How to Make Flower Strings

Flower stringing is one of the traditional methods of South India, tying flowers together using a thread or fiber from the banana plant. These flower strings are made with different colored flowers tied separately or tied together to make a length of string. You can find sellers of these flower strings in street corners, selling as well as stringing from fresh flowers. These flower strings are used by children, girls and women to decorate their hair as well as used in offerings to gods.

This instructable is a small guide on how to make a flower string with one variety of jasmine flowers from our garden.

We have different kinds of jasmine flower plants in our home garden. We pluck fresh flowers regularly in the evening and make flower strings for our hair as well use them as prayer offerings.

we harvest the fully matured flowers at the bud stage from the plant. If we do not find time to make the strings then we store the flowers in a plastic case in the fridge.

In addition you will also need a thread specially used for stringing flowers. These threads are mostly white or green in color. Traditionally fiber from banana stem which are made into strings are used for this.

• Take one end of thread in the hand
• The flowers can be arranged in singles (two flowers facing each other), twos (four flowers on two each side) or three (Six flowers on three each side) on the thread. The single layered flower string will look thin and give more length, whereas flowers arranged in twos and threes will give a dense string with limited length.
• Here I am going to make strings with six flowers, three on each side opposite to each other.
• Arrange the flowers in threes on the table. This will help you in picking up the required flowers quickly.
• First pick three flowers and place on the thread. Hold the thread and flowers with your thump and index finger.
• Next pick another set of three flowers and place on the thread over the earlier set of flowers, bud ends facing in the opposite direction.
• Make two rounds of thread around the flower stems
• Then make a loop with your fingers and pass it over the flowers at one end circling the flowers.
• Tighten the string. This will make a knot and the flowers will stay in place where they are tied.
• Proceed with other set of flowers as before.

Please watch the video showing how the flower are arranged on the thread and tied together to make a string. My father helped me by uploading this video to his channel.

Continue stringing to the required length or till you finish all harvested flowers, whichever is comfortable to you. Once you finish, make a knot at the end and trim the extra thread.

Our fragrant flower string is ready, use it as you like...