A New Spin on Spirographs

by Jane Swanson (Oct 9, 2007)

Putting a fresh new spin on your crafting can be as convenient as your basement toy closet. Unearthing a toy from the 60's called a Spirograph , created by Denys Fisher in 1965, can help you to form perfect swirly spiral designs as decorative embellishments or backgrounds. If this geometric drawing toy has no childhood reminiscence for you, you can still purchase one. The last re-make appears to have been in 2002. There are also some online sites that allow you to download their software and create these mathematical curves with your computer.

Initially, the Spirograph toy was created as a set of plastic shapes with "teeth-like edges." These shapes engaged with other pieces by rotating inside or outside of each other. There are so many pieces to a basic Spirograph set that can be connected via the teeth and rotated with a pen that I regret to say that over the years I have tossed many of them! My recent examples were created using a Spirotot by Kenner from 1968. [The name "TOT" implies "easy to use."] The Spirotot has a fixed frame with an open circular window where ridged templates can be set into grooves. Each template has over 20 "holes" or designs. A pen inserted into a hole and rotated slowly and patiently will produce the design. Designs can be layered on top of each other by selecting different holes. Disengaging the moving circle from within its fixed frame or failure to rotate is a common complaint when using this toy. Patience and practice eliminate this frustration.

Cardstock in white, black or colors will hold up well when used with writing instruments. Ball-point pens, thin hard markers and Berol Verithin colored pencils that have a harder lead work with most of the ample-sized holes in the Spirotot templates. In earlier basic sets, a smaller pen or even specialty pens might need to be used to fit the holes. This appears to be the case with the most recent re-make as well. Softer colored pencils break easily and some markers will lose their point. This is because there is some force involved in moving the template from groove to groove.

The basic steps:

Slide an 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper into the frame.
Insert chosen template into the window.
Close the frame over the paper and template.
Chose a design for the bottom layer.
Place a pen into a "hole" and trace.
Continue tracing until design is complete.
Choose a different design and pen color and repeat.
Create as many layers as desired.

Snowflakes, flowers, dandelions, balls, cupcakes, cookies, bicycle tires, and ferris wheels are just some of the elements that these images can represent. The three spirographed circles in the layout "Ruffy the clown" were created using Berol Verithin colored pencils on black cardstock and cut out in circles. Their resemblance to juggling balls and circus ferris wheels made them a unique choice for this clown page. Choose these swirly spiral designs for your pages and create your own distinctive look!

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