CHRYSANTHEMUM

DIFFICULTY:

Chrysanthemums symbolize fidelity, optimism, joy, and long life. Who wouldn’t want that symbol in their home? I love the detail work on this project. It’s done solely using the double-wrap technique and makes for a very impressive string art piece that will really show off your skills. When you remove the pattern, the amount of nails will seem daunting, but it starts to make sense once you begin the outline. This pattern can be trimmed to make many different-sized flowers, as we’ll do here for the smaller chrysanthemum.

Materials

Pine board: 1" × 12" (2.5cm × 30.5cm), cut to 17" (43cm) long and stained (Shown: Minwax Water-Based Wood Finish in Driftwood)

58" (1.6cm) silver nails

Size 10 crochet thread in 1 color (Shown: Peacock blue)

Embroidery floss in 1 color (Shown: DMC 3340/Medium Apricot)

2 photocopies of pattern (page 96)

Picture-hanging hardware

2 felt furniture pads

Tools: Hammer, needle-nose pliers

Basic supplies: Superglue, scissors, transparent tape

Techniques Used

Preparing a board (page 8)

Applying a nail pattern (page 9)

Stringing basics (pages 1011)

Double-wrap technique (page 13)

Finished Size (h × w)

17" × 11.5" (43cm × 29cm)

  1. Trim your photocopied pattern and position it on your board. For the smaller flower in this project, I simply trimmed a second copy down to three petal layers. Secure your patterns with transparent tape.
  2. Starting on one side of the pattern, work your way across, hammering nails into all of the black dots. Get comfortable, there are a lot! You’ll most likely need the help of your needle-nose pliers to remove this pattern, as this amount of nails makes it pretty tight on the board. Remember, it’s okay if you can’t remove every last piece of paper from around the nails—the string will hide any small bits.
  3. Before you can really get started on the double-wrap of this pattern you need to outline the flower petals, to be able to see the shape. I suggest starting from the center and “drawing” the petals as you move outward. Once you have the center six petals outlined, it starts to make a little more sense. Refer to the pattern page to help you navigate this sea of nails. I chose to use a spool of crochet thread for the larger flower so I wouldn’t have to add many knots to such an intricate pattern. Be sure to seal that center starting knot; a lot of tension will be on it.
  4. Once you have outlined all the petals, it’s only a matter of coming back around and applying the double-wrap technique to your outlines. Repeat this process for the smaller flower. Don’t forget to seal any knots made.
  5. Attach your picture-hanging hardware and felt pads to the back. Sign and date your work. Enjoy this one: it was no small feat!

CHRYSANTHEMUM PATTERN

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