One of the blessings of living through 2020, was the reaffirmation that making things keeps me from going stir crazy. The “maker movement,” if you will, had a resurgence, as people got back into arts and crafts and modern homesteading activities, that a commute plus long hours in a cubicle, had pushed to the back burner.

Aside from being a little lonely from time to time, we did okay out here at the barn house. We are used to not seeing other people all the time, but even so, I gained so much more time to create. How? Because I wasn’t driving to town on a whim to eat out or get a couple grocery items. I continued my coaching work at home, as usual, but I also tapped into those extra hours that I was spending driving to and from town needlessly, and enjoyed making for the fun of it.

One of the crafts that I picked up again, is rope bowl making. But, unlike the rope bowls I made when my boys were little, I didn’t wrap strips of cloth around the rope. The rope is bare, except for some indigo from time to time. Here are three of the benefits that I discovered in picking up this craft again.

1. Because it’s a repetitive craft, zigzagging rope around and around, it becomes almost meditative and frees my mind from the more exacting projects I have in the hopper, like the Stargazing quilt.

2. It uses common materials. How fun is it to have a craft that uses something as simple as a zigzag stitch and rope from the farm store? Of course, after I had made numerous bowls, trivets and coasters with the sash cord, I started looking for other gauges of rope and cording to use.

3. There is no need for a pattern. The only tricky bit is starting and after that, you just keep zigzagging, catching both sides of the rope, until the bowl is the size you want.
   
   I haven’t sold any my bowls, but I have given many of them away. And, I have created some tutorials, for those who have asked. You can keep it simple and use plain rope, or you can dye it, as I did in the example on this page, or play around with couching other cords and materials in as you zigzag. In short, it’s fun. You end up with something you can use or give away, fairly quickly. And, it doesn’t cost much.

   If you are wanting to try it, just do it. You have nothing to lose, and if you don’t end up with something you want to keep or gift, I’m sure someone at the thrift will love it.

Happy sewing!
Anne

Anne Dovel - Prairie Woman Arts