How to Make Twisted Cord

Many times when we quilt we wanted edging or trim to match our quilt but we just can't find it in the marketplace. But you have the ability to make a cord to match your piece in any size and color that you want. You can make a cord from a fine thread like this for nice, petite little trim. This is a wool yarn that's been twisted up to make a medium-sized cord. And this is a cotton shaneel that's twisted to make this lovely plump little edging.

It's really easy. You can use three or more strands and you should cut it approximately five times the desired length that you want. And this can be a challenge sometimes. I've been known to run my cord all the way up the stairs and out the back door, just to get enough length for what I want. But you can also piece it.

So you cut your piece, your strands, approximately five times the desired length. You do a knot on both ends. This product is rattail. So it has a nice, shiny finish to it. This is rattail, as well.

So then you clamp the knot or attach it in any way that you want. Sometimes I'll hook it over a door knob. I've been known to do it over my toe. Whatever you need to do to clamp it down. And then you put a stick in the other end.

This can be a number three pencil. This can be a dowel. It can be anything that you can slide in to the end and twist. And it takes a fair amount of twisting. You want to pull a little bit, put a little bit of tension on it and then periodically see if it's beginning to cramp and that's what you want, when it begins to cramp.

And then you want to pull the two ends together and hold them together and then let it twist upon itself. And what happens is it twists up and it makes a fat cord. The only crucial point or scary point is you want to hold all of this together and tie a knot. So it doesn't untwist then. So you've tied the knot nice and tight.

And then just rub your hands over it. And you get a nice twisted cord. In this case, you can see that I've used three different colors, a dark purple, a medium purple and the yellow to make a very variegated but interesting chord. While these chords were all used the same, so they're a little plainer. This piece, I used color specifically chosen to pull out the hand dyed fabrics on this little purse to color coordinate.

So you can have whatever you want and whatever size that you want by just your choice of threads, strings or cords. Make it match. Easy.