The Cottrell adjustable flower loom was made in the early 1960’s (mine is dated 1962) and is an almost exact reproduction of the Bucilla adjustable flower loom from the 1930’s.
They differ only very slightly in spoke shape and size and are used in exactly the same way. (See the article below for details).
The Bucilla adjustable flower loom has straight spokes on the bottom disc and the words “flower loom” and the patent number on the adjustment piece.
The Cottrell flower loom has bent spokes on the bottom disc and does not have a patent number on the adjustment piece.
This style of flower loom is extremely rare and their size means they can be easily lost. Measuring barely over an inch wide and not quite four inches long, their size belies the enormous range of flowers that can be made with them.
By moving the second disc down the shaft eight different sizes of flower can be made from 1 1/2″ to 5″ in diameter. The Bucilla loom makes slightly different sized flowers from 1 1/4″ to 4 1/2″. If you use special winding techniques you can also make an additional larger size than those made in the regular way.
Since the spokes are very close together, different winding styles can be used to make six different shapes and double layer flowers with different sizes of flower. Four of these styles are unique to this style of flower loom, although I have written a dogwood flower tutorial with instructions for making a special pin loom.
| Daisy |  |
Dogwood Flower |  |
| Star |  |
Oval |  |
| Triangle |  |
Square |  |
| Double Layer |  |
These looms are best used with fingering (Australian 4 ply weight) to dk (Australian 8 ply weight) yarns. Thicker yarns can be used but they may be difficult to keep on the spokes.
Download the original instruction sheet for the Cotrell adjustable flower loom.
Copyright Sarah Bradberry, January 10th 2011. All rights reserved.