Craft Lace Techniques & Ideas

Craft lace is flat, flexible plastic string that is commonly referred to as "gimp," "lanyard" and "boondoggle." Craft lace is available in a wide variety of bright colors and is a beneficial addition to your collection of arts and crafts supplies. Craft lace is fun to weave together to create decorations, jewelry and accessories.

Accessories

You can weave together craft lace to create a variety of useful accessories. Attach short woven lengths of craft lace in colors that are contrasting or complementary to key rings to create personalized key chains that stand out from the crowd. You can also use matching craft laces to create attention-grabbing, color-coordinated zipper pulls for sweaters and jackets. Another idea is to attach brightly colored sections of woven craft lace to items such as suitcases and backpacks. These personalize your items in a fun way while allowing you to quickly identify them as yours in a crowd.

Jewelry

Use craft lace to create fun, ready-to-wear jewelry for yourself and friends. Create bracelets, anklets or necklaces by weaving the laces in a simple pattern, such as a braid, before moving on to more advanced designs and knots when you get the hang of it. As your skill progresses, you can also add colorful beads to your creations. Many tutorials are available online to assist you with the more complicated craft lace techniques. For a more advanced project, considering weaving several lengths of craft lace in different colors around a plain, metal barrette to make a colorful hair accessory.

The Butterfly Stitch

The butterfly stitch is considered one of the most simple craft lace techniques. To make the butterfly stitch, take two strands of craft lace that are approximately twice as long as you would like your finished project to be and tie a knot at the top. The strand on the top is strand A and the strand on the bottom is strand B. Create a loop with strand B that sticks out to the right. Bend strand A under strand B to make a second loop that comes up through the first loop, and then pull strand B tight around strand A. Take strand B and come up through the loop you made with strand A to form another loop. Continue this process of making loops and pulling them tight until your length of craft lace is complete. See the link in the Resources section for photographs.

Triangle Technique

A more advanced craft lace technique is the triangle stitch. To do this stitch, start with three equal lengths of craft lace. Using different colors will help you to differentiate the strands when you are weaving them. Tie the three strands into a knot, holding the knot vertically so that the three lengths come up out of your hand. Taking the strand on the far left, loop it over the strand in the middle, holding it securely. Then, loop the middle strand back over the one of the left and also over the remaining strand. Take the last strand and loop it over the middle one and underneath the one on the left. Pull this stitch tight and continue making loops and using the strand of craft lace on the right to weave. See the link in the Resources section for photographs.

References

• Boondoggle Man: Starter Triangle Stitch
• Boondoggle Man: The Butterfly Stitch
• Boondoggle Man: See Some Ideas
• Quilling Patch: Plastic Lacing Project: Boondoggle Barrette - A Gimp Craft

Resources

• Boondoggle Man
• Triangle Stitch
• Butterfly Stitch