How to Weave Aromatic Lavender Wands

Summer is a beloved season of many for many reasons.  Gardeners and floral artisans are enamored of summer for its abundance of fresh blooms for all manner of floral art, including floral weaving.  Fresh lavender's long, flexible stems and lasting fragrant aroma make it a favorite for this purpose.  

Join us in the garden on a warm summer afternoon and let's make a Lavender Wand together.

How to Make a Lavender Wand

Materials:

• 11 long stems of freshly cut lavender
• 1 yard of 1/4" satin ribbon (additional 12" for a bow - optional)
  
• Scissors
• Patience 
  

Give yourself time and space to enjoy this craft.  It can be a little tricky to work with fresh flowers in this manner, so don't hesitate to undo a step or two and start over.  Perfection isn't the goal, rather joy in the act of creating.

 

Step 1 — Strip the lavender stems of any side shoots, leaves or buds so that only the main flowerhead remains.   Trim all stems to the same length, about 12”.

Step 2 — Line up the base of each flowerhead and tie the ribbon in a square knot at the base of the flowers, leaving one shorter end and one long end (which will be used for the weaving).

Step 3 — Hold the bundle of stems with the flowers facing down and gently fold the stems down one at a time over the flowers, encasing them.  Tuck the shorter end of ribbon into the flowers so that you can begin weaving with the long length of ribbon.

   

Step 4 — Weave the longer length of ribbon through the stems.  Take the ribbon over two stems and under the next two repeating this pattern in a counterclockwise direction.  Pay close attention to which stem comes next because they can become entangled when you weave.

You can weave in any pattern that you fancy.  In this tutorial we are weaving over two/under two, but you could weave over one/under one or over two/under one or... it's entirely up to you!

Step 5 — Continue to weave until you have covered all of the lavender flowers.

Step 6 — When you have covered the flowers entirely with your woven ribbon, gently pull out the short end of ribbon (from the center of the flowers) and use it to tie a square knot with the end of the woven ribbon at the base of the weaving.

Step 7 — To finish your lavender wand a bow is a nice touch.  To make a small bow, loop a length of ribbon back and forth on itself until you have 2 loops on each side.  Trim the ends to match the width of the loops.

Step 7 — Position the ribbon loops on top of the square knot at the base of the weaving and use ribbon tails from the square knot to secure the ribbon loops.  Tie a tight square knot and trim the ribbon ends to the width of the ribbon loops.

Step 8 — To keep the wand end tidy, tie the bottom of the stems together with a little extra ribbon and trim the stems evenly if needed.

Bravo!  Your beautiful wand is now ready to cast a few spells, grace a dressing table or perhaps be a gift for a friend.

Of course, if after reading through this "how to" you don't think making a Lavender Wand is your cup of tea but you'd still like one, we have beautiful finished Lavender Wands made by our skilled artisans at the farm ready for you.