Kumihimo and other Braiding
Please scroll down to Instruction to see information on loop braiding, backstrap weaving, sprang and fingerweaving.
A picture is worth a thousand words, please enjoy these Japanese language videos.
| The Braid Making Process
| An excellent site with some written English and Japanese video showing thread preparation, dyeing, braiding, finishing the braids and sericulture. Do put the sound on even if you don't understand the Japanese, to hear the sounds of the work being done. |
| Judy Chapman's List of Things to do with Tabletwoven Bands
| A list of things to do with Tabletwoven Bands is just as interesting to braiders as weavers!!!! Here are 75 suggestions and I think most all of them will work fine with braids too. |
| Karakumi
| Click on the pink rectangles to see karakumi braids as well as other structures.
| Kumihimo production
| Click on number 1 to the left to see photos of different stages of kumihimo production. Number 2 shows dyeing steps, and number 3 shows some braids.
| Naiki-dai
| A hand cranked machine that makes a round hollow braid. Close-up
Michael Hattori has translated the Japanese. You will have to bounce back and forth between this page and the web site but it is worth the trouble.
| Taka Dai braids
| Scroll down the page to see these braids.
| Taka Dai
| Good photos of the taka dai braids.
A Kumhimo Story by Rosalie Neilson
| Read the story here, see how Rosalie's Braid Runner(c) can help create designs, and use the link to view the actual braids.
| The Braid Society is located in the United Kingdom, the Society aims to promote the education and practice of the art and craft of making constructed or embellished braids and narrow bands. Sometimes referred to as "narrow wares" bands and braids can include; looping, braiding, kumihimo, tablet weaving, inkle, lucet, ply-splitting, finger weaving, and sprang. Don't live in the neighborhood? Don't let that stop you from joining, The Braid Society now offers a "Long Haul" membership, click here for details.
| Kumi2
| Send a message that you would like to join this Kumihimo e-mail group.
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Kumihimo Galleries
The artwork in this Gallery is presented for inspiration. Exact reproduction for any commercial use violates the spirit of this site. Please obtain permission from the artist should you wish to display an item based on their work.
- Gallery 1 Works by Makiko Tada and her mother Aiko Sakai.
- Gallery 2 A lovely marudai made for Louisa Chadwick by her husband Tom.
- Gallery 3 Rachel Hardy from Holland shares her kumihimo necklaces and in Gallery 3a her takadai samples, click on "More" at the bottom of the page.
- Gallery 4 Carol Goodwin's (USA) kumhimo features beads.
- Gallery 5 Giovanna Imperia (USA), a beader discovers kumihimo, see her 2003 work in Gallery 5b, click on "More" at the bottom of the page .
- San Francisco Exhibit and Workshop April 2002 in San Francisco
- Gallery 6 Jennifer Reed (USA), a bracelet of horse hair.
- Gallery 7 Theresa Steeper (USA), a new braider shares her first takadai braids.
- Gallery 8 Kim Starbard (USA) has been making lovely neckpieces from silk and beads.
- Gallery 9 Warren Felton (USA) has been exploring Itsukushima, which is an interlinked braid, made of three separate braids linked to make one textile.
- Gallery 10 Todd Rich (USA) used embroidery cotton for his braids.
- Gallery 11 Michael Hattori (USA) - Silk and Biron braids.
- Gallery 12 Richard Sutherland (USA) - Wide braids made on the takadai!
- Gallery 13 Rodrick Owen (England) - Dorothy's Jungle Shoes (takadai)
- Gallery 14 Makiko Tada (Japan) - Click on Gallery 14a is from Makiko's exhibit, Kyoto, Japan, October 2005.
- Gallery 15 Jennie Parry (England) - Sculptural braids (takadai)
- Gallery 16 Jan Buday (USA) - Braids for lampworked beads and braided flowers with lampworked centers.
- Gallery 17 Luca Gallo (Italy) - Sageo (takadai)
- Gallery 18 Roz Potter (USA) - silk bookmarks made on a Kumihimo Plate
- Gallery 19 Noné Redmond (USA) - silk Karakumidai braids
- Gallery 20 Aaron Ionta (USA) - Marudai braids with contemporary yarns
- Gallery 21 Marina del Bruyere - (Belgium) - Marina uses her kumihimo braids with her beautiful embroidery. She has added kumihimo flowers and braids from her takadai.
- Gallery 22 Tracy Alfaro - (USA) - Tracy has been making lampworked beads to go with hand painted ribbon braids.
- Gallery 23 Denise Prattson - (USA) - Denise uses the kumihimo disk and unusal yarns for her braids.
- Gallery 24 Michelle Beauvais - (Canada) - Beautiful, colorful Assomption braids.
- Gallery 25 Leigh Morris - (New Zealand) - Sculptural Kumihimo Bracelets and Necklaces.
- Gallery 26 Barb Volk - (USA) - Natural and dyed horsehair jewelry. Beads used as focals and for lovely finishes at the clasp.
- Gallery 27 Anita Clark - (USA) - Anita has been developing her braids on the marudai using horsehair and making lovely bracelets.
- Gallery 28 Nora Rogers - (USA) - Braided Tapestries
- Gallery 29 Helen Vonow - (Australia) - Braided and Felted
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Instruction - Kumihimo
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Kumihimo Workshops and Teachers This page lists current classes on kumihimo and teachers worldwide.
Instruction - Loop Braiding
- Loop Braiding Ingrid Crickmore write excellent instructions on this wonderful form of braiding.
- Fingerloop Braids from the web site "Fingerloop braids are braids woven using loops (or "bowes") of string on your fingers. Fingerloop braiding reached a high point in Medieval Europe and England between 1200 and 1600 CE. This braiding technique still survives today in isolated areas of Europe, the Middle East, South America and Japan."
- Fifteenth-Century Fingerlooped Braid Reproductions Carolyn Priest-Dorman is sharing her set of scanned samples based on the single-worker braid instructions in Harleian 2320, article 4, "Directions for Making Many Sorts of Laces," a fifteenth-century instructional manuscript.
- Masako Kinoshita's Home Page Masako specializes in the Japanese braiding techniques of Kumihimo, using a stand and bobbins, and Kute-uchi, an archaic version that predates the stand-and-bobbin method.
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Instruction - Backstrap Weaving
- Laverne Waddington's blog covers Backstrap Weaving as well as other simple looms used in South America, her experience learning to weave with indigenous weavers from various cultures and countries. She also has excellent instruction on braiding including Andean braids. There are tutorials with step-by-step photos and videos as well.
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Instruction - Sprang
- Carol James Known for her sash braiding, Carol has written a book titled Sprang Unsprung.
- Blue Swan This website has a very nice sprang tutorial, Blue has really learned to manipulate this technique, making some wonderful sweaters.
- Phiala's String Pages Tablet weaving, sprang, braiding, and other fiber arts.
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Instruction - Fingerweaving
- Carol James Author of Fingerweaving Un-tangled.
- Laverne Waddington offers instruction on braiding including Andean braids. Learn to make them as the Andean's do in your hand!
- Franco's Fiber Adventure Franco's adventures in the fiber arts includes a Fingerweaving Tutorial.
- Phiala's String Pages Tablet weaving, sprang, braiding, and other fiber arts.
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Sources
- This list, Resources for Tablet Weavers - 2011 though originally put together for tablet weavers has many sources of threads and yarns that are good for braiders too.
- Artisan Craft Books For books in Australia.
- BraidersHand Makers of quality Japanese style braiding looms: marudai, takadai, and tama (bobbins), kumihimo disks and plates, books, kumihimo silk and Biron (rayon) threads.
- Carey Company Jacqui Carey's website, books, threads, equipment. In England.
- Edna Gibson E-mail Edna for her Book and Equipment list with a large selection on Japanese braiding technques.
- Kumihimo Book List
- Makiko Tada's Books You will find photos of the covers of Makiko's books to help you identify the ones you are interested in.
- The Orion's Plumage web site the place to buy Rosalie Neilson's Braid Runner (software for kumihimo) and her book The Thirty-Seven Interlacements of Hira Kara Gumi.
- Need thread for beads and braids? Marion Jewels in Fiber carries the whole line of C-lon Cord, her website has a lot of good information about this cord.
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Braider's Websites
- Adrienne Gaskell creates amazing braids with beads!
- Dick Lindell Dick's braids are colorful and tied into knots.
- Karei - Gorgeous Splendor Jan Buday is a lampwork bead maker as well as a braider, check her site to see how beautiful beads look on kumihimo braids.
- Maryse Levenson's web site.
- Giovanna Imperia Giovanna has explored a variety of media with textures and visual and tactile qualities. She works with fiber, wire, plastic and metal.
- Yayoi Miura studied for seven years at Hakubi Kumihimo School, Tokyo. In 1991 Miura-san and her friends braided the Hyakunin-isshu (poems) into one hundred silk cords. She has published three books of her patterns for takadai braids and continues to teach the craft.
- Juliana L. Raskin-Schmitz
Juliana studied under Sensei Hoko Tokoro for many years, enjoy her website.
- Makiko Tada
Enjoy Makiko's beautiful braids, this is a website under contruction so check back frequently!
- RodrickOwen.com
Here is Rodrick Owen's web site, check the Artwork link for some fantastic taka dai belts!
- Masako Kinoshita's Home Page
Masako specializes in the Japanese braiding techniques of Kumihimo, using a stand and bobbins, and Kute-uchi, an archaic version that predates the stand-and-bobbin method.
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Spinning Jenny's Braids Page
Jenny Kosarew's home page covers kumihimo as well as other narrow wares.
- Bill Shetler's Samurai armor
Bill has a work in progress that is a must see. He is making a suit of Japanese samurai armor including yards and yards of kumihimo
- Chinese Knotting
When you get to this site click on knotting and learn to make beautiful Chinese knots with your braids.
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Inkle Weaving
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Ply-Splitting
Find out what other ply-splitters are doing and share you ideas at the Plysplit Group e-list.
| A Miracle of Invention Peter Collingwood discusses ply-split braiding from Embroidery Magazine.
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| Ply-Split Galleries
The artwork in this Gallery is presented for inspiration. Exact reproduction for any commercial use violates the spirit of this site. Please obtain permission from the artist should you wish to display an item based on their work.
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- Gallery 1 Ann Norman's ply-splitting using her hand made rope.
- Gallery 2 Vessels by Ann Norman (England)
- Gallery 3 More Vessels by Ann Norman (England)
- Gallery 4 Flat Works by Ann Norman (England)
- Gallery 4a Yet More Vessels by Ann Norman (England)
- Gallery 5 Ply-Split by Rachel Hardy (The Netherlands)
- Gallery 6 Ply-Split by Peter Collingwood (England)
- Gallery 7 Ply-Split by Erroll Nelson Pires (India)
- Gallery 8 Ply-Split by Jim Pochert (USA)
- Gallery 9 Ply-Split by Lynn Adams (USA)
- Gallery10 Ply-Split by Maggie Machado (USA)
- Katoko Kitade Katoko's web site is in Japanese but language is no barrier when it comes to this beautiful ply-splitting.
- Gallery 11 Ply-Split 2001 by Jim Pochert (USA)
- Gallery 12 Ply-Split by Linda Hendrickson (USA)
- Take this link to Linda Hendrickson's web site to see "Expanding the Girths"
Photos from "Expanding the Girths" the exhibition of traditional and contemporary ply-split braiding held in England, September 2001. These works are extraordinary!
- Gallery 13 Ann Norman 2002 (England)
- Gallery 14 Ply-Split 2002 by Jim Pochert (USA)
- Gallery 15 Harryyyy (Pakistan)
- Gallery 16 Y.N. Vivekananda (India)
- Gallery 17 Pallavi Varia (India)
- Gallery 18 Sourendu Das (India)
- Gallery 19 Elizabeth Fox (USA)
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Peter Collingwood -- Weaving Words for the Web-Weary
| Mystery Loom
| A loom from a painting made around 1460 is intriguing, maybe you can help figure out how it works!
| Peter visits an old belting factory in Sweden
| This is a delighful report on Peter's visit to the The Göteberg Remfabrik belting factory which is being restored by volunteers.
Peter tells us about the Macrogauze woven of stainless steel yarn that is located in Kiryu, Japan.
The hangings were installed on May 11, 1997 in Kiryu, Japan. (see the photos.)
| Weaving Humour by Peter Collingwood
| Peter Collingwood writes on weaving that will leave you chuckling to the end.
| Belts
| Tablet woven double-faced band by Peter.
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Weaving Links
Organizations
- Handweaving.net: A Weaving Draft Archive. A website for weavers to find and exchange weaving drafts.
- Anne Blinks Textile Study Collection When Anne Blinks died at the age of 92 in 1995, she left many, many textiles she had created or collected over the years. Of these, there was a large group of pieces representing Anne's special interests, consisting of samples, replicas and some finished pieces. These became the basis for a project of the Santa Cruz Handweavers' Guild to make them available to other weavers and guilds.
- Conference of Northern California Handweavers Inc. Lots of information about weaving in Northern California. Even if you don't ever expect to be there this is a great site to wander around in.
- Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild Atlanta, Georgia This is an excellent site describing all facets of the Guild.
- Complex Weavers CW "Promotes complex weaving through education, information, and technology related to complex weave structures...Encourages members to discover and develop their own unique and creative ideas" and much more!.
- Black Sheep Handweavers Guild This is an excellent guild web site. Check their extensive collection of guilds.
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- Handweavers Guild of America (HGA) The web page of our national guild and publisher of Spindle Shuttle & Dyepot and their Links to related Guilds, Businesses and Organizations. You can find links for the following; Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot Advertisers, Conferences, Conventions and Meetings, Educational Programs, Guilds and Organizations, Merchants, Museums and Galleries, and Resources.
- Handweavers Guild of America Guild Link Looking for a guild in your area? Here's the list!
- Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Ontario Handweavers offers educational programs, regional seminars,
biennial conferences, special events, and other services available to members.
- Pacific Textile Arts: an organization dedicated to all aspects of the study and fabrication of textiles.
- Pinellas Weavers' Guild The Pinellas Weavers' Guild in Florida was formed in 1946 for the purpose of continuing the art of handweaving and other fiber arts, and preserving them for future generations.
- WARP Weave A Real Peace, the organization that seeks to facilitate self-empowerment and betterment of women and communities-in-need through textile arts.
- WeaveZine and WeaveCast an on-line magazine and a podcast for handweavers all in one place.
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Commercial Links
- Selvedge Maganize Selvedge, published in England, covers fine textiles in every context: fine art, interiors, fashion, travel and shopping. It is a unique magazine.
- Curious Creek Fibers Fine Handpainted Yarns and Spinning Fibers; learn about the technique that Curious Creek uses to color their yarn, then click on Retailers to buy it!
- Des Pawson's Knot Craft Why knot (couldn't help myself!) use your kumihimo braids for interesting knots? This new book is illustrated by Ann Norman, see her ply-splitting below.
- Michael Hattori Photography Kumihimo braider, Michael Hattori is also a fine photographer.
- Interweave Press Publishers of Handwoven Magazine and books on weaving!
- HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, Student Edition, 5th Edition by Elizabeth Castro. If you are thinking about creating your own website please consider this book. It is the clearest and most helpful book I have seen on the subject and should make your task quite enjoyable.
- nuno Cutting edge weaving in Japan plus a marvelous website!
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Websites
- Buying or Selling Equipment, Yarns, Books? Here are some websites which offer sellers a free listing of their items and buyers the chance to browse for that perfect item.
- The Fiber Equipment and Barter Page
- Spinner's and Weaver's Housecleaning Pages
- San Diego Creative Weavers' Guild Barter Center.
- Horse Hair Designs Horse hair hitching is alive and well in Germany!! Beautiful work!
- Certificate Of Excellence in Handspinning This is an excellent website documenting Gwen Powell's 1991 COE in Handspinning (from the Handweaver's Guild of America).
- The Loomy Bin
This site provides design tools for hand weavers. These tools are meant to be used over the Internet, there is no need to install them on your computer. To run the tools, your computer needs to have a Java enabled browser. The tools are for Loom Weaving and Card Weaving.
- Fancy Fibers Very interesting website, look at Mary's projects and then follow the link to see excellent photos of the weaving process.
- Ruthe Stowe Ruthe Stowe's home page is a gateway to many wonderful weaver's sites.
- Fiber Home Ron Parker's website, check it out!
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Weaving in Washington and California
Guilds and Local Websites - Northwest Washington
- ANWG Association of North West Weavers Guilds, the place to find guilds in the Northwest and learn about the ANWG Conference.
- Kitsap Weavers' & Spinners Guild meets the second Thursday of the month, check their web site for details.
- Paradise Found Fiber home of Whidbey Island Fabulous Fall Fiber Sale, September 17, 2011, fiber and handwoven and knitted items.
- Seattle Weavers' Guild meets the fourth Thursday of the month, visit their web site for more information.
- Whatcom Weavers meets the second Wednesday of the month September through June in Bellingham Washington.
- Whidbey Weavers Guild A Community of Fiber Artists meets the first Thursday of the month September through June (except January) and holds a guild Sale the first weekend in November.
- Whidbey Open Studio Tour, October 8 & 9, 2011 on Whidbey Island, Washington.
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Guilds and Local Websites - California
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Comments or questions?
Updated August 27, 2011
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