First attempt at Kumihimo braiding

I received my beginners Kumihimo braiding kit the other day and have created my first braid, in a surprisingly quick amount of time. Once you start braiding it's actually pretty easy and quick to do. It might take a while before I can make pieces like the one in my previous post, but I can't wait to try it with beads and some nicer colours. The colours of threads in the starter kit weren't really to my liking!

Here is the foam disk with the thread set up for braiding. A cord, or group of cords placed in a notch on the braiding board is called a warp. This project was for an 8 warp braid.

This is part way through. It reminds me of French Knitting:

 

On completion it looked like this, before fixing the ends:

The kit included some end caps, a toggle and jump rings, as well as some strong glue. You have to tie some thread around the ends before trimming them. Then you can glue them into the end cap:

Now it's just ready for a pendant to be attached:

Kumihimo

I'm currently toying with the idea of buying this Kumihimo starter kit: http://www.beadsdirect.co.uk/beadsmith-kumihimo-starter-kit/ST121/

Kumihimo is a Japanese form of braiding and looks like it has so many possibilities. Just take a look at some of these gorgeous bracelets I found that were made using this technique:


http://www.teenytbg.bigcartel.com/product/kumihimo-rainbow-promise-bracelet-kit-beads-only

http://magpiesroughnuggets.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/kumihimo-magatama-bead-bracelet-11-0051.html
 
I was considering having a go at Shamballa jewellery but it's everywhere at the moment and I want to do something really different. They look amazing, so I think I'm going to go for it and buy the kit!

More starry stuff!

I recently had a go at making these earrings, based on a project in Linda Jones' 'Making beautiful bead and wire jewellery'. The tutorial used different types of beads from the ones I have used here, but the effect is very similar. The hardest bit is getting the hoops to stay round. I still haven't worked this one out but I think maybe they need hammering to make them harder. I suppose not being perfectly round gives them a more handmade look!