How to Make a Toilet Roll French Knitting Loom
French knitting is one of those crafts that seems to have a magical quality about it. You feed yarn into a simple tube, work a few loops with a hook or pin, and out the other end comes a long, coiled rope of knitted cord that can be shaped into coasters, baskets, toys, and so much more. It’s a craft that spans generations — many adults remember it fondly from childhood — and it’s just as captivating today for children and beginners alike.
The best part? You don’t need to buy any equipment to get started. A humble toilet roll cardboard tube, a handful of craft sticks or toothpicks, and some glue are all you need to build your own French knitting loom from scratch. In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to make a toilet roll French knitting loom, how to use it, and what you can create with the cords it produces. Let’s get into it.
What Is French Knitting?
Before we build anything, it’s worth understanding what French knitting actually is. French knitting — also known as spool knitting, corking, or tomboy knitting — is a form of knitting that produces a tube of yarn rather than a flat piece of fabric. The resulting cord is hollow, flexible, and surprisingly strong.
Traditionally, the loom was a wooden spool with nails hammered around the top hole. Yarn was wound around the nails, and a hook was used to lift lower loops over the upper ones, creating a continuous knitted tube that grew out of the bottom of the spool. These spools were sometimes called corkers or knitting nancys.
The toilet roll version works on exactly the same principle. The cardboard tube replaces the spool, and craft sticks, lolly sticks, or strong toothpicks replace the nails. The result is a fully functional, homemade French knitting loom that works just as well as a shop-bought one — and costs almost nothing to make.
What You Will Need
Gathering your materials before you start will make the whole process smooth and enjoyable. Here is everything you’ll need.
For making the loom:
A cardboard toilet roll tube — the thicker and sturdier the better. Toilet paper rolls work well, but a kitchen paper roll cut down to about 10–12 cm in length gives you a sturdier base and more room to work with.
Four craft sticks, also called lolly sticks or popsicle sticks. These are the flat wooden sticks you can buy cheaply at any craft shop. If you don’t have them, wooden toothpicks, skewers cut to size, or thick bamboo barbecue skewers also work well.
Strong craft glue or a hot glue gun. PVA glue will work but takes longer to dry. A hot glue gun speeds things up considerably, though adults should supervise younger crafters when using one.
Scissors or a craft knife for any trimming needed.
A pencil or ruler for marking even spacing.
For knitting:
A ball of yarn. Thicker, chunkier yarn is easier for beginners and children. Double knitting (DK) or aran weight yarn works beautifully. Avoid very thin yarn to start, as it can be fiddly.
A blunt-tipped tapestry needle, a crochet hook, or even a bent bobby pin to use as your knitting hook. This is what you’ll use to lift loops over the sticks.
That’s it. No specialist tools, no expensive supplies, and nothing that requires a trip to a specialist craft shop.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making the Loom
Step 1: Prepare Your Tube
If you’re using a standard toilet paper roll, check that it’s clean and dry. Give it a gentle squeeze to make sure it’s reasonably sturdy. If the tube feels very flimsy, you can reinforce it by wrapping a strip of masking tape around the outside, or by rolling a second tube inside the first.
If you’re using a kitchen paper roll, cut it down to a length of about 10–12 cm. This is easier to hold comfortably and gives you enough depth below the sticks to let your knitted cord fall through without resistance.
Place the tube upright on your work surface with one open end facing up. This top end is where you’ll attach your sticks.
Step 2: Mark the Stick Positions
For a standard four-peg French knitting loom, you’ll be placing four sticks evenly around the top of the tube. Even spacing is important because it affects the tension and shape of your knitted cord.
Use a pencil to lightly mark four points around the rim of the tube, spacing them as evenly as possible. The easiest way to do this is to find the top of the tube, make one mark, then make a mark directly opposite it, and then make two more marks halfway between those — essentially dividing the circle into four equal quarters.
If you want a quick visual guide, place the tube on a piece of paper and trace a circle. Draw two perpendicular lines through the center of the circle, and use where those lines cross the circle’s edge to identify your four points. Transfer those positions to the tube.
Step 3: Attach the Craft Sticks
Now you’ll glue your craft sticks to the inside of the tube so that they stand upright and extend above the rim. This is the most important step, so take your time.
Apply a generous line of glue to the bottom portion of each craft stick — roughly the bottom 3–4 cm. If you’re using a hot glue gun, work quickly but carefully. Press each stick firmly against the inside wall of the tube at one of your marked positions, holding it in place for at least 30 seconds to let the glue grip.
You want each stick to extend above the top rim of the tube by about 2–3 cm. This protruding section is where your yarn will wrap and loop — think of it as your peg. If the sticks extend too far, the yarn has a long stretch to work across; too short and there’s not enough room to lift the loops over. Around 2.5 cm above the rim is the sweet spot.
Repeat with all four sticks, working opposite pairs first (so sticks 1 and 3, then 2 and 4) to help keep the tube balanced while the glue sets.
Once all four sticks are in place, leave the whole thing to dry fully before you start knitting. If you used a hot glue gun, 10–15 minutes should be plenty. If you used PVA, leave it for at least an hour.
Step 4: Reinforce If Needed
Once the glue has dried, give each stick a gentle tug to test the bond. If anything feels loose, apply a little more glue around the base of the stick and leave it to set again. It’s much better to fix this now than to have a stick come away mid-knitting session.
For a sturdier finish, you can wind a rubber band around the outside of the tube just below the rim where the sticks are attached. This adds a little outward pressure that helps keep everything in place.
Your loom is now ready to use.
How to Use Your Toilet Roll French Knitting Loom
Making the loom is just the beginning. Here is a detailed guide to actually knitting with it.
Starting the Knot
Take your ball of yarn and thread the end down through the inside of the tube, leaving a tail of about 10–15 cm hanging out of the bottom. This tail will be woven in when you finish your project.
Hold the tail lightly with one hand (or secure it with a small piece of masking tape at the bottom of the tube) and begin wrapping the working yarn — the yarn coming from the ball — around your pegs.
Casting On
Working clockwise, bring the yarn up and around the first peg. Wrap it around the outside of the peg, then move to the next peg and wrap again. Continue until you have one loop around each of your four pegs.
Go around once more in the same direction, wrapping the yarn above the first set of loops so that now each peg has two loops on it. You’re ready to start knitting.
The Basic Knitting Motion
Using your hook, needle, or bent pin, pick up the bottom loop on your first peg — the one that was placed there first. Carefully lift it up and over the top of the peg and drop it toward the inside of the tube. The loop falls down through the center and hangs in the middle of the tube.
Move to the next peg and do the same — lift the bottom loop over the top of the peg and drop it inside. Repeat on the remaining two pegs.
Now wrap the working yarn around all four pegs again (keeping it above the remaining loops) and repeat the lifting process. You’ll start to see a knitted cord forming and growing down through the tube.
Tips for Even Tension
Keeping your tension consistent is the key to a tidy, even cord. Try not to pull the yarn too tight when wrapping — it should sit snugly around each peg without gripping it. If you wrap too loosely, the loops are hard to control; too tight and they’re difficult to lift.
After every few rows, give the cord a gentle downward tug from the bottom of the tube. This helps the knitting settle and makes it easier to see your work.
Casting Off
When your cord is as long as you need it, it’s time to cast off and secure the end so the knitting doesn’t unravel.
Cut the yarn from the ball, leaving a tail of about 20 cm. Thread this tail onto your tapestry needle. Lift the loop from the first peg off the peg and thread the yarn tail through it. Do the same with each of the remaining three loops, threading the yarn through each one as you remove it from its peg.
Once all four loops are on the yarn tail, pull gently but firmly. The loops will draw together into a small, neat circle that closes the end of the tube. Knot the yarn to secure it, then thread the tail back inside the cord and trim the excess. Repeat this process with the starting tail at the other end.
Ideas for What to Make with French Knitting Cord
Once you’ve got the hang of producing the cord, the fun part begins. Here are some of the many things you can make.
Coasters and mats are perhaps the most popular use for French knitting cord. Simply coil the finished cord into a flat spiral and stitch or glue it in place as you go. Use a thick yarn and a large loom for a chunkier effect.
Friendship bracelets and bangles are lovely and fast. A short length of cord can be formed into a loop and secured at the ends to make a wrist cuff or bangle.
Necklaces and lanyards work beautifully with a smooth, fine yarn. String a pendant or charm onto the cord before closing off one end for a simple DIY necklace.
Baskets and bowls can be made by coiling the cord into a base and then stitching it upward in a spiral to create sides. Using a stiff yarn or stiffening the finished piece with fabric stiffener helps it hold its shape.
Bookmarks are a quick project perfect for children — a short length of cord, knotted at the ends and perhaps decorated with a bead or tassel.
Stuffed toys and snakes are made by filling the cord with toy stuffing as you knit and then shaping and stitching the finished piece into an animal shape. A simple stuffed snake is a perennial favourite with children.
Christmas decorations can be made from cord using metallic or glittery yarn, shaped into wreaths, stars, or spirals.
Adapting the Loom for Different Projects
The basic four-peg toilet roll loom produces a cord of one size, but you can adapt the design to suit different projects.
Using more pegs — six or eight — produces a wider, more substantial cord. To fit more pegs on the tube, simply use a wider tube (a kitchen roll core, or several toilet roll tubes taped firmly end to end) and space the pegs more closely together. You can also use round toothpicks instead of flat craft sticks for a finer cord, though they’re trickier to glue securely.
Using a larger tube — such as a cardboard poster tube — makes it possible to create quite wide knitted circles or even small pouches and bags if you work on a true knitting-in-the-round principle rather than just producing a cord.
Using wire instead of craft sticks creates a more durable loom for heavy use. Bend lengths of thick craft wire into U-shapes, insert them through the tube wall so the top of the U protrudes above the rim, and secure from the inside with hot glue.
Troubleshooting Common Problems
The yarn keeps slipping off the pegs. This is usually a tension issue. Try wrapping the yarn a little more firmly, or making sure you’re bringing the yarn above the existing loops rather than below them.
The cord is uneven or has holes. This tends to happen when you skip a peg by accident, or when the tension varies a lot between rows. Take it slowly, check each peg as you go, and don’t worry — the first few centimeters of anyone’s French knitting often look a bit uneven. It settles quickly.
A stick came loose. Remove any remaining glue, clean the surface, and re-glue with a stronger adhesive. Hot glue guns give a much stronger bond than white craft glue for this application.
The cord is twisting as it comes out of the tube. A small amount of natural twist is normal in French knitting. If it’s excessive, it may be because you’re wrapping the yarn around the pegs in both directions on different rows. Always wrap in the same direction — consistently clockwise or consistently anticlockwise — and the twist should even itself out.
The loops are too tight to lift. You’ve wrapped the yarn too firmly. The yarn should sit around the peg without gripping it. If you can’t lift a loop, try using the tip of a pencil or the blunt end of a skewer to gently ease it upward.
Why Make a Toilet Roll Loom Rather Than Buying One?
This is a fair question, given that ready-made French knitting looms are available quite cheaply. But there are good reasons to make your own.
The process of building the loom is itself a satisfying craft activity, particularly for children. Making your own tools builds problem-solving skills and a sense of pride in what follows.
It’s genuinely free, or nearly so. If you have a toilet roll, some glue, and a few craft sticks, you’re ready to go without spending a penny.
It’s a sustainable choice. Using something that would otherwise go straight into recycling and transforming it into a crafting tool is a small but pleasing step toward reducing waste.
And finally, the homemade loom works just as well as the plastic or wooden alternatives. The cord it produces is indistinguishable from cord made on a bought loom. What matters is the craft, not the cost of the equipment.
Final Thoughts
French knitting is a craft with a lovely, almost meditative quality. Once the motion becomes familiar — wrap, lift, drop, wrap, lift, drop — it becomes something you can do while watching television, sitting in the garden, or sharing time with a child. The toilet roll loom makes it accessible to absolutely everyone, requiring no investment beyond a little time and a few simple materials you almost certainly already have.
Whether you’re making it as a rainy-day activity with children, rediscovering a craft from your own childhood, or looking for a simple introduction to yarn work, the toilet roll French knitting loom delivers all of that and more. Build it in an afternoon, and you might find yourself still knitting long into the evening.
