Arts and Crafts

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia

In Colombia, a special type of weaving, called bambulina, is done. It is characterized by diamonds formed by leaving out the weft weave and tying sections of the warp to form the diamond shapes.

You can make a bambulina tree of life weaving using burlap.

Bambulina tree of life

Materials needed:

Burlap (preferably green)
Yarn
Ribbon
Embroidery floss
Large needles
Safety pins
Glue
Thin dowels

Give each crafter a 9" by 12" piece of burlap. Have them cut the 12" sides at an angle so that the piece is roughly triangular, but is not pointed at the top. With the narrow end at top, go down about two inches and begin to pull out the weft (horizontal strands) of burlap. They should pull out easily if you can one strand at a time. Pull out strands until you have a section 1 inch high that has only vertical strands.

Now pinch together a one inch width of those strands and tie them together in the middle with a piece of yarn or floss. Take the next one inch section and do the same thing. Once you have tied two sections, you should begin to see the diamond pattern. Continue all the way across the weaving, tying off the sections.

Now make two more rows like the one described above. Leave several inches of plain burlap between each row.

To further enhance your weaving, pull out enough weft strands so that you can weave ribbon into the warp. Pin a safety pin to the end of the ribbon, and weave the ribbon in and out of the burlap. You can weave over 4, under 4, rather than in and out of each strand.

Fold over the top inch of the hanging, and use yarn to sew a casing in which to slip a dowel through for hanging.

You may wish to use glue around the edges to keep the burlap from unraveling when handled.