How to Use a Curling Coach for Quilling

It’s tool review time! One of my favorite parts of my blog!

I decided to demo a new tool that I have seen around for a while, but I haven’t used in a tutorial before.

I haven’t been able to review quilling tool in a few months and I am excited to share what I learned!

This week, I’m sharing some tips on how to use a curling coach for quilling.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the links below and make a purchase I may receive a small compensation to help me finance this site and keep coming up with awesome tutorials and tips! There’s no cost to you and I only ever include links to companies and products that I trust and work with on a regular basis. 

At first glance, I was a bit confused on how to use the curling coach to make coils.

Mine didn’t come with any instructions.

But after some playing and research, I learned that the first step is to insert your quilling tool into the hole at the top.

Then, add your paper and roll like usual, keeping the coach between your paper and the handle of your tool.

It is a bit easier to use a slotted tool, rather than a needle tool. It’s just a bit too difficult to start the roll on the needle tool with the curling coach in place.

The “gingerbread man” shaped design of the curling coach also allows it to sit on its side as you roll, so you can glue with one hand while holding your slotted tool in the other.

The drawn rings are perfect for double-checking that your coils are the same size.

What I liked the most about the curling coach is that it is really helpful for making large coils.

As anyone who makes really large tight coils often knows, they can get pretty wobbly as they get bigger.

I’ll definitely be grabbing this tool the next time I’m making projects like these succulents and flower pots!

A curling coach also has bigger open holes on the bottom.

These help ensure that your coils are opening evenly.

Place your curling coach on a flat surface and set a coil inside. You’ll want to make sure that the coil is right off your quilling tool, and it hasn’t unrolled yet.

Just like a quilling template on a workboard, this feature is ideal for mass quilling or flower making when you want all your petals to be the exact same size.

Note – for all my fellow Americans, the holes are measured in metric length.

In inches, the top hole is approximately .43″ and the bottom is .63″.

That being said, it did come with 3 quilling tools.

I received a pretty standard slotted tool and an average needle tool, but also a long slotted tool which is a really handy tool and essential for making long cones, like the body of this monarch butterfly.

Here’s a negative – the hole in my curling coach wasn’t centered. That was pretty frustrating.

If I was really depending on using this tool to keep my tight coils the same size, they would all be slightly off.

I didn’t read anything about this in the reviews of my curling coach, so this must just be mine.

All in all, I’m happy that I picked up this inexpensive tool.

Once I figured out how to use a curling coach for quilling, I realized which features I would use often, like stabilizing large tight coils for 3D quilling.

I might not use the large rings to measure my coils, though, because I like to a measure my strips before I start rolling.

Do you have a curling coach? How do you use yours?

If you’re thinking of picking one up, ask me any questions below!

Happy crafting!