Every now and then I’m cruising through a craft store and something will catch my eye. (Or my daughter’s eye.) I’m not sure which one of us saw this product first- me or her- but I knew that we were going to be buying it and bringing it home to try out.
The kit we bought was for bracelets, and it included the spinning loom, tray, and thread.
Here’s how it’s described on the website:
Design your own friendship bracelets then make them in minutes with the Loopdedoo™ spinning loom. It’s fast, easy and fun. Just wrap your threads around the Loopdedoo device, turn the knob, guide the thread and minutes later you’re done! You can even make necklaces, anklets, belts and more. There’s no pattern to follow so each accessory is completely different and unique, just like you and your friends. You can use as many threads and color combinations as you like and you can make them thick, thin or anywhere in between. The design possibilities are endless, so let your creativity be your guide.
Make fab and funky twisted bracelets in minutes. Or make them with friends for hours.
The perfect gift for tweens and teens (ages 8+).Comes with 1 Loopdedoo spinning tool (complete with push-out drawer for storing your gear), 18 different colored skeins of embroidery thread and detailed instructions.
The unit is pretty long, over 13 inches end to end. This first photo shows it with the storage tray removed.
This is Picture #3. Make a mental note, I’ll be referring to it later.
Here you can see the markings on the base (in US inches) so you can size your bracelet.
And this is the notch where you can string threads through to make different wraps.
Now, when I first opened this tool up, I made a couple of bracelets with the enclosed embroidery floss. I followed the inclosed instructions the best I could, but I found that I really needed the video tutorial for threading the machine and setting it up. (Maybe I’m just old!) But in any event, those videos are pretty darn handy. (You can find all of them here.)
And here are my bracelets from my first attempt.
The second go-round I decided to try some different materials- here I’m using twine for the core (because who is really going to see that anyway) and some nylon and metallic threads.
And this time I remembered to take some photos!
In this first photo, I’m showing you what happens if you fail to make a secure looping knot. It was a mess! AND I think I made my looping strands way too long. I lost the paper instructions and was working from memory and instinct. Note- KEEP THOSE INSTRUCTIONS HANDY.
And here I’m showing you fail #2. I was attempting the “color block” technique where your pop your threads down into the notch I showed you in Picture 3. If you don’t hold those tight, they will wind back up in the gears. This is not enough to break the LoopDeDoo, but it does make a horrible sound it becomes difficult to crank. Luckily, both times I jammed up the gears I just reversed the direction and straightened it all out. And surprisingly, it did not break!
But about that gear action- it’s rough, friends. Like the ball bearings inside might be made of squares. I know that this is made cheaply to keep the cost down, but I would gladly pay a little more for a better gear action!
Putting that aside, the tool did work well. I can’t imagine the time it would take to do these bracelets if you had to wrap around and around- the spinning thing makes short work of it and it’s kind of genius.
First set- embroidery flosses.
Second set= nylon threads and cording.
Second Set- Nylon threads, cording. (CLOSE UP)
So here’s the deal- I like the tool just fine. And while it’s marketed to teens, I think adult crafters will like it too. The only drawback is that there isn’t a “professional” way to finish them off right now- the instructions call for tying the bracelet on with a knot. And the way you create it isn’t very conducive to using anything other than a glue-in clasp.
As for the kiddos, with a little bit of help and practice, they’ll have a ball! And a great holiday gift idea, too!
If you’d like to purchase the LoopDeDoo, I hope you’ll support CTD by using our affiliate link:
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I saw these several weeks ago at Michaels and thought the results looked rather neat. I’m hoping that my son doesn’t want one though- we’re still knee-deep in loom bands. LOL!
I am so glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t figure it out from the enclosed directions. Thanks for the link to the videos.
I totally agree that the cranking action is rough. I’d also like to see a handle on it for even easier cranking. You know for kids (ahem) who may have trouble with that knob. 🙂
This will be the next thing after the loom bands. And I think these bracelets will last longer. Also more color choices and combinations.