Fun New Tools
I’m working on some floral type pieces that I want to incorporate stems into. There are lots of choices out there to make cords or plain old stitched stems, but Sue Spargo started selling a tool called a Mini Cordsmith that makes I-cords. I’ve made I-cords using knitting needles before but this little tool intrigued me. Would it be easier than using knitting needles which I find kind of fiddly to work with?? I had to see for myself so I sent off for one.
When it arrived, I was excited to try it out. I had a hard time figuring out how to use it at first but once I got the hang of it, I was off to the races, sort of…
Here is my first attempt. Look at all those humps and bumps and poor tension! Yikes! Well…no stem is perfect in nature anyway, right?
Once I got the hang of looping the yarn more consistently around the tines, I tried out several different yarns and threads that I had in my stash.
You can make round I-cord or flat I-cord based off how you place the thread or yarn around the tines. After trying several of my yarns and threads, I felt that the Mini Cordsmith was a bit limiting in the yarn size that it would accommodate.
Shiny yarns made into round I-cord and flat I-cord:
Shiny metallic thread:
Sock yarn (I’ve got LOTS of sock yarn)
Then I saw Sue Spargo had an Original Cordsmith that was bigger!!! I had to buy that one as well because I was having trouble using yarn larger than sock yarn with the Mini. I also had to make a trip to a local yarn shop to see if I could find some yarns that might make interesting I- cords. Always a fun thing to do, right??
There are videos on this link showing how to use the tool.
I think the Mini will work great for stems on smaller pieces and the Original may produce some interesting larger I-cord pieces that can be incorporated into mixed media pieces. I am thinking I can also machine zig zag over some of them and add another layer of threads or yarn to give them more texture and color. More exploration needs to be done in that arena!
This yarn was used with the Original Cordsmith. It looks like it would make great stems using it straight from the ball although it is quite soft and fluffy and may be hard to stitch to cloth without losing some of its structure. I was surprised how lovely it worked up into the round I-cord shape and I really like the variegation flowing through it. The flat I-cord could work for the stems on some larger flowers. Merino wool. Yummy stuff.
These tools are also very portable.
I hope to show you how I used some of my I-cords on a future project!
Happy Fall everyone!
Tesi Vaara
10 thoughts on “Fun New Tools”
Hi Tesi,
I just saw this contraption somewhere, but can’t remember where? They were using it to make a decorative braided edge on something. I remember it because I said to Brian, “look at this triple latch hook thing, that makes cording.”
I’m glad to know it actually works. So many of these kooky things don’t work the way they are supposed to. I have an Addi Egg Knitting Machine, that makes icord: on 6 pegs. I have only used it once as it didn’t work that well. I’m sure it was operator error, but I put it aside, because I could knit the icord I needed quicker. I like the idea of making gold braid, or a nice silk edging, to finish something with a clean edge.
Can’t wait to see what else you do!
Capi
Just what we need, right? Another gadget! I’m trying to keep all my Sue Spargo tools in one plastic container so I can find them when I want to use them. I hunted all over my house for the Original Cordsmith so I could take a photo of it for the blog because it wasn’t in the container, lol.
Very interesting thank you. I love to do embellished felt pieces. On that note does anybody know where I could source some Pfaff machine embellisher needles. They are very difficult to find in the Uk these days.
I’ve been trying to get Mr Google to tell me what an Icord is, I’ve never heard of one before!
Watching the demo of how to use the Cordsmith I realised that it was just another way of doing what we used to call French Knitting using a wooden cotton reel, 4 pin nails and a crochet hook. I used to make yards of this stuff when I was a kid (a very long time ago!)
I think that some of the sparkly cords you’ve made look really good Tesi, and I agree that you can make some excellent flower stems with your cords and different methods of attaching them to the surface.
As far as embellisher needles are concerned, I have a Babylock and I use size 36 needles in it. I have a handy husband who cuts the bent end off ordinary felting needles and makes them all the same size. So I just use the ones I get from Wingham Wool Work and/or Adelaide Walker, in UK. I suspect they’d fit any of the embellishers, except the early Janome ones which have a disc of metal affixed to the end of each needle.
Looking forward to seeing your results.
Ann
I kind of remember making Icord as a child, too. (Also a very long time ago, lol).
When I visited Ruth when she was in my area, one of her classmates had a needle punch attachment on her machine and was making some very interesting and intriguing “fodder”. I’ve been thinking about that tool since then and finally did some research and called my local Bernina dealer to see if they had something like that in their store. Guess I’m going to have to go buy some roving to play with now as I ordered one! I have to wait about 2 weeks before I’ll receive it.
Looks like a fun new tool for you Tesi. I usually make machines cords when I need some. Yours all look good 😊
Thanks Ruth. Kind of fun to experiment with my closet full of yarn.
Tesi, I love the cords you have made & your yarns….if I lived locally to you, you would need to keep your doors locked 😜
Reading your post is such a coincidence as 3 days ago i happened across a DIY version of exactly this tool. I’d never seen it before.
Looking forward to seeing how you use your cords. And as above I spent many hours doing French Knitting & still have (somewhere) my ‘man’ with his looped hat….also many decades ago.
BTW – what is name/make of your third photo yarn….the flat cord is beautiful.
That’s my favorite, too! It is called Concept by Katia and then says LOUVRE also.
Looks like it is made in Barcelona Spain. 96% Viscose, 3% Polyester, 1% Polyamide.
Very soft.
Katia – love their yarns. Sadly no one here stocks it (maybe London perhaps) and I used to find it in Germany on my family visits, but they too have stopped stocking it. They produce such unusual yarns….perhaps too unusual for the British same-same wool taste!