Techniques

How string art pictures are made.

This demonstration uses the free String Art Fun Circle 1 pattern. It takes you through the picture making process step by step.


Various board materials can be used as a base. We have found that cork floor tiles are easy to work with. These are readily available from carpet shops and home improvement stores. The usual size of these is 305 x 305 mm (12 x 12 inches). They can be cut to the required picture size with a craft knife and metal straight edge or ruler.

Other products to look at for a backing board are medium density fiber board (MDF), fiber board underlay (used under laminate flooring) and sound board (used for sound insulation).

Buy your picture frame first and use the insert from this as a template for the base size. Make a sandwich of two or three tiles so that the base is about 12 mm (1/2 inch) thick. Double-sided self-adhesive tape can be used to fix them together.

Cover the base board with black felt. Felt is available with a self-adhesive backing or it can be secured with double-sided self-adhesive tape. Alternatively the felt could be wrapped around the back of the board and secured with staples, drawing pins or tacks.


Place the printed pattern on the front of the base board and secure it with tape.

The nails are Veneer Pins 16 mm (5/8 inch) long. These have very small heads. Hammer in the nails as indicated on the pattern. Small nails are easier to hammer if they are held with pointed nose pliers. Hammer the nails in until there is about 6 mm (1/4 inch) protruding.


All of the nails have been hammered in. The paper pattern can now be removed.


We are using multi-stranded cotton (sold in skeins for cross stitch work). This comes in a wide range of bright colours.

The instructions for circle 1 start as follows:

"2 - 46, 46 - 7, 7- 51, 51 - 12, 12 - 56.
Continue this sequence until the section is complete using the illustration as a guide."

Start by fixing the first string to nail 2 with a knot. This can be secured with a small drop of clear drying glue.
Take the string from nail 2 across the circle to wrap round nail 46.
From nail 46 we go across the circle to nail 7.
Then from nail 7 we go across to nail 51.
Note that each cross string has the same number of nails between the two nails that it spans. We are moving forward by five nails with each cross string.
The stringing continues in this way using the illustration as a guide.

When the first layer is complete knot the end of the string to the final nail. On this particular layer we have worked around the circle twice to arrive back at the nail we started with.


Work the second layer in a different colour.
The number of nails between each cross string is different to layer 1 thus giving a different pattern.
As in layer 1 it is calculated to end on the first nail of the sequence to make it symmetrical.


This is the finished picture with layer 3 in a third colour.