DIY: Indian Dream Catcher

ive been wanting to make one of these for a while but I havent found a tutorial that I liked....until now.  I found this tutorial on eHow .  Materials you will need are:  a metal ring/or an embroidery hoop (both can be found at craft stores), suede cord, waxed cord or string of your choice (to make the web), glue (i like hot glue or gorilla glue...it will speed up the dry time), beads, feathers, and a clothes pin.   I havent made this yet but I will def put it on the list of fun things to make.  ill post pics of mine when im done with it.

1

Wrap suede cord around metal ring a few times. Place a drop of glue on ring, then put the end of cord on the glue, using a cloths pin to hold cord in place. Continue wrapping cord around ring, stopping to pull cord tight and glue it down every few inches. Be sure not to twist cord. Cut cord when you get back to the start. Glue & clap down with cloths pin until it is dry.

2

Knot the end of the wax cord onto the ring. Hold the wax cord on ring about 1 inch from your first knot. Loop strand over the top & thru the length of cord between first knot & were you are holding it.

3

Do the same with the second section, knotting cord about 1 inch from second knot. (It may look funny now because the wax cord runs right next to the suede cord, but you'll get more space as you go along with the web.)

4

Continue looping the wax cord around the ring. Place last loop knot about 1/2 inch from original knot.

5

You now want to loop the strand of wax cord in between the very first knot & second knot you made on the ring.

6

Continue knotting the strand of wax cord in between the knots on the previous row. Keep the knots at the center of the section, so it all pulls evenly into the center.

7

When your get back to the start of the second row knot the strand onto the second roll. (The first row of cord gets knotted onto the ring, the second row gets knotted onto the first row, the third row gets knotted on the second row, and so on.)

8

Continue knotting cord until you get near the center. (It gets harder to find space to knot cord the closer you get to middle, so stop the web were you want.) End the web by putting a couple regular sewing knots on strand, cutting off the extra. Hint: the bigger your metal ring the more detailed your web will be!

9

Cut a section of suede cord. Place both ends together, making a loop at the other end. Insert that loop into top of ring, wrap it over, & place the two strands into the loop, & pull tight. Knot the other end of the strands. This will be the hanger for your dream catcher.

10

Repeat the previous steps to make the dangles that feathers & beads go on, only don't knot the strand ends. Place the first strands on the opposite end as the hanging strand. Then place other two strands on either side of the middle strand.

11

Place two pony beads on each strand of cord.

12

Put a drop of glue on suede cord, were you want the feathers to hang. Pull one of the beads down, over the glue spot.

13

Choose two feathers for each strand. Hold them together & insert the stems into the bead. Put more glue around the bead, cord & feather. Then pull the second bead down over the stems.

14

Allow the dream catcher to dry. Trim off extra suede and any feather tips sticking out. Put more glue around beads.

--> Modification Tips: i have seen people use "fabric string" to make the inside of the dream catcher(string made from cutting thin strips of fabric from old shirts/bedsheets/etc -- for example to cut a long piece of "string" from a bed sheet start at one end of the sheet and cut in a rectangle shaped spiral from the outside of the sheet to the inside---make sense?).  you can also use whatever kind of beads and feathers you want...or none at all.  its up to you. 

I would love to see pictures of ones you have made or suggestions on how to make this tutorial better. Have fun!!

Read more: How to Make a Dream Catcher on eHow.com