Pine Needle Coiling on Gourd Rim
Preparation of the Gourd and Pine Needles
The best time to gather pine needs is in the Fall, when they are falling from the trees. You can place dry bundled
needles in a freezer for a few days to rid them of insects or you can soak them for a half hour in a warm water and
bleach solution. If you soak them, spread them out to dry prior to bundling them for storage or you can treat them
with a glycerin solution. The glycerin solution: In a large roaster or electric roaster use 1 lb. of pine needles, 2 pints
of glycerin, then cover with water. Use dinner plates to weight down the needles as they will float to the top. The
needles need to bake at 225 for 2 to 3 hours then remove from heat and let soak until completely cooled. Rinse
and spread them out to dry. When the needles are dry, form bundles with the cap ends together, use elastic bands
to fasten them at both ends. This keeps them nice and straight. Store them in a cardboard box in a cool and dry
location.
For our project today we are using glycerin treated needles and we do not need to soak in water before using.
These needles stay pliable but do turn a darker color when cooked in a glycerin solution.
Cut the top off the gourd. Determine what size opening you would like and use a mini jigsaw or other cutting
devise to cut off the gourd. I used a 4” embroidery hoop to slip over the neck of a bottle gourd to use as the
method for marking a line as a cutting guide.
Drill the holes: I do this before I put a finish on the interior and exterior. It is easier to see your markings for
drilling the holes. Measure down from the rim 1/4” and using a pencil make a mark. Continue measuring around
the gourd marking 8 to 10 more times. Using a pencil connect the marks to form a ring. Now measure ½”
segments along the line, I make a vertical line going through the horizontal line. Using an electric drill and a 1/6”
drill bit, drill holes at the center of ½” marks. It is helpful to use an awl to poke a small hole prior to drilling; using a
brad point bit will alleviate the need to use the awl.
Complete the interior and exterior of the gourd with acrylic paints for the interior and stains on the exterior. Ink
dyes, wood stains, and leather dyes all work well. If you coil before you put a finish on, a spray on Shellac works the
best.
The supplies needed for this project are:
A gourd that sits flat, pine needles, a mini jigsaw or other cutting device, a #18 tapestry needle, waxed linen, gauge,
pencil, ruler or measuring tape, scissors, lint free cloth, and exterior/interior –paints, ink dyes, brush on finishes ,
beads, and other embellishments.
There are many different binders that you can use: waxed linen, artificial sinew or raffia. We are using waxed linen
today.
Starting:
De-cap about 30 pine needles. There are usually 3 pine needles to each bundle, after taking off the caps separate
these needles. If the ends are white cut or snap those off. Look at the needles, notice there is a ridged side and a
smooth rounded side. We want the smooth side up when we start coiling.
Thread the needle with a long length of waxed linen. Whatever length you feel comfortable with, I usually use
about 2-2 ½ yards. Bring the thread forward going through the inside of the gourd out. Holding 9 -10 pine needles
(blunt ends together) leave about a 4 inch tail of thread inside the gourd. Hold the bundle on the outside edge of
the gourd and begin stitching. Go over the gourd and pine needles and into the second hole. Before pulling the
stitch tight make a lock stitch with the tail inside the gourd. Do this by going through the loop and pulling tight. This
will be the only time you use this lock stitch. Catch the tail with your next stitches. Now tighten the last stitch you
just took. Continue stitching around the gourd, pulling each stitch tight, to form the first row.
Adding needles: Start adding one pine needle to the bundle before each stitch, after the third hole. Your goal is to
keep the pine needle coil as consistent in size as possible. If you find the coil is getting smaller in size due to the
thinness of the needles add 2 needles each time or if it is too thick reduce the number of times you add a needle.
Another method is to use a gauge.
Gauge (optional): A gauge is a cut straw or copper tubing cut to a 1 inch length: The gauge is used to keep the coil
consistent in size. After making 2 or 3 stitches slip the gauge over the ends of the pine needles and up to within 1
inch of your last stitch. I use a drinking straw that has been cut to 1 inch long. To fill the gauge as you coil, insert a
pine needle, blunt end first, smooth side up, into the center of the bundle. Keep the gauge full to insure the same
sized coil overall. I usually add 1 pine needle after each stitch but this will depend on the thickness of your needles,
you may need to add more than one if the needles are thin or add less often if the needles are thick. This is where
the gauge comes in handy. Whether or not to use the gauge is your choice.
Adding more linen: When there is about 4 inches of linen left, cut a new length of linen. Tie the new linen to the
existing linen as close to the top of the coil as possible cut tails to 1 inch in length, take the next stitch over one of
the tails, incorporating into the coiling. The ending tail will be incorporated into your next row. Thread the needle
and continue stitching. You may have to add linen several times before you are finished so follow these
instructions each time.
When you have completed row one –Start row 2 - lay your needles on top of the previous row; take a stitch next to
the stitch below and also through the middle of the pine needles and bring it out on the opposite side of the stitch.
Continue around in this manner until you are approximately 5 inches from your starting point.
Ending: This is where you stop adding needles and if you have a full gauge you need to take the gauge off and cut a
few of the needles out in the center, after each stitch cut a few more until you are down to just a couple of pine
needles. The object is to have just one or two needles left when you reach the ending stitch (ideally you have
stopped adding needles soon enough to have them gradually come down to one or two without cutting). Continue
stitching until all needle ends are bound. Take a stitch from the inside and run it along the previous coil and cut.
If you are using beads there are two methods: 1) add a bead with each stitch or every 2nd or 3rd stitch, but be
consistent. Small beads of 4mm or smaller will need to be added to each stitch, larger beads would have some
stitches between each bead 2) add the bead at the end of your coiling by not ending off the linen and take a stitch
from inside the next hole add a bead and go into the next hole or skip a hole if using beads larger than 4 mm.
Adding embellishments are done at the end before ending off. Add and then end by the instructions for “ending”.
Finishing up. For this project we are going to apply a polyurethane finish to the pine needles only. We will brush
this finish on. After the finish has dried take a lint free rag and go over the pine needles, breaking off any ends that
are protruding. If a finish was not applied to the gourd prior to coiling we would spray the gourd and needles with
Shellac. Again after the finish has dried take a rag and rub carefully over the pine needles to remove any protruding
needles.
Hope you have enjoyed the class. Glycerin can be purchased from craft stores or pharmacies.
Beads added after coiling
Embelishment
Beads added as coiling
On-Line gourd stores : for gourds, pine needles, tools, etc.
Welburngourdfarm.com
WuertzFarm.com
Amishgourds.com
Bluewhalearts.com
Turtlefeathers.com
Canning.com
Gourds can be purchased locally from the Tole Shed in Kuna – 2417 Kuna Road 922-5929