how to make a dream catcher

Most of the things I know how to make I learned by looking at an actual product. A dream catcher is one example. When I was still a sophomore in college, a roommate’s sister brought several dream catchers to our apartment. I remember being bored one Saturday afternoon (we had no cable then) when I noticed the dream catcher hanging from the main door knob. I crawled (yes, crawled) to it and studied how it was made.

Now I know that dream catchers are not exactly hard to do and that this is a craft taught in schools or other outdoor camps. However, let me post a tutorial here. I did CRAWL to learn this and I feel that that kind of hard work deserves to be recognized.

Or, you know, I need to record this in case I forget. Which is often the case.

Materials

Ring – Leather or suede cord – beads, feathers – industrial glue – knitting thread

The Ring

1. Wrap the ring with the suede or leather cord. Make sure that you don’t have gaps. Glue as you wrap to keep the cord in place.

Note: I complained in this post that craft stores in my city no longer sell suede cords (BOO!). So I used three short ones I had lying around my craft area. Needless to say, they did not cover the whole ring. But let’s disregard that because I actually ended up covering it with the elastic that serves as the hanging cord thingy.

The Web

1. One meter of thread will be enough  to use on a ring with a diameter of 2 inches. Adjust according to the size of your ring.

2. Tie one end of the thread to the side of the ring which will serve as the top part of your dream catcher.

2. Gauge the bottom part. This is important. This ensures that your web is symmetrical.

4. I decided to have a web with 6 sides. Now loop your thread (use needle if you have to) to the ring, starting with the first leg of your web.

5. Continue until you reach the starting point. When you do, makie a single loop around the first knot and continue making your web…

6. For the second layer, the loop will be made around the middle of the first layer’s first side.

7.  Then continue, by looping around the middle of the web’s first layer’s second side.

8. Web and web until you reach the center.

The Magic

1. All right, the magic bit is lost on me. However, when you reach the center, you can choose to leave a hole or add beads. I decided to add a skeleton key.

2. Tie 5 inches of thread each to both sides of your ring. Attach beads and feathers to the ends. I used locks and feathers on mine.

3. Tie 5 inches of thread to the bottom center and attach more beads and feathers.  You can choose to add more hanging feathers if you feel like it.

Smile ‘coz you’re done.

Disclaimer: By making this dream catcher and posting this tutorial, no disrespect was intended to the Native Americans. I am aware that most of the original “crafters” of dream catchers find them tacky because of their popularization. I just think that this is a beautiful idea with a beautiful legend and it would be a shame not to share it.