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Well morning! Happy Sunday to folks on the right side of the world, happy Saturday night to those on my west: I finally got around to make a Demijohn, and if you are a nautical/beach house lover like me, you will most certainly find this of interest. Shall we get crackalackin’ then?

So you know, yesterday night when I was a couple of Teachers down and started to knot this, my husband said what exactly is this that you are making? Then of course, the real John- which is Siddhesh John- added his bit and Ankur Chugh just had to say, “This is shabby chic right” and that “Why don’t you paint my Tshirts instead {ankur: I will do it today, if you ever stumble upon this DIY home decor blog in which you are not remotely interested}. Then they collectively went ahead to assume at what price will it sell to the hipster community in Bandra {A posh place for all things great}, and all this while I wondered if at all, it will be worth explaining to them what a demijohn is.

I love these guys you know. No one else would get past me exhibiting such ill-knowledge on home decor other than these guys. I have reached a point where I am atleast happy that they learnt shabby-chic well. I feel like a mother with toddlers who just learnt to identify grass and trees, and I know that their inability to appreciate these things are genuine. Just like my inability to appreciate wastage of bandwidth on “violent moshpits of all time”.

Now, for those of you who don’t know what a Demijohn is: A demijohn or a carboy is a glass bottle typically used to carry and transport liquid- either chemicals or water or wine. The term Demijohn is an old term for a carboy, which actually means a glass bottle with a narrow neck, usually covered with wickerwork. According to The Oxford English Dictionary the word comes from the French dame-jeanne, literally “Lady Jane”, as a popular appellation.

So, anyway, coming back to the point, I finally made a Demijohn and can I tell you that I am happpyyyy with the result. I had a bottle from Sikkim Distillery, which I carefully smuggled from the hills to Mumbai and took care of like I would a baby, and it fit perfectly in its new role.

The first time I came across a Demijohn is in Kim’s blog {Kim blogs at savvysouthernstyle.com and her house screams southern decor with a french twist} and I wanted one since. Unfortunately, in India you only get it in boutique shops which charge you an obnoxious amount of money {hence the Bandra reference} or you get it in chor bazar {Thief’s market: A place where all things stolen are sold! Yeah, pretty cool right} which is very, very far from my home and I do not think it provides for a girl to walk in alone looking for vintage. Infact have 3 boys to go with you. So obviously, that option is out. Then there is that one option which I have always retorted to: It’s called DIY.

I chanced upon Cameo Cottage Designs who did a lovely knockoff of the Ballard design Demijohn and I found it exceptionally easy to follow. Here is how it’s done and I did the exact same steps. Thought it would be only righteous to give her the full credit for the lovely tutorial:

So here’s what you will do:

Wrap a twine around the neck of the bottle and tie a knot. She used hot glue, but I tied a knot. Do not tie it too tight or you will have problems taking the twine through it. Keep it a bit loose.

Next, Measure the height of your bottle with a twine and double it. Just where it doubles, pinch it, so you know where to tie the first knot. This will ensure you have equal length of twine.

I made 6 of them. You can make any amount in even numbers, depending on how close you want the weave to be. Now, it’s time to knot away…So how you tie the knot is, put the part where it halves through the noose- just a little bit- and run the free ends of the wire through it. Simple as that.

I am seriously in love with her tutorial. Believe me, I could not have done a better job. Thank you Cameo Cottage

Now to get done with the weave.

If you have two knots and 4 loose twines infront of you, you will take the right of one and the left twine from the adjacent thread and tie a knot.

Go right till the end.

Now, there are two things you can do:

a) Go all the way down and weave the twine to form a base, like she has. Yes, it’s beautiful and check it out.

b) You can tie the knots right till the base, and stitch the knots with a plastic/invisible thread. That’s what I have done. My bottle is rectangular and the weaving was not falling in place.

Here’s how my bottle turned out:

I also made a holder on top. This is how you’ll do it, should you choose to:

Take about 60 cms of twine and pinch where it halves.

Starting from the half, wrap twine around the neck of the bottle.

You will have two lose twine. Now, measure that length, and cut another of the same length. Weave a plat.

Once you are happy with the length, tie a knot. Remember to keep about 7-9 cms at the end.

Leave some twine- enough to fit the neck of the bottle- and tie another knot.

You will have a noose at the end with a plat that’s attached to the neck of the bottle.

A little complicated, but it’s worth the patience!

Methinks, I’ll get some wine and pour it in and live my Sunday like a king. Or a medieval man. I’ll see what I feel like 😉 As for you, you should totally make some. They look so wonderfully vintage, and no matter what your decor is, you will find a place for them to show off. You can lie too, about where you found it and how you went lengths to get a carboy…you know! The show-off possibilities are endless here.

Signing off, need tea and a happy Sunday to you.

Sharing @

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2015/06/wow-us-wednesdays-226.html

btw, Did you all see the lamp I bought from Amazon? Ah! You should! If you love vintage, you will lurveeee this!

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DIY Carboy or Demijohn Tutorial

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