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Flower Loom Thistle Centre

The loomed thistle flower is closely related to the strawberry, with an extra round for the fluffy centre.

Mine is made with ribbon straw. If you use yarn you’ll get a totally different look.

My thistle is made on a Studio Twelve Magni-Fleur loom but you can use any loom that has two or three rounds of pegs.

Begin with two rounds of green on the smallest circle.

Now wind three rounds on the medium size circle.

If your loom only has two rounds work these on the smallest round as well.

Cut your ribbon straw, leaving a long enough tail to stitch your centre.

Now wind three rounds of purple on the largest circle and stitch the centre with back stitch.
Darn the loose ends into the front of your flower.

Cut the purple petals open.

Take a length of green ribbon straw and thread it into a blunt needle.

Thread it through all off the medium size petals. Don’t take your flower off the loom yet.

If you have used a loom with only two rounds of pegs, thread it through the top three loops of the petals only and leave the bottom two on the loom.

Tie a knot and pull tight to gather the petals into the centre.

Tie a second knot, trim the ends to about an inch and tuck them inside.

 

Take a sharp pin or sewing needle and use it to shred the purple ribbon straw.

Poke the tip of the needle into the straw near the green bud and draw it down the length of the straw to separate it into thinner strips.


Hold the finished bud over some steam for a few seconds to soften it and spread the purple out into a fluffy thistle shape.
The same technique used with yarn gives you a totally different looking flower.

You won’t need to shred the centre threads or steam them.

These were made on a loom with two rounds of pegs and remind me of sea anemones.

Copyright Sarah Bradberry, March 22nd 2011. All rights reserved.