Using Braids made with a Braiding Star Tool

In the last two posts I talked about making and using a braiding star tool to make cording. The question is “what do you do with the cording?”

Cording can be used for friendship bracelets, used with beads for necklaces or bracelets, used in drawstring bags or really anything that needs a cord.

I knew I wanted to use my cording for a drawstring backpack. I cut my lengths of cotton yarn 72 inches long (6 feet) and wrapped the yard around clothes pins with spring action to keep the yard from tangling. You can’t make cording that long without doing something to control the yarn. My finished cord is just about 60 inches long.

I combined two patterns to make the drawstring bag above. One was the DYI Drawstring Bag pattern on the Spoonflower.com blog. The other is the reversible Drawstring Backpack tutorial on SkiptoMyLou.org.

The backpack above is reversible like the Skip to My Lou backpack and I also I used that pattern to create the channel for the cords at the opening of the backpack. But I used the fabric tabs from the Spoonflower Drawstring Bag pattern instead of the grommets suggested in the Skip to My Lou pattern.

I put tabs on both the denim and and floral fabric layers of the bag, so this bag really is reversible. The knots at the bottom tabs will have to be untied and retied when the back in turned inside out. But that should be easy.

I used lightweight denim for one layer of this backpack and lightweight home dec fabric for the other layer. Because of the weight of these two fabrics together, the top of the bag can’t be closed totally tight. When I make another, I will probably use one mid-weight fabric for durability and a lighter fabric on the inside and not have the bag be reversible. The beauty of the two layer bag is that there are no visible seams in the bag, and therefore, no raw or serged edges. Another option would be to use two layers of quilting weight cotton or some ripstop nylon fabric.

Braiding the cords look me a couple weeks of on and off braiding. The bag only took an hour or two to sew! But I love the fact that it is all homemade!

Notice: This blog is not monetized: I do not use affiliate links. When there are links in a post, they are to give credit to another creative person, because I like or have used a product, or to help the reader easily find supplies for a project.

Star Braiding Tools for Making Cords

I recently discovered braiding stars. They are used to braid cords with 7 strands. The braiding stars are very easy to use and make beautiful cords. Children use them to make friendship bracelets, shoe laces or other cords.

I purchased a wooden braiding flower (same tool, variant name) from the Etsy shop, Cranberry Creek Forest. I’ve been using mine to make cording from Sugar ‘n Cream® cotton yarn. It’s a project than can go anywhere and doesn’t require a lot of concentration.

Braiding Flower made by Etsy shop Cranberry Creek Forest (*See note below)

How does the Braiding Star work?

1. Cut 7 pieces of yarn (cotton or wool) or perle cotton at least 1/3 longer than the desired length of the finished cord. (These yarns are available at craft stores. The Perle cotton will be with the embroidery thread).

2. Line up the pieces of yarn and tie an knot in one end.

3. Put the knot through the hole in the braiding star. If you have one, attach a little binder clip to the knot so it doesn’t pull through the hole as you start to braid.

4. Put one strand of the yarn in 7 of the 8 slots in the star. Now you are ready to braid!

5. Line up the empty slot so it faces you.

6. Count two slots to the right of the empty slot. Pick up the yarn from the next slot (the third one) and put it in the empty slot in front of you.

7. Turn the star clockwise, so the new empty slot faces you.

8. Count 2 slots and pick up the yarn in the 3rd slot and put in the slot in front of you. That’s it! Continue until you have the braid you want.

9. Occasionally pull on the braid that is forming on the underside of the star. That helps to tighten the braid.

10. When there is about 1 to 1 1/2 inch of yarn left, take the braid out of the star. Tie the loose ends in a knot to the cord doesn’t ravel out. Trim the ends with scissors so the fringe is straight.

I love my wooden braiding flower but I wanted to make braiding stars myself. I don’t have any woodworking skills, so I’ve been experimenting with other substrates. I’ll share my adventures in the next post!

*The cording I’m making is about 6 feet long. I’ve wound my yarn around clothes pins to keep it from tangling.

Notice: This blog is not monetized: I do not use affiliate links. When there are links in a post, they are to give credit to another creative person, because I like or have used a product, or to help the reader easily find supplies for a project.