easy peasy kumihimo bracelet tutorial

OK kumihimo has been around for years but it seems to be all the rage right now so... I thought I would combine it with the look of the wrapped and shamballa styles around right now and give you a really easy kumihimo tutorial to follow...complete with a make it yourself disc.

Firstly gather your supplies - carboard (really thick), marker pen, 

ruler and scissors...for disc

   cord- nylon or wax cotton approx 1/ 1.5mm thick

 (you can have a go with any size though, for the pics below

 I have used rattail which is easy as it is so thick)

                                           beads - I have used small 4mm gold beads with a 1.5mm hole

 (your beads must fit onto your cord!!)

Cut out the shape shown below

Cut 8 threads each 75cm long um 2ft ish? 

Knot all together at one end with overhand knot

if you want to make the bracelet shown above leave10cm or so of thread before the knot

poke knot through hole in disc and put threads into the slots as shown below

( I am using two colours to show the rotation - you may wish to experiment with this

on your first go) 

Just follow the picture instructions below

(as you turn the disc you will need to move the threads across so they have room to slot in)

and repeat and repeat.....

OK confession time the bracelet is really easy but the ending you might find tricky so maybe practice that bit on spare cord I am kind of assuming you might have had a go at shamballa or wrapped bracelets :)

If you are making the bracelet you want about 5cm / 2" of braid before you start to add beads

once you are ready to add beads place one on each top right to bottom right thread OR place on each time you move a thread the first gives a more spaced out look the second is denser.Slide the bead right up to the braid and just continue.

TIP: it can be hard to thread beads onto cord either put some glue onto the tip of the cord and pinch a little to stiffen and stop fraying (PVA, jewellery glue or for the brave superglue - don't stick your fingers to it)

OR for cord that doesn't hold glue (most nylon cords) try wrapping a small piece of sellotape around the end very tightly (like we used to do on shoelaces when the tips came off)

Add beads for about another 5cm / 2" and then go back to just plain braid with no beads for a final 5cm / 2".

What I did now was to wrap wire tightly around the end of the braid and snip off all but two of the ends covering this with wire - however you could add some glue inside the braid on the last few moves and just knot all but two ends and snip off, or sew through the braid at the ends covering the snipped bits with thread, OR get an end cap complete with fastening and just glue the last few moves then snip all ends and glue into the cap. Failing all that get one of those tiny elastic bands for hair and wrap it around tightly, snip all but two ends off and put some glue on to hold it in place.

My fastening is made from macrame - a square knot about an inch of I will try and do a specific tutorial for this as soon as I can but seriously there are loads of tutorials out there for this. This slips through, the square knot is done over the threads from the first end ( so secure this end before you do this in the same way you secured the other end - in order to finish off the end you will have to - carefully- undo the knot you made right at the start!) 

An easier way would be to finish the second end as above and then - you now have 4 threads - treat them as two pairs of threads so one pair coming from the right and one pair coming from the left (your bracelet is curled around now so the two ends face each other) hold the short pair straight and knot the longer pair AROUND the short pair keeping the short threads tight and straight, thats a simple make a loop round it and pass through the loop then repeat four or five times and tie small knots on each of the cords you have been knotting next to the big knot (so they don't pull back through) the big knot should now slide up and down along the short cords)

either way leave about 5-7cm /2-2 1/2" of cord when the bracelet is closed tight and put a bead on and tie a simple knot at the end and snip off.

A different ending would be to use cord crimps and a normal fastening if you really hate knotting

OR if you are into chunky then use four strands doubled over so your first knot that holds them all together leaves a loop just big enough for whatever you are going to fasten to the other end eg button/washer/big bead.

EXperiment!!