Wicker items have been popular at all times. Only before they used birch bark, vine, willow twigs, and now they are replaced with a regular newspaper, magazine and office sheets. Such products are covered with stain, varnish, due to which they create an imitation of the structure of a tree.
This is the popular weaving of paper. The master class for beginners will be devoted to the basics of this needlework, since the information on it is scattered in pieces according to various sources, and all the available lessons on weaving crafts are designed for people with basic knowledge.
Material
For weaving, you will need paper, knitting needles, paint, stain, varnish, cardboard, glue, a stationery knife. For work, newspapers, magazines, office and fax paper are suitable. Softer tubes are obtained from newspapers, and thinner, more flexible ones, from magazines and office paper.
Please note: from one newspaper spread you should get four tubes (the width of the segment is no more than 7-12 centimeters). From office paper, cut narrow strips 2-3 cm wide.
Experiment with different types of material, then get an extraordinary weaving of paper. Crafts in this technique can be created in a wide variety - from trays and panels to animal figures and utensils.
Masters use knitting needles of different thicknesses. The selection depends on the crafts: for example, for a newspaper you need a knitting needle 2-3, and for office paper - a hosiery. For the base of the craft, twist the thick tubes, and for the braid - soft ones.
Choose a paint, stain on a water-based basis (on alcohol, the agent dries quickly, but makes the tube brittle). Dilute the paint with PVA glue (2: 1 or 3: 1). They paint either the product after work, or the workpiece before the start of the creative process. But the finished craft is always lubricated with glue, left to dry. Only at the last stage is it varnished. Cardboard is used to create a finished bottom or container of the desired shape.
Paper weaving: a workshop for beginners
How to harvest the tubes:
- unfold the newspaper in length;
- fold in half;
- cut with a knife along the entire length;
- fold the resulting segments again;
- cut along the entire length;
- sort into a separate stack of strip with a white edge (edging at the newspaper at the beginning and end of the sheet);
- put the sheet in front of you;
- take a 2 mm knitting needle;
- put the needle at an angle of 30-45 degrees in comparison with the sheet;
- wrap a corner of paper;
- gently twist the needle, holding the edge of the tube with your hands;
- grease the remaining corner with glue and stick.
The tubes should not be soft or hard; ideally, an “average” weave of paper is obtained. A bunch of video tutorials on twisting have been created for beginners, but without practice they are useless. For example, for blinds and panels, masters specially twist hard sticks; for decorative miniature objects, thin tubes are prepared where the width of the strip can be less than the traditional seven centimeters. You need to experiment to find your tube thickness.
Please note that when cutting with a knife, nicks form that interfere with proper twisting. Therefore, conduct research work before work: try cutting two sheets of newspaper into transverse and longitudinal stripes, determining in which way you get less chipping. It is from a segment with smaller notches that the tube rolls without problems.
Paper weaving: step-by-step instructions for twisting and painting
When twisting the sticks, one end should be wider and the other narrower. So when weaving crafts due to the insertion, an extension takes place, that is, a narrow corner is inserted into a wide one. If the ends are the same, then one edge is flattened, compressed and inserted.
Many masters do without glue when building, just insert a wand three centimeters deep into another. Other pros drip a drop of glue into a tube with a wide end, and with a narrow stick they advance three centimeters.
There is still a secret how to make the twisting go faster and the weave to be soft. Before work, newspaper tubes are laid out in a row and walked along them with a rolling pin. It turns out that each master has his own weaving of paper.
Workshop for beginners on painting tubes
- The first way. Paint the sheets before work, then dry, cut into strips and twist into tubes.
- The second way. Twist the sticks, then each individually paint with a brush. Suitable for products if you need an unusual pattern.
- The third way. Do the crafts, then decorate by weaving or randomly with a brush.
Mass painting methods
- The fourth way. Take the pipe, wrap one edge with a cap. Pour stain. Take a bunch of tubes (to fit freely into the pipe), dip in the stain first one edge, then the other. If the center is not stained, then brush this area with a brush. Be sure to add stain to the pipe. In this case, time is saved, but you need to work on the street. Do not lower the tubes into the stain twice, as they will soften.
- The fifth way. Take a wide pipe, closed on both sides with plugs. Cut up to get a tray. The length of the pipe depends on the size of the sticks. Pour paint into the tray. Put a bunch of sticks into the mosquito net, dip them several times into the solution. Let the excess flow down, hang it on a rope.
For paint, you can use a water emulsion, pigments, food colors for eggs. If you get a bad color, continue to weave out of paper anyway. The basket, for example, can have any color, just complicate the weaving or resort to decoupage.
Secrets to working with tubes
Please note that the color after drying becomes lighter. Combining with other sticks, create the desired pattern or draw the finished product with the desired shade. It is not necessary to dry until completely dry. Wrap the damp sticks with a bag so that both ends are outside. In winter, they can be stored in the cold.
In work, sticks should be flexible, and after painting they become hard and brittle. Ideally, immediately after painting the tubes, weaving from paper should begin. A basket, drawers, dishes can be obtained from dry colored tubes if you spray the middle of the sticks with ordinary water using a sprayer on all sides before working.
Wrap them in a wet cloth (ends outside) or put in a bag. Harvest a large number of tubes immediately, so that in the process of work you will not be distracted by twisting.
When weaving, an even and odd number of tubes is taken. It is on the side where the odd number of sticks, the work begins. The "odd" tube braids all the others. As soon as its length ends, build up a new wand.
Types of weaving
We have finished the material blanks, now consider paper weaving. A master class for beginners on his technique is given below.
- Simple ordinary weaving. With a braiding tube, like a snake, go around each stick of the base. That is, it either covers the base, then hides behind it. If you need to return, then weaving goes the same way, but in the opposite direction.
- Simple weaving in rows. The pattern changes through several rows. That is, take one stick, go through a simple weaving. The next tube lays down just like the first. So continue drawing several times. Then you shift the pattern, that is, where the base was braided, it remains free, and the next braids as many times as in the first pattern.
- Simple diagonal weaving. Each tube starts with a new diagonal base stick. It turns oblique (inclined) pattern.
- Simple diagonal weaving in rows. Just as in a horizontal pattern, weave with a few sticks, and move the new circle in the picture.
Varieties of weaving
We continue to consider weaving from paper (master class on creating patterns):
- Layered weaving. It looks like a braid in rows, only work is done with several tubes at the same time. That is, you immediately braid with two sticks the base of the four racks, leave the sticks in an elevated position. Go to the new row of two sticks. So repeat several times, then return to the original row.
- Ordinary weaving. Each tube is carried out by ordinary weaving until its end. A new stick is laid at the end of the first without building. Due to the thin and thick ends of the tube, a beautiful diagonal line is created.
- Square weaving. The tubes braid a row through two bases until the pattern reaches the distance between the racks in size.
- Openwork weaving. The work is carried out in one of the techniques, and at some interval cells are skipped, leaving the racks open. Distinguish patterns with an asterisk, column, rhombus, wedge.
Weaving technique and secrets
To keep any pattern, it is braided with a rope or pigtail. Let us consider in more detail the “protective” weaving of paper (we will describe it in stages using the example of a basket).
- Rope weaving. The tube braids not only the racks, but also the subsequent wand. For example, work comes with four elements. All tubes are laid under their own foundation. Next, the first stick passes between the third and fourth stance, braiding all four tubes. With the following elements, work is carried out similarly. It turns out a kind of pigtail.
- Pigtail weaving. Overhead braids are braided separately, then glued to the product. Edge braids are created from racks (not braided tubes).
Note that the weaving of the tubes starts from thick ends from left to right. To get the desired shape, the racks are pinched to the desired object (vase, bucket, box, etc.). The finished product is abundantly lubricated with PVA glue (with or without paint), “put on” on the subject of the desired shape, dried. Then, when painting and varnishing, the product from the tubes will be beautiful and durable.
Making a basket
For beginners, it is better to start with something simple (for example, blinds, frames, panels), to train your hand in twisting the tubes and their simple interweaving. Then you can switch to a complex weaving of paper (horseshoe, heart, casket, bell). Consider a workshop on weaving a simple basket without a lid and handle.
To save labor on weaving baskets, use the cardboard bottom. To do this, take the object of the desired shape, circle the bottom on thick cardboard. Cut two pieces. Decorate them immediately (wallpaper, color or apply decoupage).
Attach a self-adhesive film to the lower half along the edge . Now stick newspaper tubes on it. The distance between them should not be more than 2-3 centimeters. This is the basic rule of such needlework (meaning weaving from paper).
Stand for pens, photo frame, hat - any craft should have a distance between the racks of not more than three centimeters. The fact is that a larger gap between them leads to friability and fragility of the product.
Continued weaving baskets
Next, apply PVA glue to the bottom with the tubes, cover with a second bottom, put the load on top and leave it overnight. Now go through two rows with a “rope”, a simple interweaving of racks. After that, put on the bottom the form on which you will weave, with the load (the load is needed to fix the bottom when weaving). If you immediately start weaving the walls from the cardboard bottom, then in the basket you get holes that need to be decorated.
Raise the tubes up, continue to work until you reach the desired height. Next, braid up or braid separately by gluing it to the base. By the same principle, weaving of paper caskets with a lid occurs.
There is another way to weave a rectangular bottom using ribbons and newspaper tubes. This view resembles working with a rug of paper stripes. Only in this case, take not one tube, but two or three for one unit. For example, below are four groups of sticks. Then put on them three sticks across.
Lay four groups of tubes on top so that their ends are between the lower. Now all the rows are braided with tape or a soft stick. Then again lay the transverse group of sticks, braiding them with tape. Using colored tubes, you can get the original pattern.
The bottom in this case is voluminous, as if double. Then you lift up all the joints, braid them with a “rope”, smoothly moving to the product walls. For trays this is the optimal weaving of paper. A step-by-step photo on weaving a square basket clearly shows the essence of the work. Harvest the tubes and create.
If you've never worked with newspaper tubes, start with simple views. For example, blinds. To do this, simply twist the thick sticks along the length of one half of the window. You tie a double knot on both sides of each stick, stepping 3-4 centimeters from the edges. In the process, “seams” are coated with glue.
From above, fasten along the ring for the curtain (the blinds will be mounted on them) and a loop where you can put the twisted roll if necessary. Paint the finished product, varnish. Now you can try simple weaving on small souvenirs and go to baskets.