…compilation of tutorials
Once I found a really good idea on how to make inexpensive bobbins from clothespins.
Later I found more very good ideas at Gabriela Marková’s Kumihimo blog, all entries labelled with ‘Equipment’.
You can use those bobbins very good when making you own Kumihimo cord.
Links:
Learn Intarsia Knitting (the clothespin bobbins are mentioned there)
At Gabriela Marková’s Kumihimo blog:
All entries labelled with ‘Equipment’ (English)
I found recently the blog of Gabriela Marková. I’m very glad about, because her (German) book ‘Kumihimo – Flechtkunst aus Japan’ ‘Kumihimo – Flechtkunst aus Japan’ was such a help for me to learn Kumihimo.
In this book she describes not only different braids, but she always encourages the reader to play around, to try new braids, colour combinations and so forth.
It really was the right book for me ;-)
On the photo you see one of my braids, and I’m almost sure, that it is a Edo Yatsu braid ;-)
If you want to give the Edo Yatsu braid a try, check Gabriela Marková’s blog entry.
Links:
Kumihimo blog of Gabriela Marková
Kumihimo Edo Yatsu braid
The link isn’t available no more.
Gabriela Marková’s German book ‘Kumihimo – Flechtkunst aus Japan’ (English)
At Amazon.de:
Gabriela Marková’s German book ‘Kumihimo – Flechtkunst aus Japan’
Kumihimo here at : unikatissima :
Kumihimo beads here at : unikatissima :
Today I’d like to present a beautiful Peyote strap with saw teeth, Sally’s Dragon Strap.
To work a Peyote strap is ‘easy’ (for tutorials see links below), but following this pattern is more difficult and figuring out how to add those saw teeth is great ;-)
Links:
Beaded Dragon Strap
About.com: Beadwork: A website with lots of tutorials about beadwork
Odd Count Flat Peyote Tutorial
Perlenhobby.de: A website with lots of (german) tutorials about beadwork:
click on ‘Anleitungen’ in the sidebar left and there select ‘Flaches Peyote mit ungerader Perlenanzahl’
When working with beads I also wanted to try loom weaving – just to see, how it works ;-)
On the photo you can see both sides of my self-woven bracelet with a self-designed pattern. It was very easy and I like the simple elegance of the pattern.
Because I created the bracelet for me, I didn’t need a closure, I can simply slip the bracelet over my hand.
Links:
Make your own bead loom (with explaining pictures)
Tutorial on Bead Loom Weaving
Another tutorial on Bead Loom Weaving
Another tutorial on Bead Loom Weaving
Two very good pictures (in English text): select in the left sidebar ‘Woven Beadwork’ and scroll down
Two very good pictures (in German text): select in the left sidebar ‘Gewebtes’ and scroll down
Tips to bead weaving (German) at Perlenhobby.de: click on ‘Tipps + Tricks’ in the sidebar left and select there ‘Tipps zum Perlenweben’
This Thursday’s 2nd challenge Beaded Beauties gave me the opportunity to do something I wanted to do for a long time: making Kumihimo beads.
Kumihimo is a Japanese technique to braid beautiful cords, but then: what do I do with the cord? It’s way too beautiful (and too labour-intensive! ;-)) to be used as a shoelace for instance.
I thought that it would make wonderful beads, but usually the braids are finished by wrapping some string around the braid and such beads would be much too long.
Therefore I figured out how to make my own Kumihimo beads.
The technique is far from perfect and I hope that you will try it and give suggestions to enhance the technique.
On the first two photos you see Kumihimo beads I made, the blue ones with cotton thread and the black and white ones with acrylic yarn.
All beads were made with 4 light and 4 dark coloured yarns, but I changed the initial positions on my cardboard Kumihimo disk.
You see at the surrounding seed beads how tiny my Kumihimo beads are.
What to do:
Make your Kumihimo cord. I worked about 20 rounds.
When finished, pull all threads into the bead.
And that’s where the problem lies:
If you make the Kumihimo cord ‘the normal way’ you won’t have enough place into the bead to pull all 16 threads in (8 threads at each side of the bead).
I tried different techniques to ‘reserve’ a place for the thick bunch of threads. The best one I found was making a bundle of 8 threads of the same gauge and using it as ‘filler’, that means, working around them (see third photo).
The Kumihimo beads are from fabric and can be stitched however you want. On this photo I surrounded my Kumihimo bead by seed beads and made a kind of Freeform Peyote Pendant.
Links:
This Thursday’s 2nd challenge Beaded Beauties
unikatissima’s Kumihimo How-to
unikatissima’s Freeform Peyote How-to
Once a found an instruction on how to work an african necklace using needle weaving (also called ‘pin weaving’). It’s a weaving technique that allows to easily create strange shaped fabrics and to incorporate beads into.
Stunning!
I played around with this technique and thought that it could as well be used for little bags, for bracelets and so forth.
Unfortunately it’s a technique that requires a lot patience – which I don’t have. ;-)
I’d love to hear what you think about!
While searching for something else I found a lot of instructions and tips about Crazy Daisies and had to try them immediately ;-)
As you can see on the photo, my attempt on winding daisies on my own daisy loom worked out very well.
I cut the loom (the purple item on the photo) from thick cardboard. I think that the ice cream lid loom is better, because plastic won’t loose its shape so easily, but for just a couple flowers cardboard is fine.
At my first flowers I just made a very simple backstich center, but even so I find those little flowers stunning ;-)
The dark red flower is a daisy with an open center, but I made it in a different way: I didn’t wind the thread to the other side of my selfmade cardboard loom but to another notch (always the fourth notch in place of the sixth, I think. I didn’t write it down, because I don’t like it so much).
I’m planning to make something like the shrug with a lot of flowers and a simple crochet edging.
Eventually. ;-)
Links:
(all in English, but with explaining pictures and photos)
Instructions and tips about Crazy Daisies
For example:
Round ice cream lid daisy loom
Instructions on how to wind daisies
How to make a backstich center daisy
How to make a open center daisy
Simple crochet edging
Stole, Shrug, Handbag and Three Different Shapes on the Crazy Daisy Winder (from 1945)
Once I took a class for Kumihimo braiding – that is a japanese technique for braiding cords.
I really enjoyed the class and the work with the marudai, but I can’t afford to buy one. And although I found a tutorial on how to make your own marudai I prefer now to work with a cardboard disk. I braided for hours during train journeys. I can’t do this with a marudai ;-)
I didn’t find many instructions on how to make kumihimo cords in internet (see those I found below), so I will present my own.
On the photo you see my cardboard marudai and a braid I’m working on. I changed the pattern several times to get a more interesting appearance.
What you need:
(click or scroll to go to the instructions below)
What you do:
(Click on pictures to enlarge)
Fold the threads in half and knot all together at the fold.
You have now 8 threads, connected to each other at one side.
Wedge the threads into the cuts as seen in pic. 1.
The knot is in the middle.
Cling your little weight to the knot of the threads. It provides a certain tension on the threads.
Braid: Move the threads as seen in the pics 2 and 3 to the desired length.
After four moves you must have a ‘real’ cross again, otherwise you made a mistake.
But don’t worry, after a little practise you will see which thread should be moved next.
With 100 cm/39 inches you’re using quite short threads, but they tend to entangle anyhow. Therefore you must pull them free at every round. When the treads become longer, see to it to use some (self-made) bobbins.
The finished braid is a lot shorter than the threads, but I don’t know no factor.
Have fun
(and check the links to find more patterns)
I worked a lot of cords with different yarns in matching colours, included funky yarns and strands of beads and simply braided them together to get a big necklace:
And then I worked several braids with sewing yarn in matching colours, included metallic threads. Every braid has another braiding pattern. They are supposed to be a necklace, but up until know I haven’t finished it yet.
Cardboard marudai template (click picture to enlarge)
Links:
Wikipedia: English entry for ‘Marudai’
Wikipedia: English entry for ‘Kumihimo’ – German entry for ‘Kumihimo’
Self-made Marudai and bobbins:
Tutorial on how to make your own marudai
At Gabriela Marková’s Kumihimo blog:
Check the entries labelled with ‘Equipment’
Kumihimo braids:
Check Gabriela Marková’s Kumihimo blog
An instruction for a Kumihimo braid with 12 threads (with diagrams)
An instruction for a Kumihimo braid with 8 threads (German) (PDF-file) (with diagrams)
An instruction for a Kumihimo braid with 16 threads (German) (PDF-file) (with diagrams)
Diagrams for Kumihimo software, can be used as pattern (with diagrams)
See also how different your braid looks when changing the order of the threads or of moves (with diagrams)
An interesting pattern (with diagrams)
A pattern with 16 threads (with diagrams)
An instruction similar to mine (English) (PDF-file) (with diagrams)
An instruction for a Kumihimo braid with 12 threads (English) (with diagrams)
An instruction for a Kumihimo braid with 16 threads (English) (with diagrams)
An instruction for a Kumihimo braid with 8 threads (English) (with diagrams)
Linklists about Kumihimo:
Squidoo
Shelly Gillmann’s Kumihimo Links
Inspired by two wonderful items, the Bead & Wire Heart at The Bead Bugle and the Bead Godesses from Ronda Kivett at the Autumn 2003 Issue of ARTitude Zine I did deliberately my vase from the photo.
I feel that I was a little too cautious, but I like it already.
Next time I want to get nearer to those shining examples I had.
Links:
Bead & Wire Heart at The Bead Bugle
Bead Godesses from Ronda Kivett at the Autumn 2003 Issue of ARTitude Zine
Sometimes you need some cord and one fun and fast way to make one is fingerloop braiding (for tutorials see Links below).
It is a medieval technique and I used it several times with good results.
On the photo you see two of my self-made cords.
The most difficult part is for me to get the cord evenly, because you must adapt to the loops become shorter while working.
But it is only a question of practising ;-)
Links:
Fingerloop.org:
Basic Braiding Instructions
Phiala’s String Page:
Basic Braiding Instructions
Fingerloop braiding for two or more people
The Tudor Costume Page:
Making Finger Braids (many explaining photos)
Hochmittelalter Infoseite:
Fingerloop Braiding (German, very good illustrations)
