Locker Hooking - a DIY anything project

The Craft studio has been busy.  I am the kind of person who can put a project down and come back to it later.  In the mean time I usually start another project.  I realize that creatively sometimes I just have to stop and find the inspiration to come back to a project refreshed and revived.  Otherwise my work is sloppy and no good.  


I am currently working on two Locker Hooking projects.  Each of them will take a considerable amount of time and energy so I am letting them.  Like a good cup of coffee, you have to wait for it to cool a little, you can't just chug it down.  It is this rationalization that has allowed me to take my time with my crafting projects guilt free.


Back to Locker Hooking.  No - locker hooking isn't some "skeezy" practice in seedy locker rooms, it is a sad and unfortunate name to a craft I really enjoy.  It comes from  hooking  loops of material up through rug canvas and then locking them in place with string. 
Locker hooking is such a versatile, and durable craft that it has become a main inspiration in the MBU - DIY Craft Studio.  Not only are the materials cheap, but you can recycle an old bed sheet into your new placemat, or pillow, or bracelet, or rug.  I just love that.  You are folding laundry one day and decide that you just hate a certain shirt &  you are short a bath mat, then viola! New bath mat.  


My most recent completion was a hot pad for the kitchen.  My MIL gave me a "jelly roll" of the cutest fabrics.  I knew that I wanted to make something useful with the fabric, but it had to be small.  I decided I would use a #6 canvas (because I had some), and cranked this little baby out in my spare seconds over a few days time.  I have 3 kids and can only craft in very small bursts, so spare seconds it is.  If you had peace and quiet then you could make on in just a few hours.

The project that is currently waiting for further inspiration is a wall hanging I call "jewels in the snow".  Here is a close up picture of it in progress:

See the rug canvas up at the top, between the white?  I also used #6 canvas for this project and different bulky yarns. 

This leads me to the project that has highjacked my time from the wall hanging.  The project being 4 super ugly chairs sitting around my table.  They are hand-me-downs that I gladly accepted because my oldest got stuck in the broken down "rushing" in our even older chairs.  Which I plan to fix later - but that is another blog post :)  Anyway, the chairs are oak and could be nice but are in various states of "ugh", because the finish is peeling.  So I am currently sanding them one by one and will refinish them, but this time they will be completed with beautiful locker hooked seat pads.  Check back for a tutorial of the chair project.

You'll need 5 things to Locker Hook a beautiful project:

1. Rug Canvas
2. Locker Hook
3. Locking Medium (string)
4. Yarn, Roving, or Cotton material torn into strips
5. Tapestry Needle

There are many web sites where you can order these materials, one of my favorites is colorcrazy.com.  There you can find materials, patterns, clearer explanations  of locker hooking, videos, books, you name it - it's there.  The author of the books and site Theresa Pulido also gives a great history of the craft  as well.  Locker hooking is a fun, durable craft, that can add a lot of beauty to just about anything you want to make. Check it out!