Straw Weaving

Yup, read about this a while back and had to give it a shot. It's so simple it's kind of addicting. Lots of fun!

Here's a few tutorials: [1] [2]

My favorite results come from having a double length of yarn through each straw. It gives a tighter fabric, probably due to more friction.



Another fun thing I've tried is working "circularly". *pokes picture above this* You need an odd number of straws, and since I've only got 4 right now I did this one with 3. Basically, you wrap across once, but instead of going back, you put the last straw next to the first and continue wrapping around. The odd number of straws ensures that you don't need to think too much about the wrapping pattern. Done with only three straws, it's a bit like the i-cord of the straw weaving world.


One thing to note, unless you keep things really loose (which makes for a rather sloppy product in my opinion) you won't really be able to see the strands that go through the straws. I don't know much about official weaving terms, but I believe you'd call these the "warp" yarn. You can see them poking out of each end in the pictures above, though you can thread them back inside, and sometimes when you fold your new fabric in half you can see them between the wraps.