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Bowl made from rope with lemons in it
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5 from 1 vote

Rope Bowls

Learn how to make beautiful rope bowls at home using cotton cord and your sewing machine.
Prep Time30 minutes

Ingredients

  • Cotton Rope or Cord
  • Sewing Machine with Heavy Weight Needle 90/14 size needle or 80/12 microtex needlee
  • Thread

Instructions

  • Roll the end of your cotton cord into a small spiral, as shown.
    End of rope curved into a spiral.
  • Place the spiral under the presser foot of the sewing machine, with the tail of cord coming toward you on the right. Set the machine to a long, wide zig zag and begin to sew, securing the tail of the cord to the spiral.
    Spiral of rope placed on a sewing machine under the presser foot.
  • Step every few stitched to rotate the spiral under the presser foot. You are sewing around in a circle to add more cord to the spiral. Make sure the zig zag is catching both the new cord on the right and the edge of the spiral on the left. As the spiral gets bigger it will become much easier to maneuver and you will not need to stop sewing to rotate it.
    Sewing more rope onto the spiral to make it bigger to create a base.
  • Continue sewing until the base is the size you'd like. Then use your left hand to lift the left side of the spiral (the base) about 45 degrees. Sew all the way around once or twice.
    Lifting the left side of the base 45 degrees as you continue to sew.
  • Then lift the left side of the base as high as you can, until it touches the sewing machine. Continue sewing. This will create the walls of the bowl.
    Lifting the left side of the base as high as it will go to sew the sides of the bowl.
  • When the bowl is as large as you'd like, clip the excess cord with about 6 inches left. Cut the end of the cord at an angle, and loop it up, sandwiching it in between the cord at the presser foot. Sew down toward the left, securing the end of the cord to the bowl and creating a loop. Sew backwards, then sew down toward the right, securing the other side of the loop. (Where to sew is marked by pink zig zags on the photo.) Backstitch to secure the thread, then remove the bowl from the machine and clip any threads.
    Sewing a loop at the end of the rope to finish the bowl.

Video

Notes

If using cotton piping filler, you may use a 3/8 inch size. If using cotton rope, you should use a 1/4 inch size. 
Take care to sew very slowly when you are starting the spiral. As you rotate the spiral under the presser foot, be sure you are not pushing the needle out of alignment. If the machine jams or the thread breaks, simply pull the spiral off the machine, clip the threads and rethread the machine, and then start again. The sewing gets much easier once the spiral gets a little bigger.