Friday 19 August 2011

Making a Bamboo Planter Stand.

This was my first attempt at making a  piece of bamboo furniture. It's a bit fiddly and it tested my patience because I'm not the most patient person at times.
 The pictures are prints on paper but fabric glued to a backing could be used just as well. 
  The "hinges" are sewing cotton wound round several times and cut off close to the sides. The trick is to do the centre first then the top and bottom.


This little Victorian sewing stand was lovely to make. Same technique as the screen but fabric lined front and back.
 Little pockets were made to hold all the sewing needs that I also made.


Here's a quick lesson on how to make a bamboo planter.
 Firstly, you will need thin wood skewers. Cut four pieces 2 inches long.   Cut another eight pieces 3/4 of an inch long.  Cut two pieces of timber or thick card, 3/4 of an inch square. I used balsa but it's not as smooth as I wanted it to look.



Give everything a light sand then paint the pieces either after they have been cut or you may find it's easier to paint then cut as it's hard to know where to hold the short bits!
 I mixed up some acrylic paint "till it looked a bit like baltic pine or a honey colour.



Lay two of the long pieces down and glue two short pieces in between. Do the same with the other side.




Next, glue the shelves in leaving one side open, it's easier to fit them in.
 Then glue the last two short pieces on to make a stand.         Leave to dry.
 Don't worry if the glue looks a bit messy, it all blends in once it's finished.


Put a small amount of glue on a dish and taking a tooth-pick or similar, run glue around the pieces.This should look a bit raised up or thicker. Try not to make everything even,   bamboo's not like that in in nature.
  All will make sense shortly.




When this glue has dried, take a fine brush and carefully paint over the glue rings with dark brown paint. Also touch lightly all over with the paint, you will see the look of  bamboo magically appearing.

Seal the whole stand and it's ready for a pot plant.

2 comments:

  1. wow you're making some gorgeous things!! Very talented lady!! I'd love to make it so your posts show on my blog but they don't :( hope you are well, and keep up the great work! xx

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  2. Wow! What a great piece of furniture. Thank you for the tutorial as well. :)

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