Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

cortbals — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:50:01 GMT

I have now taken a simple to use idea and made it more challenging by adding chunky beads to the mix by feeding the bead onto all strings and then continuing with the "weaving". It takes longer but the look is really great! I love that I can pre-load the string and take it on trips. We just spent 3,000 miles in the car and I made many strands that I finished when we returned home. Great way to pass the time ... if you don't have problems with getting car sick.

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

cortbals — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:49:48 GMT

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

Barbara V. Stockton — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:19:51 GMT

I'm very new to your website as well as Kumihimo beading. However, I took a class in Kumi beading and completed a bracelet within two hours. I am in love with Kumi beading. BUT - perhaps to quickly I boast of confidence...I made two more bracelets and upon completion I noticed gaps in both of them. My problem is how to retrace my steps & undo the weave until I find the mistakes or must I take the bracelets apart completely.

I realized my mistakes occurred when I paused in the weaving process....I forgot where I left off.

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

Leslie Rogalski — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:06:40 GMT

I LOVE that everyone is trying this in different ways. I know fibers make gorgeous ropes and will try those next. I was feeling wired when I did this one.

And I'm more than happy to share my bloopers. Learning and laughing!

And--see some of you in Santa Fe. I will have to pop into Jill's class, but will be set up at Meet the Teachers night, too. (My class is 5-8 Saturday, seed beads of course.)

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

RobinV@5 — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:50:24 GMT

I love working kumihimo with fine silk threads. It's just such a beautiful process and result. very zen.

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

Heidi. — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:56:03 GMT

And here I swore I would never do anything that even remotely looked like weaving or anything else but this, this I MUST try!

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

BettyB@54 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:38:12 GMT

A note about the comment that it looks like crocheted rope....That's only one available weave. Kumihimo one-at-a-time does look like crocheted rope, but there are many other weaves that give entirely different looks.

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

BettyB@54 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:34:56 GMT

Might I suggest trying it with beads strung on thread first, not wire. It is much easier to undo if you need to. It also gives you a nice supple rope when done correctly. I love Kumihimo, but always do it with the beads strung on thread. There are many lovely braid patterns available, and each rope is unique, depending upon the bead combinations of colors and sizes.

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

shellyscorner — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:20:17 GMT

Leslie, I believe that the mark of a true beader is someone who can laugh at themselves with others about their boo-boos!!

That being said, when the articles first came out in Bead & Button last year about Kumihimo I couldn't find the Kumihimo wheel for less than $15 and it went up from there. Being the tight-wad that I am I REFUSED to pay the price for a little foam wheel! And Leslie, I can't imagine what you paid for a clear acrylic one!! Well, one day last November I was in Hobby Lobby and as I walked by the end of an isle something caught my eye. I went back to look at it and low and behold!!! it was a Kumihimo weave wheel but by another name. I picked it up and looked at the price. I wasn't sure if it was me or the person that priced the thing, but clearly....someone had fallen and bumped their head!! It was a FOUR PACK of looms and some plastic lace with some findings to make four lanyards! ALL FOR $4.99!!! I couldn't believe it! I didn't care if it didn't say Kumihimo on it! It still had all the numbers on it 1 - 32. At first I thought well dang! I don't need four of them. I bought it anyway. I came home started on one bracelet and while I had one project in the works I suddenly had the epiphany that having four of these little wheel looms could NOT POSSIBLY be a bad idea!

If you don't have a Hobby Lobby near you here's the URL to go straight to the product:

shop.hobbylobby.com/.../item.aspx

It worked great and I got a beautiful bracelet out of it! YEAH!!!!!!!

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

MarieG10 — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:50:21 GMT

Leslie,

Thanks for sharing. Your instructions are always right on, but your goofs give me courage to try new things, knowing that boo boos are just part of the process even for the experts. I especially appreciate that you shared that you couldn't start where the problem occurred because you aren't familar with the pattern. I've always felt so frustrated to have a nice piece going and then see a mistake about mid way, but have to pull out the whole thing because I don't really know the pattern yet. So it the same is true for you, I won't get so frustrated with that :-)

And I loved the little black-eyed- pea polymere clay beads you made. I made some hearts not long ago that were melted into fiberfill. It looked like the cocoon of a prehistoric bug. Thankfully, I had my oven out in the sun room with all the doors open to deplete the fumes. What a mess.

I've been trying to steer away from this one for awhile as I have so many new things I am working on learning, but now you've started the fever and I'll have to buy a disk and see if I too can make grape clusters :-) Free project bracelets are just too tempting.

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

dcfog — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:34:35 GMT

I downloaded the PDF for this beautiful project and it only came out partially. The main photo was only 1/3 there, and I think some of the materials list was missing. I have never had this happen before and I have downloaded quite a few. I re-downloaded several times and it came out the same. Did anyone else have this problem?

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

Pepita3 — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:45:04 GMT

I will be doing the kumihimo workshop with Jill Wiseman at Santa Fe Beadfest. I am really looking forward to it as I am a kumihimo virgin:-)

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

DianeU — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:35:53 GMT

The finished results look like beaded crochet but it sounds harder to do. Any advantage or are you just having fun with a new technique?

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

LA_Designs_LoriAnne — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:01:01 GMT

Thanks for the "nudge" to remind me that I have wanted to try Kumihimo in the past, but the initiative to learn the technique I've let fall by the wayside: too many fun and new things to do with beads & wire; too little time!! But thanks to your post, and the accompanying little chuckle from seeing your first attempt (gosh, do I know what that feels like - like practically every time I try a new technique!!), PLUS the new free project, I'm reminded again that I NEED to learn this one -- such neat outcomes! Thanks, Leslie!!

re: Find Your Jewelry-making Mojo with Kumihimo Braiding

gladys cohen — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:23:35 GMT

LOVED THE PRESIDENTS'' LADIES ARTICLE!!! GLMC