Sunday 5 August 2012

Harry Potter Hits the Garden - The Lavender Wand Tutorial

I like lavender, it thrives on neglect and just gets on with its life... I love the way that the bush is alive with bees when I leave the house and how if you just run your hands through it, it takes you back to Tuesday afternoon's when my mother used to polish the furniture  If you think that you can grow nothing then, give lavender a chance.
One of the most wonderful things about lavender is that  it retains its scent and therefore makes a wonderful smelly for sheets and towels and is said to keep moths away from your woollies.  So this week, we are going to use lavender from your garden (no, you cannot borrow it permanently from your local park)... it is best to make the wand when your plants have started to flower and to make them immediately you have cut them so that the stems are still malleable and do not become brittle and break.
You will need:
A lavender bush from which you cut 15 stems (it has to be an odd number)
Between 2 - 3 yards of narrow ribbon... I used 7mm skinny ribbon from my Jane Means stash and a small piece of contrasting ribbon
A pair of secateurs
Scissors
2 sequin pins (these are very short pins which are so handy for jobs like this.
Matches
From your bush cut 15 long stems... it really must be an odd number to make the weaving work.
Find a sunny spot in the garden, with just a bit of a breeze and sit yourself down with a cup of coffee or a chilled glass of wine and trim off any excess leaves or flowers below the flower spur at the top.
Line up your stems and trim them up so that they are all of equal length.
Take your ribbon and tie it securely just below the flowers, now bend the stems over the flowers and tuck the loose end of your ribbon in with the flowers and start to weave under and over the stalks.
As you have an odd number of stalks when you start the next round of weaving you are automatically placed to go under the stalks that you went over... if this is not the case, then you have made a mistake, so you will need to unravel and start over from the point where the error occured.
Once you have covered the flowers, wind your ribbon very tightly around the stems until you have covered between 4 - 6".  Use your sequin pins to pin the end of the ribbon home, as  these pins as so short, they are ideal for this job.
Flame the end of the ribbon to seal it properly.  Although the wand looks fine, au naturel, I think a little ribbon tied just under the weaving just finishes it off nicely.
Now sit back, drink your tea or coffee and imagine how lovely your sheets and blankets will smell through the winter months as they infuse the lavender perfume. Cheers!


Right, if you need a break from our fantastic Olympics team, take a look at all the people who  take crafts to a new level every week, not just once every four years at Handmade Monday.


Go Team GB... and all you fellow Crafters!

24 comments:

Ra Ra Bazaar said...

fantastic tutorial. I've tried making them before, but hadn't realised about the odd count needed.
off to have some fun.

Kat Shenton said...

I can kill off even lavender, however anothergreat tute. I think I will need to hang these up around the house over winter to stave off the smell of drying washing :)

Wendy said...

My lavender is thriving but not much else in my garden is (well, unless you count the nettles and a thuggish thistle that's appeared from nowhere) - so I love this idea. Might have to try pruning the lavender anyway as it's threatening to leg me over (very fragrantly) on the path from the house to studio.

Highland Monkey's said...

Always wondered how you make these. My lavender is a bit stringy looking but it does have some nice flowers. Thanks for taking the trouble to do a tutorial.

Anonymous said...

Oh my what a fantastic Idea! I have never seen these before, Definitly will be giving it a go!

Anthea said...

What a great tutorial! I have always wanted to know how to do this - will be gathering lavender stalks from my mother-in-law's garden next time I visit (my lavender plant is only a couple of years old and hasn't flowered that well this year!)

knitnrun said...

I have never seen this before and love it. Thanks so much for sharing :)

Hannah said...

great tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

Ali said...

Wow this looks so pretty. I've got loads of lavender in the garden so I'm definitely going to try this. Thanks for a great tutorial.
Ali x

Myth Illogical said...

Lavender always reminds me of my Granny as it is one of her favourite scents.

Sarah - The Lilac Dragonfly said...

I love Lavender and would love to try to make this!! But alas....no lavender in my rented house's garden....(altho will have to rectify that now and not tell the gardener where it came from ;))
Thank you Ros for another great tutorial! S x

Jan said...

I've never seen these before, now they are another thing on my list of things to try, thanks for sharing :o)

Jan x

Lyn said...

Lovely tutorial Ros - lavender is a beautiful fragrance.

Free Spirit Designs said...

what a great idea! i love lavender and also have some in the garden so there's no stopping me now! x

ClairLou (Yarnsfromdownunder) said...

Just returned from the UK where my parents have a lovely clump of lavendar growing complete with bees. Wish I'd smuggled some back to Oz now.

Carolee Crafts said...

Brilliant tutorial as always, love lavender and this takes me back a few years. Always think that lavender is timeless

CatkinJane said...

What a lovely idea, I have a tiny garden but lavender is one pant I do have so this may have to be tried - if it ever stays dry enough for me to get out and cut some!

Christmas Pie Crafts said...

What a great idea. Lavender has done relay well this year and the perfume for bed linen is gorgeous. Hope you have a good week.

Fiddly Fingers said...

This is a great idea! I've never seen this before. I only have a straggly bit of lavender in my garden next time I visit my friend I may just have to pinch some of hers!

Lynn Catling said...

So pretty

Handbags by Helen said...

Lovely tutorial. Unfortunately one of my dogs jumped on my lavender bush - i'm not sure it will recover!

Stephen @ Soy of the North said...

That's a really good idea. Don't have any lavender unfortunately otherwise I would give this a go.

Susie said...

Thank you for the tutorial. This sort of thing appeals to me altho I've never tried it.
I've really been enjoying the Olympics, London is doing a bang up job. Have seen some amazing feats.

Pickle Lily said...

I love lavender - it is my favourite scent, and I have bushes by the kitchen path that you brush past all the time! I made some of these year's ago, following a Woman's Weekly tutorial (does this age me!) and they are still in my wardrobe!