Transcripts
1. Introduction: [MUSIC] If you want to try something new that
is easy, cheap, and can be used to decorate your house with some
new rugs or pillows, then latch hooking might
be something for you. My name is Flora and I'm an embroidery artist
from the Netherlands. I like to explore
everything there is when it comes to
fiber or textiles because it is just
so much fun to really make something
yourself from scratch that you
can touch and even use to make your own
pillows or rugs. In this class, we are
going to do exactly that. I'm going to show you the
basics of latch hooking. I'm going to show you all
the materials you need, how to use your latch hook, and for a class project, we will make our own
pattern and create a little sample piece that you can make as big as you want. This class is for everyone. You don't need any experience and this might be
your new hobby to do while you are watching
TV because it is that easy. Join me and start a
latching that hook. Wait [LAUGHTER] a
minute. Join me.
2. What is Latch Hooking?: [MUSIC] A latch hook is a bow to two and the
textile art of latch hooking. Latch hooking difference from traditional rug hooking with the fact that you make a knot and not hook it into the fabric. Latch hook was invented
in the 19th century. While Rug hooking uses a
base fabric of burlap, latch hooking uses
especially woven rug canvas. The pattern maybe stenciled
onto the canvas or works from a chart similar
to needle point patterns. Latch hook yarns maybe
bought pre-cut or in skins and cut to the
length you want it to be. Latch hooking became
popular after World War II and made
a comeback in the 70s. Now you know what
latch hooking is, where it originated from, let's start with
our class projects. [MUSIC]
3. Class Project: [MUSIC] In this class we
will go over the following. The materials, spoiler alert and not many materials are
needed for this class. How to use the latch hook. When you see a latch hook, you probably have no idea what to do with it, don't worry, it is not difficult and once you have the technique
under control, you can do it without even looking at your
canvas, I promise. Then we are going to
make our own pattern and make a little
latch hook sample. When we are done making
the little sample, I will show you
how you can finish your latch hook projects and the last lesson will
be our final thoughts. For the class project, I want you to think about your materials because we do have not that many materials, but there are different options
within those materials. Have a look at a PDF that
you can download and think about if you want a canvas
that is already made as a rug. Or maybe you want to make
your own size rug and only buy the fabric and the
same goes for the yarn. Think about if you want to use acrylic yarn or use
real wool and this has all to do with
the cost and how big you want to
make your projects. When you want to make
your project big, like under the couch rug big, then be aware that it will take months before it is finished. When you have figured
out all your materials, it is time to make a plan
of what you want to make. In this class, I'm going
to make a sample of a repeat pattern that you
can make as big as you want. Any PDF pattern
are more examples of repeat patterns
that you can use. When you finish
making your project, don't forget to upload your project in the
project section and I would love to see all your
amazing takes on this project. In the next lesson,
I'm going to show you the materials we will
need for latch hooking. [MUSIC]
4. Materials: [MUSIC] The materials I'm going to mention in this
lesson are very basic. You can have a look
at the PDF for more options with any of
those basic materials. The first thing that we
absolutely need when we're doing latch hooking
is a latch hook. You have a latch hook
in a normal size. This is a normal size
latch hook and then you have a finer latch hook. You have these lays
wakes where you can really make those
amazing custom wakes. You can use that using a
smaller version of this. You also have a sudden fabric, and that is also a rug fabric, but that is very small
with very detailed rugs. You use also a smaller
latch hook for that. But we are using a normal
regular latch hook. You do have different fabrics
for that you can use with, you don't necessarily have just this one fabric
that you use. I'm going to use this fabric. If you look online latch hooking fabric you will get this fabric. It is rug mesh
canvas type fabric. You have them in
different sizes. You have them much smaller, and when it's smaller, it means that all those
little holes will be smaller. The thing is that
I like this size, is a little bit bigger
than you might want to. These are 13 squares
per 10 centimeters. You also have this
conversion in inches. I live in Europe so we
work with centimeters. But that's how you
can see the size. What I like about this size is that you can always choose to make your yarn bigger with
having multiple strings. You can choose,
for instance here, to have two strings in
one of these squares. When you have a smaller canvas, you don't really
have that option. This scissor is
just great to use, this is a scissor that
you can use for cutting off those little yarns
that you're going to make. You can sculpt it and
you can create forms. It's just a really nice
tool and I'm actually loving it just to cut
everything with it. The last tool that we
need is this tool. This is a bit of a
tool that you can make yourself or you can
use something else, you can use two cardboard pieces together and wrap
your yarn around, this is not super necessary, but it is nice to have. This is a tool where
you can put your yarn. I like to do it like this. Your yarn, wrap it
around, I liked it then, shove it there, I'm just going to show
you how it works. I'm going to cut this off, and then I have here, this one I can just cut it, and then I have all these
little loops that I can use. I can pull it together, and that will stand
up like this. When it comes to the
thickness of this yarn, I'm using yarn that is chunky. You can see here the label, this is an acrylic yarn. I really like this
yarn for latch hooking because it fills it in nicely. But honestly, you can just experiment with
whatever yarn you have, and you can totally
make a rug out of this. You can really make a rug for, under your couch if you want to. I warn you that is
going to take so long, really a long time. But then you have
made your own rug. I was initially also
wanting to do that, but I have a dog. What I learned from having a dog is that you shouldn't buy expensive carpets,
rugs, or couches. That's all I need to know. [LAUGHTER] I'm not going to make my own rug because that is just a waste of my rug. I don't want a hand-made rug and then have accidents
happen on them. That is such a really cool idea, but if you want to make it into a rug for really
under your couch, under your dining room table, then I would suggest to use the same size of yarns
so that you don't all of a sudden use thicker yarn and then thinner yarn because then this surface where you're
going to put it on it will be a little bit wonky
here and there, and it will not be a flat
surface, an even surface. Try to think about that
when you are using a yarn. If you really want
to use it for a rug, try to use the same yarn for every piece
that you're using. If you feel comfortable
then I would love it if you show in the project section what
materials you decide to choose. Don't forget to
also have a look at the PDF for more options. Now it is time to start
using our materials and I'm going to show you
how to use the latch hook. [MUSIC]
5. How to Use a Latch Hook: [MUSIC] Using the latch hook
will take some practice. But once you have the
technique under control, you will be able to use your
latch hook without looking. We are starting with some
yarn that you full double. What we're going to
do is you're going to have your threads, your piece of yarn. [NOISE] You're going to do that first over the latch hook. [NOISE] You're going to go in and while you go
in with your latch hook, you can see that little
thing goes down. That's also what we want. Then we want it to go up again. But while it goes up, [NOISE] you put your yarn over it and then
you push it down. [NOISE] That's how you
create your knots. Hook it here hook it there, over it and under and pull it. [NOISE] This is a very
common stay that latch hooking is just something
you need to get your mind around because it's really easy to just go in without the yarn. It's something you
just have to do a lot of times to get used
to. You yarn around. [NOISE] Make sure that this little hooky
thing is on top and then while it goes up, while moving upwards,
you're doing this over it and you push. It's good to always turn it. When you have it, sideways, first turn it a little bit
so that it goes smoothly over this hump, and then move it a bit sideways so that it
easily goes under there. Keep practicing
with the latch hook and you can always look back at this video and pause to see all the steps now that you have the latch hook
under control, it is time to make a batter
and make a sample piece. [MUSIC]
6. Make Your Own Latch Hook Pattern: [MUSIC] For our sample, you can use graph
paper or an iPad, whatever you would like to use. You can also just go with
the flow and just use whatever colors and
patterns you like to make, when you're actually
making the piece. But I'm just going to
show you what's the iPad, how you can do that. When you have the tools here, that little wrench, you have the drawing guides and you
can turn that on or off. I'm going to do this.
I'm going to make a design be like 10 squares. Because here we have our
fabric that I'm going to use, and a fabric has 10 squares. I just want to make
a little design, show you how you can make that. Let's go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. If I hold my pen so long, it will create a straight line, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Wait, this is not completely
straight. That will do. I'm going to make another layer, and I want to make it pink. I'm just going to use pink, and I want to make
a repeat pattern. I think I want to make
here pink and two squares, none, pink, pink, and then here, pink. Then here two, two, and two. Then here again that pink. I'm just going to make
this little pattern that I can use as a reference for my pattern. Yeah, and then here I'm going to end it with this. I'm going to use a
lot of conscious. I'm going to use these pink
ones to create the pattern, so first going to start here [NOISE]. We have the two. I don't necessarily need
to draw this on there. You can also just look at
your pattern that you made. For me, this is just
a little bit easier. We're just going to recreate
this pattern all the way down with the pink. This is all pink
from the pattern, and now I want to do
the rest with white. Just so you have a
good big contrast. Make sure that you put
everything nice and flat down. You have to be careful
that you're not getting in those other threads,
those other yarns. We're going to continue
making this pattern. This is the finished results
when we made a pattern. Now you can see when we
look at it from this side, it is not all equal, and you can cut
off a little bit. I have a sample here
that you can see what happens when you
cut off too much, then it's going to fall out. But just a little bit
of snippets are like, I really want too a
little bit of a touch. You can see how nice that
is, that little design. We made a sample piece. In a PDF, you can find many
more sample pieces that you can make in different
sizes for bigger pieces. Share in the project
section your sample piece. I would love to see all the different colors and
patterns you all create. If you do, don't forget to share it in the project section. The only thing that is left
to do is finishing our piece. [MUSIC].
7. How to Finish Your Latch Hook Project: Now that your sample piece
or bigger piece is done, it is time to finish
the size of our canvas. You don't always
have to do this. You can buy ready-made rugs that you can use
for latch hooking. First, I'm going to
show you how you can also start your piece. This part is already done. You can fold it and then use your latch hook
into folded parts. [BACKGROUND] See that way you
already have this covert. It is difficult to do it also on the side because then you're dealing with more doubleness. I wouldn't recommend that. Of course, you can also
use it on the bottom. But this is just
a way of how you can start your latch hooking. You just simply going to fold it over and then you don't have to deal with this side anymore. If you already have
done your latch hooking and this is your last part
where you're going to be. You can just simply
fold it over. You use a needle and thread
and yarn that you are using, and just fold it over, and make a nice little
stitch like this. Then it is also
secured and you can do that on both
sides if you want. If you're making your work, what you can also do
is that you save this down and then you put
like a fabric on it, and then you stitch it on it. You have different
options to secure it. Of course, here you can also end with a stitch like here
that you did here. This is also really easy method. Now you have
everything you need to know about latch hooking. I want to take a minute to share my final thoughts and
some tips and tricks. [MUSIC]
8. Final Thoughts: [MUSIC] First of all, I want to thank you
for taking this class. I truly enjoy making
classes and I hope you enjoy them
as much as I do. This class was just a
little introduction for latch hooking and for you to try out and see if you like it. In a PDF, I have some links for really cool
vintage rug kits, don't forget to
check them out and I hope to see you soon. Thank you so much. [MUSIC]