Twisted cord

What twisted cord is

Twisted cord, also called cording, is the trim that runs round the edge of a finished ornament and makes its hanging loop. It also edges a pillow, or the stitched insert of an acrylic coaster or tray. Made at home, it can match any color in the stitching.

The cord holds together because it is twisted twice. The bundle of threads is twisted one way. When it is folded in half, the two halves wind round each other the opposite way and grip each other.

Making the cord by hand

You need:

• Thread: six-strand cotton floss or pearl cotton, used whole, with the six strands of floss left together. One whole thread is called a length here. Other instructions call it a strand.
• Something that will not move: a cup hook, a doorknob or a cabinet knob. A helper can hold the end instead.
• A pencil, a pen, a chopstick or a short dowel
• Scissors, and tape for the ends

For an ornament, use a whole skein of floss and measure nothing, provided it is the common skein of 8.7 yards (8 m). Pull the skein out to its full length, fold it in half, and fold it in half again. That is the bundle: four lengths, each about 79 inches (2 m) long. It makes about 30 to 32 inches (76 to 81 cm) of cord, more than a round ornament 4 inches (10 cm) across needs. For any other cord, "How much thread" and "How many lengths" below say what to cut.

1. Make the bundle. Lay the lengths side by side with their ends even, and tie the whole bundle in a knot at each end. A bundle made by folding one long thread needs only one knot: knot the end where the cut ends lie, and the other end is already a loop.
2. Fix one end. A loop slips over a hook or a knob as it is. A knotted end goes onto a hook if you part the lengths just inside the knot and put the hook between them. On a knob or a handle, tie the end of the bundle itself round it, and allow a few inches for the tied part, which is cut off afterward. For a short cord, the end can be taped to the edge of a table.
3. Put the pencil in. Push it between the lengths just inside the other knot, or through the loop. Step back until the bundle is straight and snug, but not strained.
4. Twist. Hold the pencil crosswise against the palm of one hand, with the bundle running out between two fingers toward the hook. With the forefinger of the other hand, push one end of the pencil round and round, so that it spins like a propeller with the bundle as its axle. Turn either way, but never change direction. The bundle shortens as it twists and pulls toward the hook: let it draw you forward, and keep it snug. The number of turns is no guide to when to stop: four lengths of floss 14 inches (36 cm) long take about 60, but go by the test in step 5.
5. Test the twist. Keep hold of the pencil and move it slowly toward the hook, so that the bundle goes slack. A bundle that is ready kinks at once: a short stretch of it doubles back and winds round itself. Pull the bundle straight and the kink comes out again. If the slack bundle stays smooth, twist more. If it kinks or bunches while it is still pulled straight, it has had too much: turn it back a little.
6. Fold it. Pull the bundle taut and keep it taut. Take hold of it at the middle with one hand. With the other, carry the pencil end to the fixed end, so that the two ends meet, and slip the pencil out. On a hook, hang that end beside the first. Anywhere else, hold the two ends together in that hand. If you cannot reach the middle of the bundle while you hold the pencil end, this step takes two people: one holds the middle while the other brings the ends together.
7. Let it twist, a little at a time. You are now holding the fold. Let go of it all at once and the cord can snarl. If both ends are on the hook, pinch the two halves together with your free hand an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) from the fold, then let go of the fold: that short stretch winds into cord. Pinch again a little further on with the first hand, let go with the second, and walk the hands up to the knots. If one hand is holding the ends, slide the hand at the fold up the cord about an inch at a time instead.
8. Knot the ends. Take the two ends off the hook, keeping a firm hold of them, and tie them together in one knot. An end that was tied to a knob or taped to a table is cut free first, with the same firm hold. Until that knot is tied, the cord can untwist. Rub any small bumps out between your fingers, working toward the folded end.

A good cord has the same close turns from one end to the other. If yours is loose or uneven, do not tie the last knot. Pull the two halves apart again, straighten the bundle and twist it more: a tight first twist makes a tight cord. A few inches at the knotted end may not twist as well as the rest. Cut them off with the knot when the cord is cut to length.

A first cord can be loose all the same, because a tight, even twist takes practice. Bought cord will serve until then.

With a helper, each end of the bundle can have a pencil. The two people face each other, and each turns clockwise as they see it.

How much thread

First, the cord. Measure round the edge it has to cover, then add for the ends.

• An ornament with a hanging loop: add about 8 inches (20 cm) for the loop and the two ends. A round ornament 4 inches (10 cm) across measures about 12 1/2 inches (32 cm) round its edge, so its cord is about 21 inches (53 cm).
• A piece with no loop, such as an insert or a pillow: add 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm), which leaves an end to tuck in on each side of the join.

Then the thread. Cut each length three times as long as the cord, and never shorter. The fold takes half of the bundle and the twist takes up more: a cord usually comes out between a little over a third and about two fifths of the length of its bundle, so three times leaves a small margin, and the few inches cut off at the knotted end can use it up. Cut four times wherever there is thread to spare, and cut off any cord left over. The 21 inch (53 cm) cord for a 4 inch round starts as lengths of 63 inches (160 cm), or 84 inches (213 cm) at four times.

A thread that is folded to make the bundle is cut longer, so that the bundle is still three times the cord: six times the cord for a thread folded in half once, twelve times for a thread folded in half twice.

How much to buy. A skein of six-strand floss commonly holds 8.7 yards (8 m), but the length differs from one maker and thread to the next, so check how much is in it. Four lengths of 63 inches come to 7 yards (6.4 m), so one skein makes the cord for a 4 inch round. Six lengths, or four lengths cut four times the cord, take two skeins.

Which thread. Six-strand floss and pearl cotton are the usual choices. Floss costs little, is sold in many colors and shines once it is twisted. Metallic thread is hard to work with by itself, so twist it together with another fiber. Some threads vary a little in color from one dye lot to the next: if the cord has to match the stitching, buy the thread for both at the same time.

How many lengths

The bundle is folded in half to make the cord, so the cord holds twice as many threads as the bundle. For an ornament, start with 4 lengths of floss.

How thick the cord comes out depends on the thread as well as on the number of lengths. Where the thickness matters, make a trial first: a foot (30 cm) of cord from lengths of 3 feet (90 cm). It matters most on an insert for a coaster or tray, which has to fit inside the acrylic with the cord round it. A cord for an ornament is about an eighth of an inch or a little under (2 to 3 mm) thick. Upholstery cord, most of which starts at about 3/16 inch (5 mm), is too heavy for a small piece.

With a crank, a drill or a cord maker

None of these is needed. They speed up the twisting.

• A hand crank with a hook, sold as a cord maker or corder, takes the pencil's place in steps 3 to 5: the end of the bundle goes on its hook and the handle is turned. It can make the fold as well. Slip the end of the bundle off the hook without letting it go, hang the tool by its hook from the middle of the twisted bundle, bring the two ends together above it, keeping the bundle taut, then let the tool go and leave it to spin until it stops.
• A cup hook in a small drill. The screw end of the cup hook is held in the drill where a bit would go, and the end of the bundle goes over the hook. A 12 inch (30 cm) cord that takes about a minute to twist with a hand crank takes about five seconds with a motor. Keep the drill at low speed, because it is easy to twist too far.

A battery cord maker with several spinners works another way. It makes a cord of two, three or four equal groups of threads, and each group can be its own color. Fold each group in half and clip the fold into a spinner. A group is then half as long as the threads cut for it. Hold the free ends in the other hand with a finger between the groups or, for a long cord, knot them together over a hook or a doorknob.

With the switch one way, each spinner twists its own group: twist tightly, but stop before the groups double up or bunch. With the switch the other way, the head twists the groups round each other. Knot or tape both ends as they come off. The tool comes with no rule for how long to cut the threads, so make a short trial first.

Two colors

Stripes. The two colors follow each other along the cord, as on a candy cane. Each color makes one half of the bundle. Cut each color one and a half times the length of the cord, with the same number of lengths in each. Knot each color at one end, then tie the two unknotted ends to each other. Twist as before. The join sits at the middle of the bundle, and the bundle is folded there.

Mixed. Lay both colors together in one bundle, each cut three times the length of the cord, and make the cord in the usual way. The two colors then lie side by side in every turn, which gives a mottled cord in place of stripes. Nothing marks the middle of this bundle, so measure for it before folding.

Keeping the twist: the ends

The folded end needs nothing. Every other end has to be secured, or the cord untwists from it.

• A knot, as in step 8.
• Tape wound round an end holds it until the cord is used.
• Glue worked into an end holds it and stiffens it, so that it is easier to tuck in. Use fabric glue or the craft glue sold as tacky glue, and let it dry.
• A wrap of thread is smaller than a knot, which suits a flat ornament.

To make a wrap:

1. Take a piece of thread and fold a few inches of one end back on itself. This makes a long, narrow loop with a short tail beside it.
2. Lay the loop flat along the cord where the wrap is wanted.
3. With the long end of the thread, wind firmly round the cord and the loop together, each turn beside the last. Work away from the short tail and toward the closed end of the loop, for a quarter to half an inch (6 to 13 mm). Leave the closed end of the loop and the short tail uncovered.
4. Pass the long end through the closed end of the loop.
5. Pull the short tail. The loop slides under the wraps and draws the long end in with it. Stop when the loop is about halfway under: pulled all the way through, the wrap comes undone.
6. Trim both ends close. A drop of glue on the wrap secures it.

To cut a cord, secure it on both sides of the cut first. Make two wraps and cut between them, or work glue into the cord where the cut will come, let it dry, and cut through the glued part.

Putting cord on an ornament

The cord goes on last. By then the stitched front and the fabric back have been joined round their edges, with a gap of about an inch and a half (4 cm) left open at the top between them. How to finish an ornament gives every step up to that point.

Push the folded end of the cord into the gap and take the cord once round the edge, gluing or pinning it as described below, back to the top. There, take it up into a loop about 3 inches (8 cm) long and down again. Cut it half an inch to an inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) past the base of the loop, with glue worked in first as above, and push the cut end into the gap beside the first. Stitch the gap shut, with a few extra stitches through the base of the loop, which carries the weight.

On a piece with no loop, such as an insert, the two ends go into the gap side by side. Self-finishing needlepoint gives those steps.

Round the edge, the cord is glued or sewn. Glue is much the faster way, but it is hard to undo once dry, and glued cord can come off after many years. Sewing is more secure: sew the cord on a piece that is meant to be kept.

Glued. Run a thin line of tacky glue or fabric glue along the edge, about 3 inches (8 cm) at a time, keeping it off the stitching and the backing fabric. Too much glue squeezes out from under the cord. Lay the cord on the glue and pin it until the glue is dry.

Sewn. Pin the cord round the edge first. Sew with the back of the piece toward you. Use a single strong sewing thread in the color of the cord, or of the backing fabric if the cord has several colors. Invisible thread, a clear thread like fine fishing line, is the other choice. Each stitch has to catch the front and the back of the ornament as well as the cord. There are two ways to place it.

• Over the cord. Take the needle through the edge of the piece under the cord, from the front to the back. Bring the thread up and over the cord, slanted so that it lies in the groove between two turns, and take the next stitch just ahead of the next turn. With one stitch to each turn, the thread follows the twist and hides in it. This suits invisible thread or a dark cord.
• Through the cord. Take the needle through the underside of the cord, then through the edge of the piece beneath it, coming out a little further along. Nothing crosses the top of the cord. This suits a light cord or one of several colors, where a thread laid over it would show, and it cannot dent the cord as a stitch pulled over the top can.

To finish, knot the thread and run its tail through the cord before cutting it.

On a stuffed ornament, or another small stuffed piece, leave an opening in the seam. Pin the cord round the edge with both of its ends pushed into the opening. Sew the opening shut first, with a few stitches back and forth where the cord goes in and comes out, then sew the cord on all the way round with either stitch above. Where no opening was left, bring the two ends together at the bottom of the piece and knot them.

Putting cord on a pillow

Cord sold for pillows has a lip, a flat tape along one side, and the lip is sewn into the seam between the front and the back. Cord made at home has no lip, so it cannot go into the seam. It is sewn on by hand after the pillow is made up, round the edge, in invisible thread or thread of a matching color. A small stuffed piece takes its cord as a stuffed ornament does: see the end of the section above.

On a full-size pillow, trim sewn on by hand does not stand up to heavy use, and the two ends of a twisted cord are joined by untwisting them and weaving their separate strands together, which is skilled work for a professional finisher (see needlepoint finishing). A pillow that will be used every day is better sent to one, or edged with piping, which the next section describes.

A pillow also takes a long cord. A 12 inch (30 cm) square pillow is 48 inches (122 cm) round. With 4 inches (10 cm) over, the cord is 52 inches (132 cm) and each length of thread is 13 feet (4 m), which takes a helper at the far end. One skein of floss gives two such lengths. To find how many lengths the cord takes, make the trial under "How many lengths" before buying.

Cord is not piping

Piping, also called a welt, is a plain cord wrapped in a strip of fabric that has been cut on the bias, which means diagonally across the weave. The fabric leaves a flat edge, and that edge is sewn into a seam close to the cord, by machine or by hand. It is not sewn onto a finished edge as twisted cord is. The steps for piping on a pillow are in how to finish a pillow.