Gourd Fun

These are the tips JoAnn gave me. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and not breathe the stuff inside the gourd.

Preparing Gourds to Weave by Marla Helton

Tips on Cleaning Gourds

There are many different ways to clean gourds but the way I usually clean them is to begin by cutting off the top with a jig saw to achieve an opening to weave on. Then I place the gourds in a large container of water with a little bleach added. I let them soak until the outer membrane can be scrubbed off... usually a half hour or so, but sometimes over night. Tools that I use to clean inside include steel wool, paint scrapers, chore boy, steel brushes, grapefruit knives and any other handy tool. Be careful not to scrape the actual skin of the gourd when cleaning the outside. After cleaning the inside and outside, I let them dry thoroughly. Some gourds practically clean themselves and other may take and hour or so to clean.

Adding Color to Your Gourd

To achieve color on the gourds, you can use stain, leather dye, water based dye
(like Rit), Min-wax rubbing oil or paint--- use your imagination and be prepared to have some flops! To use a water -based dye like Rit, take a large kettle and heat water almost to a boil. Add a package of dye and about 3 T. salt. sometimes you have to add extra dye. It is fun to mix colors to achieve different degrees of color. Keep the gourd moving in the water so that the color is absorbed evenly. Be prepared to spend quite a bit of time stewing your brew. Gourds usually darken some after removed from the water. Let them dry completely and seal with a good sealer ( ie Mod Podge, Krylon spray, shoe polish.)

Weaving on Gourds

To weave, begin by drilling holes in the gourd where you envision your weaving to be. If you plan to coil, I suggest fairly small holes--- larger holes if you plan to use spokes. You may want to measure the distance between holes and mark with a pencil or awl. You might want to have an idea where you want the from of your piece to be, bout sometimes you need to be flexible. I usually use a tapestry needle and waxed linen or artificial sinew if I plan to coil, but any strong thread type material should work. Suggested weaving material: reed, wire, grasses, vines, seagrass, coir, pine needles, fabric, philodendron sheath, leather strips--- just use your imagination. It is fun to experiment with beads, sticks, stones, pods, etc. as an accent on the gourd. This is a time for you to let your imagination go wild and be prepared to have a few disasters.

Top off a Gourd Pattern

When weaving on a gourd there are lots of options with your weaving and your materials. Many materials may be used such as reed, vine ratan, seagrass, rush, and leather. This pattern is for triple twining with #3 round reed, but could be just twined, randed or several other more involved weavers could be incorporated.

To prepare the gourd it should be dried, outside washed, cut, inside cleaned, dyed, dried again, sealed and drilled.

1. Cut #3 dyed round reed 18" long for spokes. Soak for a few minutes.
2. Enlarge the holes very carefully if needed, they swell when dyed
3. Insert the spokes from the outside so there is about 1 1/2 inches on the inside. ( I didn't understand this but perhaps it will make sense to you! Darleen)
4. Latch them by taking three in your hand and putting the left one over the center one and under the right one. Do this step all the way around
5. Upset the spokes or fold them upward. Try not to crack them but it will probably not show anyway.
6. Triple twine at least two rows all the way around.
7. Begin a three part border by taking a spoke behind the one on its right and out. Do this all the way around. Now taking any spoke go over over one and to the inside until all the spokes are inside. Finish the border by taking one spoke over the next one on the right and down. Go all the way around. Trim spokes to about one inch.