How to make a dream catcher (by request)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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A dream catcher is a work of art, so most of the specifics about it – colors, materials, size, ornamentation – are up to you. You might want to look around on the web to get some ideas.
> Here’s a link to some traditional native American dream catchers.
> Here’s a link to photos of some of my dream catchers.

You can get everything you need to make a dream catcher at a hobby/craft store or, believe it or not, at WalMart.
[ol]
[li]You will need a hoop. Craft stores have metal hoops in various sizes; WalMart has them in the crafts section. If you want to make a hoop out of willow twigs, more power to you.[/li][li]You will probably want to wrap the hoop. For the traditional look, use leather or suede stripping. I generally use yarn or fancy braided cord you can get in a fabric store. I like a really tight wrap – it holds up better over time. It takes about 20 feet of yarn to wrap a 7” diameter hoop; it takes only 10-12 feet if a thicker cord is used.[/li][li]You need some kind of cord to weave the web with. For the traditional look, use artificial sinew. I use various things – look around in the crafts or sewing section. I like something that keeps a bit of stiffness when you work with it and doesn’t tangle easily. I recommend against embroidery thread, which is too thin and stretches out of shape.[/li][li]Everything else (beads, charms, feathers, etc.) is optional. If you are planning to put beads on the dream catcher web, remember that the hole in the bead has to be big enough for the cord to pass through.[/li][/ol]
The essence of a dream catcher is the knot used to weave the web. The knot is known as a half hitch. This site has a good illustration of the half hitch knot and starting with Step 5, good illustrated instructions for weaving the web.

I use a lot of beads. If you wants to have beads in your web, there are basically two techniques.

  1. Floating beads. See photo. These are the easiest to string, but they do not stay in place once the dream catcher is vertical, so they don’t work for making bead patterns.
  2. Fixed position beads. See photo. You can get very creative with these, but they take work and can be frustrating. If you want to do this and can’t figure out a way to get the beads on, ask me and I’ll try to describe how I do it.

Any questions, please post.

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But where does the sock come in? Scott Thompson wouldn’t lie to me, would he?

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Thanks for starting this thread. I took a little time and googled dream catcher. I wanted to know more about the rituals, what the significance of the feathers and beads were, etc.

I found this site, but forgot how to make the link. I know I made a link one time before, and thought, “wow, I’ll never remember this”. And I didn’t.

http://www.the7thfire.com/history.htm

It’s getting late and I don’t have time to read and absorb all this information, but wanted to throw it out for anyone else interested.

Oh, and I didn’t see any information on the feathers or beads.