Look! No Wire!

Bendy flower stems

Ever since I saw Genevieve Godden’s wonderful tubing technique on the Quilling Guild Blog, I have been trying to make Tubing which can be bent into wavy shapes which are strong enough to stay in position.  Of course, I could thread wire inside but, being, wherever possible, a ‘strips and glue only’ quiller, I persevered and, after some tips from Genevieve, I think I’ve cracked it.

Starting to wrap

Glue together two full length, 3mm wide, strips and wrap them, as tightly as possible, around and down a metal skewer or fine knitting needle.  It is very important not to leave any gaps where the needle shows through.  When you come to the end of the first strip, turn back and cover the first one in the same way.  As you go, add a tiny dot of glue every 3cm or so.

You will see that the wrapping is going in the opposite direction.  This is very important.  When you get back to the start, glue down the end of the strip.

Adding the third and fourth layer of strip

Repeat the whole procedure, finishing with your preferred colour – in my case, green.  You now have four layers of strip on the skewer.

Slide the tube off the skewer

After making sure your final glue is dry, slide the tube off the skewer.  Bend your tube into whichever shape you want (you should be able to re-bend and re-shape it, if necessary) and, if you are going to put a flower on the end, make sure it’s not too heavy.

Lightweight flowers on bendy stems

At the recent Quilling Guild Shared Ideas Day, Janetta van Roekel used Tubing, made from only two layers of strips, to make bracelets and necklaces, like these.  Brilliant!

My bracelets and necklace

Janetta’s website:  http://www.filigraan.nl/index.php/en/
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