The Beginner's Guide to Braiding: The Craft of Kumihimo

Rating:
Summary: Great book for beginner
Review: I don't have the loom to start the braiding yet but from what I have read and seen just by looking at the book it will be very useful in instructing me in how to do kumihimo braiding. It is very detailed and easy to understand espcially since it is in color and shows you in pictures each step. I consider it a great book for beginners.

Rating:
Summary: Beginner's guide to Braiding: The Craft of Kumihimo
Review: This book is a most ease and simple in learn a craft of Kumihimo. The step-by-step images and beauty examples helps anyone in this art. Jacqui Carey wisely well writes a didactc book.

Yoroishi-san Flavio Ramires

Rating:
Summary: Easy to understand (mostly because of the dot charts)!
Review: This book was VERY easy to learn from (and I had to learn all the vocabulary from the book, too! The vocabulary is all English. She doesn't use many Japanese words. I didn't really even know what it was when I bought the book.) It took less than a minute to figure out how to do each of the different braids because the charts were so easy to understand. (I didn't even have to read the accompanying text). There are many pictures and they are in full color. This lady REALLY knows how to teach and explain!

I did not have a marudai, but because her many pictures were quite well thought out, it was easy to see what was necessary, I was able to construct one out of the box my books came from (it needn't be round). Rolls of 25 pennies can be used as bobbins. Emroidery floss doesn't work well, as it is not long enough...one should use embroidery thread on spools for this. <-She does speak of this in the book, but a lot of people buy the tools with the book without being able to read through it first.

The braids one can learn are all made with 8 bobbins. She explains how the colors and patterns can be changed with a change of thread color or thread texture.

If you are thinking of this book to make obijime: These are all basic braids (nothing too fancy), so it is an excellent beginners book...but it will not make the fancier braids you see in most flat obi jime. It will make the braids for round obijime, though.

Rating:
Summary: Clear, easy to use, and beautiful
Review: This is Japanese braiding. As with so many other crafts, the Japanese start with the same materials used by workers anywhere else in the world. Then, they apply their own techniques to create something completely new.

This book gives clear, simple directions for making or improvising the tools needed. It takes a bit of effort to hold the incomplete work in place and feed in each strand as needed, so the tools really are necessary. You can't just grab a few strings and try the techniques. The tools are easy to put together from common household materials - film canisters, coins, and a few other things - so don't let that put you off.

The braids themselves are presented in beautiful photos, along with clear, complete directions for making each one. The photos also show how one braid can look very different according to the colors and kinds of strands woven together.

It's not something to pick up casually on a rainy day and try with your kid. It takes some preparation, and some practice to get an even result. That is well within reach of the home crafter, though, and well worth the effort.