Rope bowls, textile bowls, textile pinch pots, tube bowls, jelly roll bowls….

So many names, also so many different methods to make them.

A few weeks ago, I became obsessed with making bowls.

Watched lots of YouTube videos….

Here are rope bowls 2, 3, and 4. The first one was such a disaster that I took it apart and made a new bowl–that is now number 4. They are just clothesline all zig zagged together. I wrapped some fabric scraps around the rope here and there. Just to add some flair.

I thought I was getting pretty good at those and ran out of rope, ordered more, then turned to jelly roll bowls while I waited for the delivery. (Which didn’t arrive until I was packed up for DC!)

Then I tried jelly roll bowls. Was not happy with the first two attempts.

Watched a bunch more videos from many different crafters and made the third and fourth bowls.

I’m keeping number four as a fruit bowl on my kitchen island.

The jelly roll bowls are made from 2 1/2″ wide by 42″ long strips of fabric. Moda sells them as “jelly rolls”. There is also batting cut 2 1/4″ wide for the center that can be ordered online. And there are a couple handy dandy tools that make it easier to fold and stitch the strips together. I used the Fabric Tube Maker from Clover for my strips and thought it was pretty clever. I didn’t buy jelly rolls or the special batting. I just cut up stuff I had in my stash and joined them together.

I ripped the first two bad bowls apart. It was a mess. Thread everywhere.

Put them together and made the fifth bowl. Much better….

I would like to find a more elegant way to end the bowls. The final bowl was nice. Just wish I knew where my button stash ended up! I’m sure there was a perfect pretty button that would have fit nicely into the center of the flower.

Both style of bowls–rope and jelly roll–require a zig zag stitch. The jelly roll also needs a straight stitch. I used the Brother PQ1500SL for the straight stitch. It sews through almost anything! My BabyLock Unity does not like to sew through thick material so I turned to a Singer HD 4452 that I bought a few years ago before I moved all of my sewing supplies to ND for the zig zag. It is a very basic machine. Sturdy but no “bells and whistles”. It stitched right through all the seams of the bowls.

My Juki in DC only does straight stitch so I’ll probably not be making any more bowls unless I buy a second machine. Haven’t made that decision yet. Meanwhile, I can still make bags, softies, and quilts! I’ll stay busy!