Preparing straw for work for use in needlework. How to build a thatched roof: traditional technology making a roof from straw Instructions on how to make a craft from straw

Preparing straw for work for use in needlework. How to build a thatched roof: traditional technology making a roof from straw Instructions on how to make a craft from straw

Only straw harvested by hand is suitable for weaving, and it must be harvested at different times - then it will be of different shades: from green to bright yellow. The stems are cut close to the ground and immediately tied into sheaves.

If the harvested straw is green, it must be dried in a closed, ventilated area. If such straw is dried in the sun, the golden hue will intensify. After drying, the straw must be cleaned. First, remove the nodes; the leaves can be useful. Cut and peeled straws are sorted by length and thickness and tied into bundles. Some of the straw is left uncut - it will be needed when making a sculpture or for spiral weaving.

Before starting work, straws 10–30 cm long are poured with boiling water and kept for a while until they become soft and elastic. Do not soak more than the daily amount of material. If there is straw left at the end of the work, it must be dried. The soaked straw is wrapped in cellophane or thick, damp cloth.

In order for the straw to acquire a silvery tint or a brighter and purer color, as well as better coloring, it must be bleached. But you should pay attention to safety rules when working with bleach solution. First of all, make sure that the solution does not get into your eyes; wear rubber gloves to protect your hands.

For bleaching, you can use hydropyrite tablets (6 tablets per 1 liter of water) or hydrogen peroxide with ammonia (150 g of 15% hydrogen peroxide and 20 g of ammonia (or ammonia) per 1 liter of water). The straw intended for bleaching is placed on the bottom of an enamel or glassware, pour the solution and press on top. After 6 hours, wash the straw several times with clean water to remove all bleach particles.

Bleached straw becomes softer and evenly colored. But if you bleach it to white, its softness and decorativeness, on the contrary, will be lost.

In order to increase the color palette of the material, straw is dyed using natural, aniline dyes, or by calcining it.

Brown and dark brown shades of straw are obtained as a result of fairly long aging of straw ribbons under a hot iron. This is done as follows: straw ribbons are laid out on a large stack of newspapers, and a hot iron is placed on them (or you can take thick cardboard, put a straw ribbon on it and simply iron it with an iron). The saturation of the shades depends on the heating temperature of the iron and on how long the straw ribbons are heated in this way. You can also heat the straw in a stove or oven, but you must be careful to ensure that it does not come into contact with the fire and does not catch fire.

The silvery-white hue of straw is obtained by dipping it in bleach (hydrogen peroxide or persalt). Persalt solution can be boiled. Boiling straw in a solution of baking soda will give it a yellow-golden color, and in potassium permanganate it will give it a pinkish tint. To give the straw a golden brown color, it needs to be boiled in a decoction of onion scales; Beetroot broth will give it a burgundy color. You can give the straws brown, burgundy, red or another color. A decoction of rhubarb will give it a brown-green color, and bedstraw will give it a red-burgundy color. Although vegetable paints have soft, muted tones, they are distinguished by their natural beauty and high light fastness.

When dyeing straws, you can also use aniline dyes intended for fabrics. The straws painted with them have a bright, rich color that enhances the shine of the natural material. But unlike vegetable dyes, aniline dyes fade strongly in the open rays of the sun, so products dyed with aniline cannot be placed in a place exposed to direct rays of the sun.

After dyeing, the straws are thoroughly washed with cold water and dried.

Beautiful dark golden and brown shades of straw can be obtained by calcining it in a stove or oven. The straws, spread out into a ribbon, just need to be heated with a hot iron.

Tools for working with straws

For crafts with straw you will need the following tools and equipment:

1. PVA glue or wallpaper glue for gluing parts.

2. A brush for gluing large parts, a thin plastic (no more than a millimeter in diameter) stick or knitting needle for applying a small amount of glue.

3. A simple pencil and felt-tip pens.

4. Aniline dyes.

5. Plasticine.

6. Thread and needle, fishing line, ribbons.

7. Scissors of different types: not tight and with straight ends, semicircular.

8. A knife with a short, angled blade.

9. Two rags. One is completely dry, and the other is slightly damp.

10. Tracing paper for gluing straw ribbons.

11. Cones and seeds.

12. Tweezers for picking up and holding small parts.

13. Buttons.

14. Wire for making a frame.

15. Press for leveling products.

When working with straws, you must adhere to the following simple rules: rules:

1. It is best to work at a low table (at knee level), since most of the work is carried out in weight.

2. The workplace should be clean and well lit.

3. The workplace can be equipped with shelves or boxes for storing tools, materials, and workpieces.

4. Only the essentials should be on the table: on the left - a box with straws, a block, drawings, templates; on the right - a scalpel, a knife, brushes, a jar of varnish, a bath with a sponge soaked in water, a pencil, a ruler, a square, a compass, a surface planer.

The light at work should fall from the left side.

Creating paintings from straw is a decorative and applied art associated with dried plants and cereals, which presents amazing masterpieces of craftsmanship. They make you admire both the perfection of the greatness of the world and its extraordinary beauty. Sometimes you wonder: how could this be made from a simple straw?

What is a straw? These are dry stalks of grain crops. What's so special about it? But what is special is the sun’s shine and the energy accumulated by the plant during growth and maturation, the natural energy of light, sun and beauty. Look at ours, doesn’t it really give off the warmth and smell of summer?

Preparing straw for work

Without properly prepared straw for work, a florist is just an artist without paints. Indeed, in “straw” floristry, various stems of cereal crops (cultivated and wild) are used. They serve as the material for making the most interesting works - paintings made from straw. The main thing is not to miss, to have time to collect and dry the collected ears in time.

The straw is collected shortly before the harvest. And during the period of milk maturity, the rye is cut off. Although even when overripe, the ears can be surprisingly beautiful. It all depends on the soil, the type of cereal, the amount of sunlight and precipitation.

Raw straw material

A how to make straw suitable for handicrafts? Straw material can be prepared using a hot method: a tube in a soaked and steamed state turns into a soft, beautiful plate or ribbon when cut and ironed.

With the cold preparation method, the cut straw tube is firmly clamped on both sides with the rings of scissors and thus “ironed” several times. Cold-processed ribbons acquire better shine, brightness and elasticity, which allows you to create more original crafts.

The richness of natural tones and shades of straw ears is due to different varieties and different periods of their collection. Although, the same straw will have lighter shades, only dried not in the sun, but in the shade. If you need to obtain special color shades of straw ribbons, there are also additional methods of painting and bleaching them.

  • Can bleach straw, placing it in a solution of hydrogen peroxide for several hours;
  • Dark shades are acquired by boiling straws (for example) in a decoction of onion peels;
  • To obtain lemon or bright yellow shades, add baking soda during the boiling period of the straws (calculated at 1 teaspoon per 1 liter of water);
  • Many florists do not use straw dyes, but use various burning methods: with a soldering iron, a burner, or in the oven. Safety precautions must be observed here.
Straw ribbons

It’s not a matter of color at all, but a combination of different shades of shadows and penumbras, the choice of the direction of the fibers, the choice of texture. This can be seen clearly in the picture. Go for it! Everything is in your hands and depends on the vision and experience of each master!

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A roof made of straw was almost an integral attribute of the roof of an ancient hut. One of the main reasons why thatched roofing was so popular was the availability of the material and its good quality. And even today, all the positive properties of straw are appreciated, so the material, although not always, is sometimes used as a roofing covering.

Such a roof not only has an attractive and unusual appearance, it is also reliable, durable and capable of creating a unique and, of course, favorable microclimate. Any house with a thatched roof will look very stylish and original.


Today, when the building materials market is filled with modern and innovative designs, many developers, however, often prefer natural materials. Thanks to advanced production technology, thatch roofing is characterized not only by strength, but also by significant durability. Evidence of this is its service life, which can reach 50 years, which significantly exceeds the service life of some even much more expensive and modern materials.

Myths about the thatched roof

Due to many misconceptions regarding the performance of thatch as a roofing material, many myths about this material should be debunked. These include the following:


Advantages of thatched roofing

One way or another, a thatched roof has a number of positive characteristics, because of which you can make your choice in favor of this roofing covering:



Moreover, straw is a unique material also because such a covering of it, only 35 centimeters thick, can reliably protect a house from severe frost or heat, while the weight of the material per 1 m² is 35 kilograms. Therefore, with the help of straw, you can cover a large area of ​​the roof and create a structure that does not carry a serious load on the walls of the house.

When thinking about how to make a thatched roof yourself, you should familiarize yourself with its other advantages, including:


Features of a thatched roof

The method of laying straw roofing differs significantly from other roofings popular today.

If we talk in detail about what a straw roofing pie includes, then this is:


The device does not involve any complexity; you just need to correctly collect and strengthen the sheaves of straw on the roof. Moreover, the material can be used on roofs of absolutely any type with any shape. The roof can be gable, semicircular or dome-shaped. Today, thanks to the work of professional designers, it is possible to create a truly unique, fashionable and inimitable design that can distinguish a building from the mass of similar buildings and amaze even the most demanding critic.

Houses with thatched roofs - a variety of options, watch the video:

Proper installation of thatch on the roof

Laying a thatched roof yourself is not difficult; you do not need any special tools, knowledge or skills. You just need to correctly assemble the rafter system, lay the sheathing and support slats on it, which carry the bulk of the weight. Next, the pre-prepared straw must be collected into sheaves. Using a special spatula, the coating layer is formed, so that the coating lies flat and, as a result, gives the roof a harmonious appearance.

Factors that are important to remember when laying thatch on your roof:

  • the material must be solid and have an even color, without rot or any signs of burning;
  • It is best to use galvanized clamping wire. The distance of the first clamp from the bar should be 200 millimeters, the second - 120 millimeters after the first, after that - every 260 - 300 millimeters;
  • the fixing wire should have a cross-section of 1 millimeter;
  • The thickness to which the coating layer is laid depends on the parameters of the slope - its length and slope. If the slope does not exceed 40 degrees, and the length is 7 meters, then the thickness of the layer can be 22 centimeters in the ridge area and 25 centimeters in the base area (read also: “Do-it-yourself roof construction: structural elements.”

In the Minecraft game, golems protect residents from zombies and other creatures. In order for any type of golem to form independently, special conditions are needed, which, if necessary, can be recreated independently. There are several types of golem: iron, snow, stone, straw, wood.

Making an iron golem in Minecraft

Iron Golem It protects only from mobs; it is powerless against other sinister creatures. For it to transform automatically, the village must have 16 residents and 21 houses. If you cannot create such conditions yet, then you can make an iron golem yourself. To do this you will need a pumpkin, a torch and four iron blocks.

If you can't get blocks, you can make them from 9 iron ingots. Once all the elements are in stock, you can begin creating an iron golem. Place one iron block on the ground, then place a second one on it, attach two more blocks to its sides and place a pumpkin or torch on the block in the middle. After this has been done, the golem will come to life and begin to perform its function. As you can see, there is nothing complicated.

How to make a snow golem?

Role snow golem is very important in Minecraft because thanks to it you can lure the evil villagers into a trap. To build a snow golem, you will need two snow blocks, a pumpkin or a torch. Once all the components are assembled, you can begin construction. Place the snow slabs one on top, attach a pumpkin or a torch on top - you're done, the good mob is all at your disposal.

Making a stone golem

This friendly mob protects the player from zombies and other unpleasant characters in the game very effectively. In order to build it, you will need four stone blocks, a pumpkin or a lamp. Once you have collected all the elements, you can begin construction. First place one stone block, then place another one on top of it, then attach two blocks on the sides, you will get the letter “t”. Place a pumpkin or lantern on top in the middle, now you know how to make a golem in minecraft.

How to make a straw golem in Minecraft?

In order for the player not to remain hungry, it is necessary to build straw golem, he harvests crops and can find them within a radius of 10 blocks. To create it, just right-click on any of the blocks.

Making a wooden golem

Wood Golem He is also a good helper around the house, he collects everything he needs that is around him. To do it, you need to right-click on the chest.

Minecraft is a kind of sandbox for creative people, where you can fantasize and build whatever you like.

A modern person, when building his own home, has a huge selection of roofing materials that differ in weight, material and appearance. And in the old days, even before people learned how to skillfully process metal and it became generally available, everyone used straw to cover the roofs of their homes.

A house with a thatched roof provided excellent protection from rain, snow, wind and cold, and plant materials grew everywhere, and therefore cost practically nothing. Nowadays, straw roofing technology is used more as a decorative architectural solution in the design of cafes, restaurants, gazebos and terraces.

Thatched roof is a term that combines all types of roofing for the construction of which plant materials are used. Traditionally, reeds, straw, and reeds were used to cover houses, that is, plants that grow abundantly in the construction area. They used freshly harvested long, straight stems of healthy plants, which were tied into sheaves and then tightly laid in several layers on the crate. The advantages of such a roof are considered:

Note! When talking about thatched roofing, one cannot fail to note the original, aesthetic appearance of this structure. Houses, gazebos and other structures with a roof made of plant material immediately take on a cozy, homely, cute look, which is why this traditional technology is often used in the design of themed restaurants, cafes and other recreational places.

Disadvantages of technology

Before you make a thatched roof, you need to understand all the features and subtleties of this traditional technology. Many are interested in how this ancient and most primitive roofing material can compete with modern technological coatings. Indeed, the technology of constructing a roof using natural plant material has its drawbacks:

  1. Highly flammable. Straw, reeds and reeds dried in the sun are easily ignited by the slightest spark. This property of plant material often causes fires during summer drought or thunderstorms.
  2. Restrictions on the roof structure. Due to the peculiarities of the technology for laying plant roofing material, a thatched roof must have a slope of at least 37-39 degrees.
  3. Difficulty in installation. It is a rare craftsman who can make a beautiful, even, neat straw roof. The task is complicated by the fact that the technology of covering with plant raw materials has been practically forgotten and is used quite rarely.
  4. High price. Many people have the false impression that thatch roofing is a cheap solution for the poor. In fact, erecting a thatched roof in compliance with all stages of technology is sometimes more expensive than using modern roofing materials, including due to the high cost of high-quality plant material.

Important! Experienced roofers claim that modern technologies can eliminate or minimize the disadvantages of thatched roofing. For example, the easy flammability of dry plant material can be eliminated by treatment with a fire retardant compound. However, over time, the protective composition is washed off by rain, so treatment must be done once every 5-10 years.

Roofing pie

Dry straw roofing is considered quite durable if all installation technology requirements are followed during installation.

  • From the point of view of installation, the roofing pie of a thatched roof is practically no different from the traditional one, only the roofing covering replaces plant material. It consists of the following components:
  • Rafter frame. The roof frame is assembled from boards and bars; it usually consists of a mauerlat, vertical posts, ridge beams and rafter legs. It should be strong enough, but light. The minimum permissible slope angle for a thatched roof is 35 degrees, and the optimal slope is 45 degrees.
  • Lathing. To lay the straw, a continuous sheathing or slatted structure with a pitch width of 30-35 cm is installed. This requirement is due to the technology of laying and fixing the vegetation on the roof slope.

Plant material. Dried, fresh plant material, tied into sheaves, is laid in tiers in a dense layer at a distance of 30 cm. The sheaves are fixed using stainless steel wire or hemp rope.

Please note that professional roofers claim that additional waterproofing and thermal insulation will only worsen the performance of a thatched roof. Due to the use of airtight materials for insulation, the roofing cake begins to rot, darken, losing its original appearance, and the rafter frame begins to rot.

Laying technology


A do-it-yourself thatched roof is a practical design solution that will decorate the appearance of a country house, gazebo or terrace.

Typically, work on laying roofs from plant material is carried out at the end of summer in dry weather, when there is plenty of dry straw and reeds in the area. The technology for constructing a thatched roof consists of the following steps: