MAKING NATIVE AMERICAN DREAM CATCHER

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Materials: willow branches (willow, vine), paper plaster, breadboard knife, woolen threads, decorative beads, thread, needle.
The catcher consists of a rim and a net. Any round base is suitable for a rim: made of wire, hoop. However, a more natural base of flexible branches. Willow, willow, shoots of wild grapes or hops are suitable. It is better to cut branches in the early spring or in the fall. Dry ones are not good - they have lost flexibility. Soaked branches should be soaked in hot water before work.
Branches are better to weave 3-4 pieces. about the same thickness.

Fasten the bundle with a paper plaster, then begin to bend, while twisting the branches.

The ends of the end must be twisted with the beginning of the beam to make a ring. Fix all protruding ends with a paper plaster, and cut thick ends with a mock knife. While the base is flexible, it can be slightly wrinkled, giving the shape as close as possible to the correct circle. Then put under heaviness and allow to dry for 2-3 days. The dried base is tough.
You can weave a network directly on the basis of (which is also possible to paint or varnish). You can also wrap the base with a cord or thread.

The winding is tight. At the same time, do not rush to cut off the entire paper patch at once - individual branches can be very brittle. Choose the thickness of the thread proportional to the size of the future catcher.
The resulting rim is ready to put a mesh on it. Unwind the order of a meter (for a catcher with a diameter of 8-10 cm) of the thread and fasten one end of it to the rim, and thread the other into the needle. The thread should not be too thin - such a network will not look good, especially on a big catcher. Its thickness should pass through the beads chosen for decoration twice.
String the first and second beads on the thread.

Then loop around the rim.

After completing it, pass the thread into the bead two and tighten the thread. Then you can dull three, four, and so on to the bead, fixing each of the loops going with an equal step along the rim.

The thread should be held tight so that the loops do not open.
When the circle is completed, then the next loop with a bead is already attached between the first and second loops.

Thus, in a spiral, the loops go one after another. Due to the fact that the loops are not fixed, you can slightly shift them, aligning the resulting network.

Its size, in the end, is limited only by the diameter of the catcher and the size of the beads (which in a smaller circle can be smaller). Also follow the tension of the thread - the freer it is, the lower the density of the mesh catcher we get in the end. The catcher ends with an inner circle with a hole in which you can stick the tip of the little finger.
The final stage of work with the catcher is the manufacture of loops for hanging and decorating. The catcher is traditionally decorated with feathers (owls, hawks, pheasant), beads.