String art by Saamia Ashraf

- June 22, 2020

Ever heard of string art? I'm sure you did it’s the best diy activity plus

pinterest is drooling all over with it, so I thought why not give it a try and share it with all of you guys ..

Here are some quick fun facts I learned about string art;

it was introduced in the early 19th century by an English woman who used this technique to teach math to the kids.
A French mathematician, Pierre Bézier, created a curve formula using string art to help solve complex equations. It is still used in computer graphics and related fields, known as Bézier curve.
the popularity of string art reached its peak in the 70's when every household used to have a string art picture on their walls.

And yet several decades later the art has reemerged on the internet with more variety, intricacy and has opened doors for future artist's.

TOOLS REQUIRED:

Wooden plank - size depends upon your design.
I have used a 15 x 8 “inches wooden board with 1 inch thickness.
Flathead Nails – size 1 inch, the more the better.
String/s - woolen yarn/ cotton sewing thread / jute - You can make a color palette of your choice or make it with single color. Make sure you have enough to complete your project. I used single colored woolen yarn.
Sketch or print out of your design. Keep a copy, might come handy.
Hammer and plass
Pair of Scissors
Tape
Wooden skewer – 1 or 2
A marker

LET'S GET CRAFTY:

Step 1

First thing you need is to have a picture or design; you can search the internet to get help. I wanted to use the initial of my name letter S, so I searched the font that I was looking for and traced it on a piece of blank white paper.

Tip: it is good if you look for images that have sharp corners/edges if you are a beginner.

Step 2

For the wooden board as it is your background, you can either paint / apply wooden polish it's up to you. I painted my base in cream color.

Now, place your sketched picture in the centre when you're happy with the placement secure all four corners with tape *temporarily.

Step 3

Keep half inch distance between the nails all the way to the end.

Once the points are marked, start placing the nails on the outer part of your design using a hammer, make sure the size of the board and nails should be 1 inch because we are going to hammer it half way through, if the board is too thin the nail won't stick .

*p.s here's the part when you ask your sister to do the hammering.

TIP: use a plass to hold the nail in vertical direction and then hammer it this will prevent your fingers from getting hurt.

Step 4

When you have outlined the design with nails, using bare fingers is not a good idea you might get hurt, so to remove the paper pattern I came up with the idea of using a wooden skewer. It will help you get rid of all the paper safely.

Step 5

To create a minimal and subtle look I used single colored yarn that complimented with my background color. You can create a color theme of multiple yarns and create magic.

Now, carefully tie a knot on the first nail leaving a tail .The trick is to wrap the thread around every nail with a tight grip, it might look easy but you have to be focused, play around a bit in criss- cross direction to find a good way to fill all the gaps and give it a slightly erratic look. Finally when you reach the end tie the knot and cut the tail