At the end of the season, I always like to make a few weavings out of rye or wheat.Wheat weavings, also called corn dollies, are traditional end of harvest crafts. They can also be woven from rye, barley, and oats, but wheat is most commonly used due to its flexibility.The Celts used to do this to ensure good luck for the next years harvest. ‘Round here we just doing because it’s fun.

You will need:
10-12 long stalks of wheat, rye, barley, or oats with heads
White thread

(For those without access to grain stalks, these can be woven from plastic drinking straws as well.)

In days gone by, farmers used to take the last few stalks of the grain harvest and weave them into beautiful designs in hopes of capturing the spirit of the grain to ensure a bountiful harvest the following year. These weavings were kept inside all winter. In the spring the weavings were unraveled and the heads were the first seeds sown in the fields, as it was believed they would bring good luck for the growing season. Today most people wheat weave for aesthetic pleasure as opposed to good luck for harvest, but the designs are just as beautiful now as they were hundred of years ago.

To begin, soak the straws in warm water for 20 minutes. Tie four straws together just below the heads. With the heads at the bottom, gently pull down the stalks so they splay in four different directions. Leave one gap wider than the others.

Start weaving by holding the gap away from you. Bend the straw across from the gap (second from the right) into the open space. A new gap will form where that straw was. Turn the weaving so the new gap faces away from you. Bend the straw across from the new gap (now second from the right) into the open space. Continue “filling the gap” until the weaving is about 5 inches long.

Do the same with another set of four straws, making a weaving that is 5 inches long. If you break a straw, just insert one of the extras in its place and continue weaving as though nothing happened.

Tie the two weaving together at the heads. Bend the weavings up into a heart shape. Allow the unwoven ends to drape down into the center. Secure the ends to the heads with thread. To finish, tie the bottom of the heart with a festive ribbon. As grain dries naturally on its own, these will last for many years.

Copyright © Amber Reifsteck ~ The Woodland Elf

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