| Paracord
is the latest material to be pressed into service for making
jewelry, bags, belts and more. Once used for parachutes in
WWII, it has come into its own as a beautiful and versatile
craft material.
You don't need much to start making any of the items in this
book. Just some cord, a lighter to seal the ends and workbasket
basics. The book starts fairly immediately with the projects
and you learn the knots as you go along. Start simply with
a basic bangle and progress through necklaces, lanyards, string
bags, straps for cameras and watches, mats, coasters, a dog
lead, even a hammock and especially the old 70s macramé
favorite, the hanging plant holder! Projects are grouped into
three categories: jewelry, accessories and home/garden, and
each one has staged instructions, usually with photographs
showing how to do tricky parts. These are easy to follow and
have a page sized photograph of the finished item, list of
what you need and even a list of the knots you need to be
able to tie. Many of the projects recycle the sort of old
bits people often don't throw away, such as a belt buckle,
watch face and even some copper tubes. At the back is a list
of the knots with drawn diagrams: I personally prefer the
photographic variety and some of the colors chosen to depict
the stages are very pale. Yellow and pearl gray are not good
choices on white! This aside, this is the best book I have
seen to date on this new craft and is sure to garner many
more fans of this new craft.
If you cannot find a good range of paracord locally, try www.searchpress.com
for a list of suppliers.
UK customers can obtain a large range of colors from http://wildelk.co.uk/
(100m lengths mostly)
For smaller jewelry quantites, clasps, kits and books check
out www.mailorder-beads.co.uk/shop/paracord/ |
