Dream catchers were originally used by the Ojibwa people before they were adopted by other Native American Nations. This woven hoop is to be hung over the bed to catch the bad dreams like a spider catches a fly in her web. The good dreams trickle down through the ribbons and feathers to gently land on the head of the sleeper.
One of my students requested that I assign this project, and i was happy to oblige. i didn't have time to order metal hoops, so we just used some basket weaving supplies, and made our hoops out of reed, wrapping yarn around the outside, and occasionally gluing to make a circle.
We used twine or yarn to tie on the side of the circle and then make stretch it loosely 1/8 of the way around the hoop and loop it around again. After 8 loops, you've got a circle, with an octagon of string. Without cutting and tying, continue around, looping in the middle of each side of the octagon. As the string is pulled snuggly, the straight sides point in. Continue looping inward layer after layer until you reach almost the center. A bead can be added before knotting the end of the string. This is symbolic of the spider in the web.
Three or Four long ribbons can each be folded in half on one side of the hoop, and the ends of each ribbon wrap around and go through the half way fold to make a little hitch. Ribbons can be beaded and then feathers glued onto the end. The beads should pull down over the glued ends for a nicer finish.
Here's to catching the best of dreams and making them come true in this new year!
No comments:
Post a Comment