Hearts Leather Lace Bracelet Made on the Kumihimo Square Disk

I have recently got hooked on kumihimo - the Japanese art of braiding. Here we try out a flat braid made with round leather lace. The braiding isn't difficult.

Kumihimo square disk - buy one or follow my instructable to make your own.

3mm leather lace in two colours (I'm using red and black) - 300cm (120 inches) black and 100cm (40 inches) red

Tape

Glue (E6000 or similar)

Ruler

Nylon Thread

Black permanent marker pen

9 inches 1mm / 18 gauge silver coated copper wire

Wire cutters

Round nose pliers

Fid

120cm / 4 feet of faux leather lace - black

For this instructable you need 8 lengths of 3mm leather lace each 50cm (20 inches) long.

Cut 2 red and 6 black

Gather the ends of your leather lace and either tape or bind with thread. I found that the tape didn't stick very well and I needed some glue to stop the ends coming loose.

Push the ends through the centre of the kumihimo plate and lay out the laces in the pattern shown.

Red in slots E and e

Black in slots 5,6,15,16,G and g

Take the leather lace from 5 and move it to h, then take the leather lace from 6 and move it to H

Be careful you don't mix up your order or your lower and upper case letters)

Now take the lace from 16 and put it in D. Then take the lace from 15 and put it in d.

Now take lace from E and move it to 15. Then take lace from e and move it to 16.

Take the lace from G and move to 5, then take the lace from g and move to 6.

Now reposition your cords.

D to E

H to G

d to e

h to g

And we're back at the starting position again

Now it's just a case of repeating the steps.

Here is a condensed form of moves:

5 to h then 6 to H

16 to D then 15 to d

E to 15 then e to 16

G to 5 then g to 6

Reposition D to E, H to G, d to e, h to g

Just keep repeating and you will see your braid forming at the back of the disk.

Stop when you have run out of cord or have the required length for your bracelet.

Hold tight to your cords when removing from the kumihimo disk and bind the cord ends to stop them coming unravelled. I found nylon thread works well.

Measure how long you want your bracelet to be. Mine is going to be 7.5 inches (19.5cm) plus the fastenings

Bind your woven cords using nylon thread, just behind where you are going to cut. Also add glue to hold it (E6000 or similar)

Leave to dry before cutting.

Cut the ends.

Colour the cut ends using a permanent marker pen

I was hoping to just buy some clasps for finishing off this bracelet, but I've struggled to find anything that fits, so not one to accept defeat I've decided to make my own findings.

I made a toggle clasp.

For the loop part you will need 4 inches of 1mm / 18 gauge silver coated copper wire. Start from the middle and form the loop - I'm using the top of a glue bottle to help get it circular. Now made a twist and fold the ends in, so you have the shape in the picture. If the ends are too long snip off the excess.

For the bar part you will need 5 inches of wire. Make a bend at 2 inches and fold, then make a bend at 3 inches and fold to make the T bar. Where the wires cross in the centre, fold out at 90 degrees, make a double twist, and then fold the ends in like you did for the loop. You should be able to follow the picture.

Flatten your findings a little using a hammer and anvil.

Thread 2 feet (60cm) of faux leather lace onto a fid.

Sew the faux leather lace through your bracelet laces (see 1st photo)

Now loop the lace vertically over the end of your bracelet and through your clasp. (see photo 2)

Keep lacing vertically going through different parts of your bracelet structure until the clasp is firmly attached (photo 3)

Now bind the faux lather lace round the end of the bracelet strap (photo 4)

When you reach the top - weave the faux leather lace through the laces going over the top (do this forward and back) (photo 5)

Thread the faux leather lace through all the binding to tuck it in and cut off the end.

Repeat for the other side of your bracelet.

And here we have both ends complete

Now your hearts bracelet is ready to wear. Enjoy!