We’re all about the gusty adventures this month. Let’s go fly a kite!
We hope you like the kite illustration on our Blossom front cover for March. Inside the issue Jo Mattock has written a piece to inspire you to take your kite on an outing. If you don’t have time to dig yours out of the shed, here’s how to make one in moments.
You will need
2 straight sticks or pieces of cane (raid last year’s runner beans patch), one around 50cm and one around 60cm but you can make them bigger or smaller as you wish
String
Washi tape (you knew you’d find a practical use for it one day, didn’t you?)
A piece of light fabric or strong paper to fit your kite frame (a bin liner will do in a kite-building emergency)
Suitable glue
Masking tape
A long piece of fabric for your kite tail, plus fabric remnants
How to make your kite
Arrange your two sticks in a T-shape, with the shorter stick crossing the longer stick about a third of the way down.
Wind string around and around at the point where the sticks join and tie it securely. Cover over the join with washi tape until you are certain the structure is secure. You can use a blob of superglue if you prefer, to anchor the string.
Use a pair of scissors to saw a small notch at either end of both sticks (4 notches), each about 3cm from the end.
Tie a piece of string around the edge of your shape, forming a diamond, using the notches to secure the string with a knot at each corner.
Place your diamond shape on top of your fabric, paper or bin liner and draw around the outside of the shape, approx 5cm bigger all the way round, then cut out your shape.
Place the diamond frame back on your fabric. Squirt a line of glue all the way around the edge of the fabric diamond and then fold the edges over the string frame to stick down.
Use masking tape to secure the fabric to the frame all around the edge and across the stick frame.
Cut a length of string a bit longer than your spar (the shorter stick). We used 65cm of string for the 50cm cane. Tie to each end of the smaller stick so the string has plenty of slack.
For your flying line, tie a long piece of string to the middle of the slack string. Make it as long as you dare.
Create a tail for your kite with a long piece of string from the bottom and decorate it with pieces of fabric tied on. Decorate the front and back of the kite as you wish.
Go fly a kite and send it soaring!
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