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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Stash busting that eyelash yarn, Straw Lei





I used some cording I had laying around, but Isabelle used 3/8 inch grograin ribbon.
She also recommend the McDoogle (aka golden arches) straw because it is sturdy and wide enough to thread the grograin through.
I used the tube part of my fabric tube turner which I have misplaced since making the leis, and so the demo shows a drinking straw.


Cut the ribbon longer then you want the lei to be and thread it throught he straw. Tape the end down to the straw.

  1. Tie the end of the yarns to the straw
  2. Isa used two, I used three.

Grasp the knot and the straw and start winding the yarn around. Do not let the yarn wind over the previous wrap. Wrap so the loops are consistent, but lax enough to slide down the straw.



Push the wraps down firmly toward the knotted end.


When the straw is filled up, push the packed wraps on to the ribbon.



Repeat all the steps until your lei is as long as you want.

To finish, Isabelle (blogless) threads the ends of the grograin ribbin through shells and a
kukui nut,
and the wearer ties the ends into a bow to wear. I tied my ends together and the wearer slips the lei over their head. A ribbon bow can be tied on.

Seems to me that this can be done over elastic and made into hair thingies. I'm sure it´s been done:)


Ben Franklin Hawaii has nice instructions for a straw lei with beads.

3 comments:

Opal said...

Great tutorial and great timing. :)

Rachel said...

That is really, really cool! Thanks for sharing!

debbie said...

it's that time again! we used jack-in-the-box blue straws one year - said to be the widest! i think this year i'm going with candy leis, though whipping out those yarn leis are fun and can be addicting. btw, i love how your top down cardigan turned out-and in my favorite cardigan color too!