Folk School

Making and Balancing a Straw Crown

Days three through five: look at old Dalarna crowns, then make their parts: a straw roof in one or two tiers, diamonds of straw on a cross, threaded straw garlands with cloth squares, plaited rings, paper flowers and stars, and wool tassels. Sketch your own crown, assemble it, and balance it until it hangs level and turns.

  • 3 min
  • 6 steps
  • 2 questions
  • Lesson 168 of 204

In this lesson

  1. The old crowns
  2. Make the parts
  3. The roof
  4. Design
  5. Assemble and balance
  6. Try it

The old crowns

Dalarnas museum’s crowns show what to make:

  • Mockfjärd: an octagonal roof in two storeys, hangers of cross-set straw panels in four sections, plaited straw rings, and pieces of paper; about 30 cm high and 37 across 1.
  • DM 29009: a roof with a smaller roof beneath trimmed with sewn-on cloth; from the corners hang diamonds and threaded straw pieces with cloth patches between them, and twisted straw wreaths at the bottom; 22 cm high and 40 wide 2.
  • Lekaryd, Småland: straws 9 to 19 cm long threaded on linen thread with a red wool tassel at every junction 3.

The Orsa bride’s crown of 1848 had silk tassels in every corner and a large multicolored silk tassel at the bottom 4. Sätergläntan’s class asks students to bring cloth scraps, ribbon, beads, paper, birch bark, and dried flowers 5.

A straw crown hanging from strings: a wide octagonal roof of straws in two storeys, with many hanging strings of diamond-shaped straw panels, small curved pieces of brown, red, and black paper, and plaited straw rings at the ends.
A straw crown from Mockfjärd, Dalarna: octagonal two-storey roof, straw diamonds, plaited rings, and paper. Credit: Per Eriksson / Dalarnas museum · CC BY 4.0 · Source
A straw crown with a large square roof of straws and a smaller roof beneath it; from its corners hang large straw diamonds of concentric squares on crossed straws, strings of straw pieces with red cloth patches between them, and twisted straw rings at the bottom.
A Dalarna crown with two roofs, diamonds, straw-and-cloth strings, and twisted rings. Credit: Per Eriksson / Dalarnas museum · CC BY 4.0 · Source

Quick check

What hangs at the junctions of the Småland crown copied before 1927?

Make the parts

Keep the straw soaked and wrapped in a damp towel as you work 6.

  • Diamonds. The museum diamonds are concentric squares of straw on a cross of two straws, hung by one point. Tie two straws in a cross, then lay rounds of straw around it, each round tied to the arms, working outward.
  • Garlands. Thread straw lengths on linen thread with a small square of cloth between each pair, as on DM 29009 2.
  • Rings. Plait three straws into a band, or twist a bundle, and bend it into a ring tied shut 1.
  • Paper. Sätergläntan teaches tassels and flowers of paper and cloth 5; cut stars and small flowers from colored paper or card.
  • Tassels. Wind wool around a card, tie at the top, cut the bottom, and wrap a neck. Make one large tassel for the bottom center.
Three panels. One, the roof: an octagonal or square frame of straws, often in two tiers with a smaller roof under the larger one, threaded or bound and sometimes trimmed with sewn-on cloth. Two, the hangers: diamond panels of straw wound around a cross of two straws; threaded straw lengths with small squares of cloth between them; plaited or twisted straw rings; cut paper stars and flowers; wool or silk tassels at the joints. Three, assembly: hang strings of pieces from the corners of the roof and from the lower tier, with a large tassel at the bottom center; hang the crown from a thread while you work and move or add pieces until it hangs level; it turns at the slightest draught, which is why crowns were called oro, unrest.
Roof, hangers, tassels, and balance. Credit: StudyCorner diagram after Dalarnas museum, Sollerö hembygdsförening, and Sätergläntan · CC BY 4.0 · Source

The roof

Thread or bind straws into a square or octagonal frame, with straws running from the center to the corners. For two storeys, make a second, smaller roof and hang it beneath the first, as on the Mockfjärd and DM 29009 crowns 1 2. Sew a strip of cloth over the edge for trim.

Design

Sätergläntan’s class covers composition and spatial sketching before assembly 5. Sketch the crown from the side: roof width, how many strings from each corner and from the lower tier, and how long each hangs. Keep the design symmetrical about the center so it balances, and plan the big tassel at the bottom center.

Assemble and balance

Hang the roof from a thread at eye level and build on it there:

  1. Tie on the corner strings first, opposite pairs together, so it never tips far.
  2. Add the lower tier and its strings.
  3. Add the bottom tassel last.
  4. Watch it hang. Where it dips, shorten that side’s strings or move a heavy piece inward; where it rises, add a tassel.

When it hangs level it will turn at the slightest draught 5.

HALMKRONAN FRÅN LYCKA – Per-Åke Backman Building a straw crown from Lycka in Dalarna (Swedish). Credit: Vägskäl · YouTube standard license · 25:29 · Source

Playback is optional. If the player is unavailable, open the video at its source.

Quick check

How do you get a crown to hang level?

Try it

Hang a single diamond and a single garland from a pencil on two threads and slide them until the pencil balances. That small exercise is the whole skill of balancing a crown.

Lesson complete

Nice work.

1day streak
0/1today's goal
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Sources for this lesson
  1. 1
    Takkrona (DM 18331). Dalarnas museum (DigitaltMuseum). verifiedStraw crown from Mockfjärd: octagonal roof in two storeys; hangers of cross-set straw panels in four sections, plaited straw rings, and pieces of paper; about 300 mm high and 370 mm across. Photo Per Eriksson, CC BY.
  2. 2
    Takkrona (DM 29009). Dalarnas museum (DigitaltMuseum). verifiedStraw crown with a roof and a smaller roof beneath trimmed with sewn-on cloth; diamonds and threaded straw pieces with cloth patches between them hang from the corners; twisted straw wreaths at the bottom; 220 mm high, 400 mm wide. Photo CC BY.
  3. 3
    Halmkrona (M 3995). Kulturparken Småland (DigitaltMuseum). verifiedCopy of an old pattern made before 1927 by Anna Danielsson, Buskahult, Lekaryd: straws 9-19 cm long threaded on linen thread, a red wool tassel at every junction; 250 x 250 x 150 mm.
  4. 4
    Inga-Lill Eliasson. Krona och krans vid bröllop och fest. Sollerö hembygdsförening. verifiedCrowns and wreaths for weddings, funerals, midsummer, and Christmas, of field and forest materials trimmed with leftover cloth, yarn, paper, and glitter; in winter, straw and birch-bark crowns replaced summer garlands. Orsa, 1848: a straw crown the bride made herself hung over her seat, with silk tassels at every corner and a large multicolored silk tassel at the bottom. Cites Bondjers and Danielsson Hamss, Oro, himmel, spindel... takkronor av halm (Dalarnas museum, 1989).
  5. 5
    Halmkronor 2026. Sätergläntan Institutet för slöjd och hantverk. verifiedKarin Edlund, July 6-10, 2026, 8:40-16:00, ending at lunch on day 5, Insjön, Dalarna; base materials about 250 SEK. Straw crowns were made for festivals such as Christmas and weddings and are sometimes called 'oro' because they move at the slightest draught. Rye straw; small samples of geometric forms, plaited panels, garlands, and hangers; tassels and flowers of paper and cloth; then a crown of one's own design: composition, spatial sketching, assembly. All tools, straw, and basic materials provided; bring cloth scraps, ribbon, beads, paper, birch bark, dried flowers. No experience needed.
  6. 6
    Straw FAQ. The Guild of Straw Craftsmen. verifiedHarvest before the grain is fully ripe, at the milky stage, with a little green at the first joint; stand sheaves upright in sun for a couple of days, in at night; store dry and airy in boxes, never plastic. Use straw from the head to the first node; straws taper, so grade by diameter. Rye is excellent but hard to get; modern wheat is thick-walled with a short top section. Soak at least 30 minutes in room-temperature water until the butt bends without cracking; keep in a damp towel.

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