Braid – Page 4 – unikatissima's

Braid a Bracelet

Somebody wanted to know recently in the German blog how to braid a square bracelet.
I found out, that you can use all three techniques (braiding, Kumihimo, fingerloop):

Picture left: Braid: 8-strand square braid
Picture center: Kumihimo: Kumihimo tutorial – square braid – firkantfletting
Picture right: fingerloop: Tutorial: START HERE! 5-loop braids

Here at unikatissima:
2 Techniques – 1 Cord

Summer Bracelets

Links of entry

These are also some interesting and seemingly quick made braided bracelets ;-)

Links:
Summer bracelets DIY

Here at unikatissima:
Entries with the tag ‘bracelet’
Entries with the tag ‘braid’

I presented several techniques already to make cords but I’d never thought about this simple and yet so cute idea: place yarns side by side and sew together with a zig zag stitch.
Brilliant!
Unfortunately I can’t do this because my sewing machine doesn’t have a zig zag stitch.
I think I will go on with braiding, weaving, knitting and crochet ;-))

Links:
Quick Cords (Schnelle Schnüre) (German)
Google translation to English

Here at unikatissima:
Fingerloop Braiding
Kumihimo
Clothesline Knitting or Filled I-cord
Clothesline Crochet
Entries with the tag ‘cord’

Woven Silver Wire Ring

Links of entry

I find this ring most beautiful, it is braid from five strands of two silver wires each and the beads are attached at the ends.
Simply yet striking.
Is seems that it looks also wonderful if braided from copper wire – there was some copper wire laying around here somewhere…
;-)
By the way the braiding with five strands doesn’t seem to be very difficult.

Links:
Woven Silver Wire Ring (Woven Wire Cluster Ring)
How to Make a Braid Using More Than Three Strands (English with very helpful step-by-step photos)

10 Minute Boa

Links of entry

If you need a boa quickly (with accessories!) the tutorial on how to make a 10 minute boa will be helpful.
Although I never needed a boa quickly up until now ;-))

Originally it is crocheted, but I am sure that you can finger crochet (see Links below) or make a fingerloop braid.

Links:
10 Minute Boa

Concerning finger crochet:
Finger Crochet Jewelry
Crochet a Bracelet With Your Fingers

Here at unikatissima: Fingerloop Braiding

Kumihimo

Links of entry

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:

4 threads of yarn in 2 different colours (e.g. 2 red and 2 yellow) (test it e.g. with 100 cm/39 inches)
Note: in the beginning both threads should be of the same gauge.
cardboard marudai disk (not too thin cardboard)
Note: This is a cardboard disk with a hole in the middle and cuts around.
For the beginning, 36 12-16 cuts are sufficient, later you may need more depending on the number of threads and the pattern.
You can use the marudai picture as template to be cut from cardboard.
a little weight
Note: I use mostly some coins in a little plastic bag.
quite a lot of patience ;-))

(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)

Here are some of my kumihimo cords, made with thin cotton to thick acrylic yarn:

Kumihimo

Kumihimo 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:

Kumihimo 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.