Braiding Books

Kumihimo

200 Braids to Twist, Knot, Loop or Weave - $47.00
Jacqui Carey. Hundreds of sumptuous braided designs are arranged by structure, from twisted and knotted pieces to more elaborate looped and woven examples. Each braid features a beautiful close-up photograph, materials list, step-by-step instructions, and easy-to-follow color illustrations to guide crafters along. Each technique is explored indepth, followed by tips on starting and finishing braids and advice for incorporating braids into other textile projects. 256pp. Hb.

Beginners Guide to Braiding - $29.00
Jacqui Carey. Traditionally, kumihimo braiding is done on a smooth wooden frame called a marudai. Instructions are included for outfitting a lamp shade frame with a cardboard mirror, and transforming empty film canisters into substitutes for the traditional wooden bobbins. The only other materials you'll need can be improvised from things you'll find around the house. Simple diagrams illustrate the instructions. 64pp. Pb.

Braid: 250 Patterns from Japan, Peru and Beyond - $29.00
Roderick Owen. The ancient and fascinating art of rope braiding, is presented in this marvellously straightforward explanation of the techniques. The book looks at two families of braids: Peruvian braids, traditionally used as slings for hunting or in war; and Japanese braids, known as kumihimo, and shows more than 50 braids. Drawings, beautifully photographed examples, and the author's diagrams give you all you need to explore endless variations of colour and texture. 159pp. Pb.

Braids and Beyond: A Broad Look at Narrow Wares - $26.00
Jacqui Carey. Subjects covered are; Braids, Twisting, Knotting, Knitting, Lucet, Weaving, Tablet or Card Weaving, Kumihimo or Bobbin braiding, Sprang and Ply-Split just to name a few. 56pp. Pb.

Creative Kumihimo - $67.00
Jacqui Carey. The key word to this book is "creative." Clear presentation of the basic information for braiding leads the braider to a new "creative" development. This author presents a braid structure not only in movement diagrams, but also a structure diagram that can be used to develop a colour arrangement and the colour set-up. There are some new 16 bobbin structures and a multitude of variations. Many finishes, bead applique, and colour gallery round out this important braiding book. 100pp. Pb.

Kumihimo: The Essence of Japanese Braiding - $45.00
Aiko Sakai & Makiko Tada. The confluence of spirit and thread defies the complexity of Kumihimo, the traditional Japanese braid. As an object of beauty as well as honour, the braid also has a role in utility and fashion. In this advanced work, braid construction is explored using the instruments for creation, the Marudai, the kakudai, and the ayatakedai by stepped diagrams and basic instructions. 130pp. Pb.

Kumihimo Braiding Board - $21.00
Includes a 6" high density foam Kumihimo disk, some cotton yarn, and instructions. Instructions are in Japanese, but with very clear, instructional charts, there is no problem for non-japanese readers.

.

Lace & Tatting

An Early Lace Workbook - $45.00
Rosemary Shepherd. This book was written for lacemakers, particularly those who have an interest in the techniques, materials, and working methods of the earliest bobbin laces. The author has spent many years studying and researching lace in public and private collections, in Australia and overseas. In the book there are 21 reconstructions of surviving 16th and early 17th century lace, and 9 interpretations of lace in paintings. All have patterns and instructions. Most of the pieces are easy and interesting to work and because of their scale they are more than suitable as modern trimmings. 86pp. Pb.

Bobbin Lace Fantasy Flowers - $18.00
Rosemary Shepherd. Fifteen different three dimensional flower forms with the emphasis on imagination rather than reality, and with the challenge of creating the form from a single flat piece of lace. Some of the shapes are simple, others more complex. Some knowledge of braid lace techniques is desirable, but not essential. For basic bobbin lacemaking skills refer to Introduction to Bobbin Lacemaking. All the flower ideas are simple and bound to suggest other possibilities. Having fun with your lace should be the main aim. 28pp. Sb.

Introduction to Bobbin Lacemaking - $26.00
Rosemary Shepard. This author goes beyond technique and into art. Use this detailed book to teach yourself at the basic level or to use in the schools; work your way through to the more advanced exercises. Patterns are large scale and you can make your own pillow and bobbins with directions here. Instructions and diagrams are quite detailed including how to wind bobbins and making your own prickings. Work 7 braids, 3 edgings, spiders, diamonds, fans, chevrons, scallops. Starting and finishing edges are reviewed and decorative ends are also shown as well as attaching lace. This is an easy-to-understand book. 112pp. Pb.

Mediterranean Knotted Lace - $31.00
Elena Dickson. Knotted lace is one of the oldest forms of making lace and is believed to have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean around 2000 years ago. Also commonly referred to as Armenian Lace, it is also known as Billila, Oya, Palestinian Lace, Nazareth Lace, Smyrna Stitch, and Phoenician Lace. This latest book from Elena Dickson has all new motifs and doily designs and includes all stitch instructions, descriptive diagrams and black and white photographs of finished projects. 144pp. Pb.

The Needle-Made Lace of Reticella - $22.00
Jules & Kaethe Kliot. This addition to Lacis Publications collection of historic needlework editions is a collection of Italian needle-made laces. It has many needle lace motif patterns, many using a prepared braid for parts of the motifs. This book is for the lace enthusiast to reproduce these old needle lace patterns from photos and diagrams. 80pp, Pb.

Needlemade Lace & Net Embroideries - $17.00
Doris Campbell Preston. Unabridged republication of the original 1938 edition. This volume is a classic guide to the single-thread-and-needle styles of lacemaking. Complete instructions and clear stitch diagrams explain how to make both needle-run and needlepoint laces. Tatting and Irish crochet are also treated in separate sections. The history of lace-making and care of lace is covered in some detail. 160pp. Pb.

.

Tablet Weaving

Anna Neuper's Modelbuch: Early Sixteenth-Century Patterns for Weaving Brocaded Bands - $20.00
Nancy Spies. Transcription into modern charts of forty-five patterns for gold brocaded tabletwoven bands. Written by Anna Neuper, a seventy year old num in the St Clare Convent in Nurnburg, Germany, in 1517AD. 56pp. Pb.

Card Weaving - $15.00
Russell E Groff. Make or buy yourself a set of "cards," read this book, and you are ready to have some fun. The author gives a brief history of card weaving and provides clear detailed instructions for preparing a warp, setting up the cards, making a drawdown, and the weaving itself. The book includes drafts and instructions for 53 patterns, each one of which is photographed. Included are a large number of very pretty designs and some novelty ones of Santa Claus, cowboys, pumpkins, and jack-o-lanterns. Pb.

Card Weaving - $32.00
Candace Crockett. Originally published in 1973, this new edition contains more illustrations and more of them in color. The author here presents a complete discussion of card weaving, including its history, the materials needed, the techniques followed, pattern drafting and designing, finishing, and special approaches. Over 250 diagrams and photographs, many in color. Pb.

Ecclesiastical Pomp & Aristocratic Circumstance - $55.00
Nancy Spies. Brocading of precious gold and silver thread in tablet weaving, with essays on the history, reproduction of extant samples, a catalogue of known pieces, and some illustrations of tablet woven fragments. This is for the serious tablet weaver. 314pp. Pb.

Woven Images Unravelled Motifs: Double-faced Tablet-woven Bands From Burma, Tibet and Tunisia - $81.00
Otfried Staudigel. Tablet weavers in many countries, who enjoyed his first book - Tablet Weaving Magic - will welcome this second collection of patterns. The author shows mastery of his craft and writes clear technical explanations, and investigates the significance of the woven images. Embroiderers will also find this book a rich source of new and unusual designs. Written in both German and English. 192pp. Pb.

.

General Braiding

A Manual of Fingerweaving - $24.00
Robert J Austin. Fingerweaving is one of those ancient textile techniques many of us experience as youth in scouts or camp. It is a techniques familiar from native American textile crafts; simple plaiting in very distinctive patterns natural to the technique, bold chevrons and lightning bolts. Clear directions and diagrams will help modern textile crafters study this tradition. Pb.

Creative Bead Weaving - $30.00
Carol Wilcox Wells. Peyote stitch, brick stitch, square stitch, right-angle weave, helix, netting, and chain are all old off-loom techniques, tricky to learn. This addition to beading lore not only has an excellent black & white graphic teaching method, it is chock full of beautiful beaded jewelry and beaded art from many contemporary bead artists, in full color. Pb.

Fingerweaving: Indian Braiding - $11.00
Alta R Turner. Step-by-step directions with clearly diagrammed illustrations for 16 designs will have you making belts, hair ties, collars, and neck-ties, and then creating your own designs once you're familiar with the techniques. 48pp. Pb.

Fingerweaving Basics - $41.00
Gerald Findley. The two beautiful Osage women’s belts pictured on this cover represent a type of textile production that has been practiced by Native Americans for centuries. Fingerweaving requires no sophisticated loom, only the nimble hands of the weaver. These colorful yarn belts combine several of the dozens of techniques expertly described in this book. The author has spent many years studying, reproducing, and teaching the art of fingerweaving, and he shares his expertise through these many pages of illustrations and descriptions. Each technique is simply described, step by step, with a color illustration for each move. What at first might seem like a complicated craft becomes pleasantly clear as he builds the introduction of each technique on the one previously completed. Whether wishing to reproduce the styles and designs of the Native Americans or creating original pieces of your own, Fingerweaving Basics is the easiest-to-follow book that has ever been published dealing with this subject. 144pp. Pb.

Fingerweaving Untangled - $29.00
Carol James. In an easy to understand format is described the fascinating art of finger weaving, particularly that of the traditional sash. Through illustrations and clear explanations, the author makes it relatively simple for the novice to create his or her own heirloom. She brings the reader the required assistance and reassurance to explore their creativity. 64pp. Pb.

Inkle - $66.00
Evelyn Neher. This is one of those legendary books known to many, but available to few. Now this handsome, hard-bound edition is available to narrow band weavers. It is a complete manual for the branch of weaving now known as inkle. Plain weave, color arrangement, various pick-up patterns, double-weaves, and other byways from around the world, are all clearly explained with many charted patterns in a new notation. This how-to section is great, but filling it out is a long section on many regional narrow band devices and methods leading to our contemporary inkle looms. This is a basic textbook, reference book, and a new "old friend" for narrow band weavers. 314pp. Hb.

Inkleweaving - $38.00
Helene Bress. Everything you need to know about inkleweaving. The basics, and many interesting practical variations are described, along with clear pictures. Good finishing techniques, and ways of joining bands to make wider pieces such as pillows, purses, and ponchos. 214pp. Pb.

Lucet Braiding - $21.00
Elaine Fuller. The "lost art" of lucet, uses a wooden tool something like a wishbone. The braids resemble Celtic knots and knitting plaits, and can be made in a variety of thicknesses as well as colour patterns. It can be thought of as cat’s cradle over a big fork. 32pp. Sb.

The Lucette Book - $19.00
Daniel C. Phelps. Herein find the perfect (new) addition to any lucetter's library. A variety of techniques are covered in this book, including different shapes of cords, multiple colors, and the chevron cord. The illustrations are clear and easy to follow. 24pp. Sb.

Manual of Braiding - $57.00
Noemi Speiser. This is a most comprehensive book on braiding. In fact, it is a course of instruction. Starting with the simple three-strand braid, it gradually advances to larger flat fabrics in plain, ribbed and twill interlacements, then to tubular, two-layer and solid braids reaching, finally, such complex forms as have never been dealt with before. Instructions, with accompanying diagrams, demystify the process of making the braids. Profusely illustrated. 148pp plus 15 Plates. Sb.

Old English Patterns Book for Loop Braiding - $69.00
Noemi Speiser. The author has found a collection of loop braiding patterns from the 15th Century and was able to study and describe them. Finding enough people who know the finger dances for these multi-person braids is the challenge for we moderns. There are some truely remarkable braids in here. 133pp. Sb.

Round the Twist: Creative Cordmaking - $14.00
Jacqui Carey. Decorative cordings can add such a rich finishing touch to so many projects. Unfortunately, cording is often expensive, even prohibitive in cost, especially if you need any great length. I think this book has the answer. It gives the know-how for making your own unique cordings, and includes pictures of several samples to show the effects of combining some of the many novelty threads and yarns. This book gives the freedom to make cordings to coordinate with any color/texture combination chosen. Pb.

Seed Bead Stitching - $15.00
Beth Stone. Beadwork is a puzzle with infinite solutions," says author and bead artist Beth Stone. In this book she explores the myriad possibilities for creating jewelry with colorful seed beads, pearls and gemstones. Step-by-step photographs and illustrations guide readers through the basics of classic stitches and inventive variations. For beginners, there is an introduction to the basics of beads, threads, and bead-stitching techniques; for intermediate and advanced beaders, there are creative variations and lesser-known stitches. Perfect for beaders at every level. From simple to simply stunning... 96pp. Pb.

Tak V Bowes Departed: A C15th Braiding Manual Examined - $74.00
E Benns & G Barrett. A fifteenth century treatise giving instructions for making forty different braids of varying complexity. With modern instructions, clearly illustrated for reference. An in-depth study of Article B, British Library Manuscript Harley 2320. 125pp. Pb.

The Maker's Hand: A Close Look at Textile Structures - $38.00
Peter Collingwood. The range of textiles shown here is remarkable both in the type of textiles and the materials used to make them. There are baskets, fans, springs of a Jeep seat, bead belts, pot scourers, felt hangings, raffia cloth, a rice sieve, warp face belts, and much more. It is a very well-designed book with most of the examples shown illustrated in color. Very clear diagrams show the structure of the fabric. The examples selected come from countries all over the world. Profusely illustrated. 160pp. Hb.

Lucet - $8.00
Here is a neat hand-sized tool for constructing lucet braid. Made of oiled wood.