Transforming recycled rope into decorative decor
By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
What do you do when you find yourself stuck inside during a long, cold winter? Well, Cori Fyke, who lives on a mixed farming/cattle operation south of Lemsford, Sask. decided to use her free time to get creative, and her small business venture - Rustic Ropes, was the result.
The idea for her venture came as the result of seeing a couple of other individuals in Western Canada constructing decorative pieces out of repurposed rope. “I talked to one of the ladies, and she told me how she did it. It was just a learning curve from then on,” Cori said. “I looked at pictures and learned how to do it by trial and error, with quite a number of burnt fingers.”
In January of 2021, Cori turned her boredom into a home business venture, but first, she had to find some rope to work with. “Rope is difficult to get; you have to know the right people,” she explained. Since new rope is too expensive to use for these decorative projects, Cori looks for used rope. “I guess I’m recycling,” she added.
She buys rope from cowboys who compete in rodeos and from auction marts. “Black is burnt into the rope from being wrapped around the horn of the saddle,” she said, which adds a decorative look to her pieces. However, there’s much work to be done before the rope is ready to be crafted into a unique creation.
Cori explained that there are different kinds of rope, ranging from soft to hard. She begins by boiling the rope, soaking it in a tub with laundry detergent and borax for 24 hours, and then washing it in the washing machine.
Dyeing the rope is the next step. “White rope is hard to come by, and dyeing the rope can be hit and miss,” Cori said and explained that the rope doesn’t necessarily come out the colour you anticipated, so there is much experimenting involved.
“The process is not as easy as I figured. The best way that seems to work is to simmer the rope until all the wax has melted off, then exchange the waxy soapy water for clean water. Then I bring the clean water to 181 degrees F before adding the dye, mixing, and adding the rope. Some rope dyes within ten minutes and others take hours.” After the dyeing is done, she puts the rope in a warm place to dry for a few hours.
Once the rope is dry, Cori melts all the way around the rope with a soldering iron. “That’s where the burnt fingers begin,” Cori explained. It takes Cori between two to three hours to create one decorative item. After she had completed a dozen or so items, Cori started a group page on social media, and people began to message her, requesting different items. Although making the shape people want isn’t a problem, there’s no guarantee the colour will be exactly as requested, Cori explained.
Cori does this work in her basement. “If it’s a good week, I can make an item a day, depending on what we’re doing at the ranch,” she said. “We’re busy people. We feed cows every day, so we’re up doing that every morning.”
“I enjoy doing it,” Cori said. “Everybody who has purchased items has been pleased with them.” Cori’s creations are not only sturdy and decorative, but beautiful as well. One satisfied customer asked Cori if she would help out with a fundraiser auction in one of the local villages, so Cori donated an item to the auction.
Life on the farm will soon become busy with calving, branding and other jobs that need to be done, so Cori will have less time to spend on her RustIc Ropes creations. But whenever she has free time, you can be sure she will be back in her basement making more beautiful rope decor.
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Cori Fyke working on a rope creation.
