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Hemp Cording - Article

In the previous article, we discussed rat tail cording, one type of cording that can be used for beading. This month we would like share with you another type of cording that you can use for your beading projects! Thank You to Jan for researching this.
The use of natural fiber cording or Hemp (twine, cord and yarn) as its popularly known seems to be making a come back and is being used in anything from beadie critters to bracelets, necklaces, and macramé projects. Hemp is a very durable cording, is available in a variety of weights, colors, and package sizes. It is extremely uniform, fray resistant, knots easily and it maintains it shape fairly well. Hemp also comes in natural, polished, and waxed. Pictured here are some examples for you to see.

This type of cording can be purchased in small quantities for that one time only project you may decide to do, all the way up to 200 foot spools which in the long run is more economical if you are going to do more projects over time. If you do decide to purchase the larger quantity of this type of cording it might be best to plan out what kinds of projects you might want to do as all weights and thickness of hemp won't do for all projects.

Here is a guideline for buying this kind of cording.

Thin and Medium Twine, which is the natural, rougher feeling cording, is perfect for jewelry making, beading, beadies, candle wicking, and macramé. This twine is not waxed or polished but is in its natural state and may not be preferred by everyone especially for jewelry making.

Hemp Cord is polished and has a nice sheen to it and is used mostly for bracelets, necklaces, belts and some kinds of beading. Again, it's a preference on how and where you use this polished cording. If your doing a necklace or bracelet and don't want the rough texture of the twine then this is your best choice. This will give your project a more finished look as well.

Hemp yarn is mostly used for wearable hemp garments, woven, knit or crocheted is soft so it doesn't cause any itchiness like it would if you used the twine for this purpose. Also used for macramé jewelry. It washes up well, maintains it shape, and lasts forever.

This is just a basic guideline to this type of cording as hemp is one of those cordings that can be used in a wide range of beading and craft projects, its natural state, or waxed and polished is definitely a personal preference. Try different types of hemp in your projects to see what kinds of effects you get and which one you like working with the best.

We have found for you some free pattern links that incorporate hemp into their projects!
We hope that you enjoy these links.

Friendship Bracelet

Hemp Footlet
(Any kind of beads could be incorporated into this pattern depending on the type and size of cording you choose)

Hemp Knitting Projects

The Jewelry Knot
(Shows you how to make jewelry using this knot and incorporating beads into this simple pattern)

The bottom line for using this type of cording is personal preference, style of pattern, type of pattern, lots of imagination, and the most important thing of all is have fun doing it!

Archived Articles
Special thanks to Jan for putting these articles together for us. Most of these are from past newsletters so you might have read them already, but it's always great to brush up on information.

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