapping the central join of the two rings: make it secure, keep it tidy; you may find it useful to use a needle
b) Once this wrapping is successfully completed, you will need your central object for the lower curtain ring: continue wrapping the string/thread around the lower ring (take care to go over the existing wrappings for tidiness) and now weave it through your
central object to hold it in a central suspension (this is to create the original look of a traditional dreamcatcher)
6) The upper cross may be wrapped in a different coloured thread (I chose the vibrant pink-red colour as a strong contrast to both the purple and turquoise)
7) Tie your second object to the centre of the second cross
8) Use additional string/thread to make a hanger for the dreamcatcher
9) You may like to attach additional objects - feathers are traditional but obviously anything will do
10) Present the finished dreamcatcher to your client/significant other and watch them sleep better!