2 Simple Ways to Make Wall Art With String
We’ve been weaving and wrapping and tying all sorts of strands together this year and decided to try out a beginner-friendly version that will add a serious dose of texture to your wall art collection in half the time. In this post, we’ll go through the basic techniques to make these simple fringe wall hangings, and then you can add your creative spin! Pick up the kit here in order to become a wall art pro!
Our Dip Dyed Wall Hanging Kit comes with enough pre-cut twine to make one double-layered wall hanging. Add your own flair with tassels and knots or just go with the flow with straight fringe.
Materials:
– pre-cut cotton twine
– wood dowels
– fabric dye powder
(or get everything HERE in the kit!)
Additional Tools and Materials (not included in the kit):
– plastic bin or bucket
– dowel (or other mixing instrument)
– mixing bowls
– 1 cup measure
– scissors
– masking tape
Grab your main materials (pictured left and included in our kit!) and some additional supplies and let’s get this wall art party started!
We left this first design clean and simple to show you the basic steps, but feel free to mix it up by trimming it into different shapes or adding knots, beads, or tassels.
DOUBLE LAYER FRINGE
To hold your dowel in place while you tie on your fringe, first tie one piece of string to both ends of the dowel using double knots.
Pull the string tight and tape it to your work surface using masking or painter’s tape.
Tie a whole packet of twine (that’s 100 strands) onto your dowel by folding the twine in half over the dowel and tying a small knot right underneath it. This is definitely a job best done listening to some good tunes, binge-watching your fave show, or hanging out with friends.
You’ll see that when you fold the twine in half you get an 18-inch-tall fringe. To make your second fringe layer, tie half a packet of twine (approximately 50 strands) onto your second dowel.
To dip dye the larger fringe layer, first soak the bottom half of your cotton fringe in a bowl of water for five to ten minutes.
While your fringe is soaking, mix half of the dye powder into one cup of hot water and stir with a disposable dowel or other mixing instrument until dissolved.
Pour your hot water and dye mixture into a plastic bin or bucket of water and stir with the same mixing instrument until mixed thoroughly.
Place the soaked half of your fringe into the dye, holding the dry top half of your fringe off to the side of the bucket and submerging the soaked bottom half using your stirring instrument.
Immediately pull out a few inches of your dyed fringe and blend the dye upwards with a wet paper towel. Then hang the top 2/3 of your fringe over the side of the bin and let the bottom 1/3 soak in dye for an hour or so before removing to dry overnight.
Once your dip dyed fringe is dry, lay it on a clean surface and layer the smaller fringe on top of it so that there is a gap between the two dowels.
Attach both dowels together with a piece of twine in a triangle. Tie a double knot around the lower dowel and then work up to the second higher dowel, leaving some space at the top to hang it, and then work back down to the other side, securing each level with a double knot.
Now it’s time to trim! Hang your fringe on the wall and trim the ends with scissors into whatever shape you would like. We chose to cut the dyed layer straight across.
For the second layer, we made an arrow pointed toward the floor. Make sure to hold the second layer away from the first while cutting.
Ta da! It may have taken a bit of time in the knot tying department, but this warm, textural addition to our gallery wall was well worth it!
This second design is an equally simple version, with the addition of tassels instead of a dyed fringe. Take this as a starting point and run wild with different sizes, colors and shapes for your ideal hanging.
TASSEL PARTY
This hanging starts with the same 100-strand fringe that we made for the first version, but hold on to that second packet of twine for your tassels!
Grab a bundle of twine about 20 strands or so and cut it into fourths, to make four nine-inch bundles. Tie one of your left over, yard-long strands to the middle of one bundle and secure with a double knot.
Fold your tied bundle of twine in half and then tie a shorter piece of twine (you can pull one from your bundle of 20), just under the fold to make your first tassel.
Trim off any loose strands from your various double knots, as well as the ends of your tassel so that the bottom is straight.
To follow this specific design, repeat for a total of 12 tassels and then soak them in clean water for five to ten minutes.
Mix up a batch of dye just as we did for the first design, and dip your tassels in the dye bath! Quickly pull them partially out of the dye and let just the ends soak for an hour by taping the long string to the side of the bin or bucket.
While the ends are soaking, blend the light color upward with a wet paper towel to get a nice gradient effect. Pull out your tassels after an hour and let them dry overnight.
Once dry, tie all of your tassels to your second dowel using double knots and then trim off the loose ends. We tied ours in a double chevron formation, but play around with whatever suits your style!
Lay your tassel layer over the fringe layer, leaving a gap between the two dowels. Tie the two dowels together, leaving extra string at the top to hang it, just as we did before in the first design.
Hang ‘er up and trim those ends! Again, we cut this one straight across.
Design number two complete! How fun is this playful hanging? Now that you know the ropes, grab a kit and try it out for yourself! Social your creations with #iamcreative — we love to see what you all come up with!