Selfsufficientish.com

Hello

Tis the season of even more singing with the children at school that usual, and I have no strap for either my guitar or mandolin. My arms ache! I play sitting down at home but that's asking for trouble with 420 children wriggling about

Just wondered if anyone had any ideas on how to make a strap to save my weary arms

Jill

Welllllll......way back in the 70's when I was a young folky, it was very fashionable to have guitar straps made out of macrame They were often fairly hideous I have to say but a few lengths of string and you could be sorted. I would have said crochet but that would stretch to much.

Beat me to it, GA

(Although I beat you slightly on date - I was a young folky in the late 60s!!!!!)

If leather is out (by far the best material) then macrame comes a close second. Use THICK cord and you're almost there. It's actually fun, too. And not very long finding out about macrame will tell you all you need to know to make a strap.

Mike

EDIT: Mind you, a mandolin is hard to hold in one position even if you're sitting down or if you have a strap. Superglue comes to mind.

Do bear in mind that a thin strap will give a line of pressure across your back. That might not be too much of an issue with a mandolin but guitars are a bit heavier. Wide is good, as long as the material is strong enough to spread the load.

Also, how will you attach the strap to your instruments? Most have a strap peg at the bottom but some rely on you tying the top to the headstock of the instrument. Again, that isn't so much of a problem on a mandolin but I find it a poor substitute for being able to attach a strap near the body / neck joint on a guitar.

Wulf

you could make one with a backstrap loom?
or weaving tablets?

I'm going to try this using rug wool (though I don't have any instrument) how long should it be?

I think I would use one of my many pairs of old jeans for that - strong material, long enough, make a nice, wide strap...