I never found real cheap clothesline but I did find our Dollar General had it for around 3 dollars. My big bowl has used 200 feet and I am now wrapping the 3rd roll but that will be it. My fingers hurt so bad from rolling the fabric around the clothesline for long periods of time. It's not going to be pretty like Eddie's but it is going to be big!

Can't wait to see the finished bowl

Thank you Eddie! What a great tutorial! I know everyone has appreciated your time and thoughtfulness in putting it together!

These are very pretty and i am going to give them a go with scraps of fabric i have left to try and make a mixed multi coloured bowl ,,Thank you for showing us how to make them

Your instructions will prove very helpful when I make a fabric bowl.

Thanks so much for sharing.

Thanks Eddie! now I know what to do with all the large print scraps form my interior decorator friends! Lynn

Thank You very nice tute

I had a friend give me some as pot holders. they were awesome. great turorial, ty

Great tute! Thanks for posting. Been wanting to do one of these but the method I saw looked far more tedious. This looks so much simpler!

this was great information Eddie, appreciate all of the work that you put into the tutorial.

it looks like you are using a regular zig zag. Can you use a three step zig zag as well? Racheal

Thank you for the great instructions.
I've bookmarked it, so I can find it when I'm ready to make one.

Great tutorial, you're a natural at teaching.

What kind of foot do you use, is it a walking foot!

Isnt this information from a book Its A Wrap? Looks the same to me. The book is a good investment with many ideas and variations.

I just use the regular presser foot when I do it.

Could be, a woman in our guild taught me how to do them.

Thanks, one of these days I will get up enough courage to try it,,,

Great bowl lesson. I plan to try this soon!

I never seen that done before. That was great. Thanks,

I have a bowl started but don't know how to finish, so it will have the sides. Been fun so far!!!!

I don't know about your Wally World, but ours do not carry skeins of clothesline any more. They now sell it on plastic frames (see picture below).


I love using batiks (or batik like prints). I make placemats out of scraps (i.e., multicolored). Sometimes I get fancy and put loops all around the outside edge. Pix below.


Nita in MI

Very nice items! I can't wait to do one.

Thanks - it's the only crafty thing I do, otherwise I quilt.

Nita in MI

Yes, she has two books out - It's a Wrap and It's a Wrap II - think her last name is Breier and she really gets fancy, with lids and lots of embellishments.

I also saw one lady who made flowers. Will try to find pix.

I agree with Eddie - just use a regular presser foot.

Nita in MI

That is going to be one humongous bowl!!! What are you going to use it for? I know what you mean about your fingers hurting. I've got arthritis and sometimes I just have to quit and rest my hands. At times I've wrapped so much fabric that I've gotten blisters. You know when you're addicted when you get blisters!!! :-)

That would be a great use for deco fabrics.
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Nita in MI

I'm not Eddie, but have made lots and lots and lots of these bowls and I prefer the plain zigzag. I think it holds the rope tighter together. Makes the bowl stiffer, more sturdy, I think.

Nita in MI

I've never cut my strips on the bias. In my mind I think that's more work than it's worth. I cut them on the cross grain - some stretch a little more than others, some not at all - like batiks, but as long as I start wrapping them on an angle, it works out well. It takes me 2 hours to wrap 100 feet. I only use glue sticks - purple, turns clear when it dries and spread it on the first inch or so of the strip and then again on the last inch or so of the strip - so far have not had any trouble with any coming undone - unless, of course, I do something really stupid. :oops:

Nita in MI

I love this tutorial. Very clear and easy to understand. Great work.

I've never cut mine on the bias either.... didn't even stop and think about it. Oops -- :lol: I had some scraps and I just started wrapping! I used a plain zig zig, and the regular foot. Sometimes it's fun to do a project when you have no idea what you're doing! :lol: It may not be done the right way, but I still like it.

All the clothesline nowadays is only cotton covered - they all have some type of poly center. Just make sure it is a cotton covered clothesline and you'll be just fine. K-Mart and Ace hardware stores carry a slightly larger size of clothesline than Wally world does. Either size works. You will find the clothesline at WW and KM in the hardware section - with ropes and chains.

Nita in hot MI

Nice job on your bowl CandyApple.

Nita in MI

The reason that I cut it on the bias is that I noticed my first attempts the bowls came out "fuzzy" looking with the loose threads, which makes sense if you think about it. When you cut across the WOF you tend to have more loose threads on the cut than if you cut on the bias where the ends are just on the edge and thread is "embedded" in the strip, so you have much less fuzziness that way.

Nice bowl, I think I missed something I do not know what to do when its time to make the walls of the bowl.

Another way to do it is to wrap the fabric lengthwise along the clothesline, instead of twisting it around. I've done it that way too, and like the look of it, but it's a bit awkward to maneuver, and you have to be careful that your raw edges don't come undone. Truly, the best way to do it is exactly the way Eddie shows in the pictures.

That's probably very true, but as I said, I'm lazy. Some fabrics seem to ravel more than others, but to me it gives them a kind of "folk" look which I don't mind, nor have any of the people who have bought my bowls. I'll give you another way to finish off the edges - compliments of Erik Drexler of Sulky Threads - serge one raw edge of each strip - I just do a whole bunch at one time, one right after the other, clip threads before I wind them on. Use a contrasting thread and it looks quite pretty.

Nita in MI

Eddie, as usual,your tutorials are excellent! I like your fabric bowls, and will try making some one of these days. Ronda

Thanks for this wonderful tute.