Braid With No Ends

Day 227: How can you braid the middle of a leather strip if you don't have loose ends to work with? Why, just like you'd braid anything else, right over left, left over right. Don't believe me? Here's how!

For practice, cut a strip of suede one foot long and one inch wide. Mark lengthwise lines at 1/3 and 2/3 inches, fold the piece in half and make a small snip at the center of each division. Unfold the leather, insert your scissors in the snip and cut along the line until you're one inch from each end. Do not cut all the way through the ends! (See the first illustration.) Now begin braiding, passing the righthand strip over the center, followed by the farthest left strip over the center (second image). Do these two moves two more times until the strands return to their original positions (third and fourth images). These six moves constitute one full sequence.

But oh, golly! Look at the mess on the other end! It braided itself while you weren't looking! Now you have to straighten that out!

Hold the braided section in place firmly with one hand, securing all strands in their original positions. This is the critical step, shown in the fifth image. See the back (unsueded) side of the leather with the pencil line on it? That's the "tail" you'll be using to unbraid. With your other hand, feed the "tail" back through the tangle, following the intuitive line of travel. You may find that some strands twist in the progress of the work. Just keep fussing with it until they straighten out (sixth image). But remember, you must hold the braided section in place! Don't let go, or you'll have a bigger mess. You may want to hold the braided section against the table until you get the hang of unbraiding.

Once you have the tangle sorted out, you're ready to do another full braiding sequence. Remember, there are six moves to each sequence. When you've done all six (seventh image), secure the braided section with one hand, and with the other hand, unbraid the tail again. Keep repeating the braiding/unbraiding sequence until you have a comfortable, relaxed braided section (eighth image). If the strands want to lay over on their sides, you've done too many sequences.
When your piece is done, work the strands with your fingers until they lay more or less smooothly (bottom left). If you'd like, you can press them between two big books to flatten them out. Or you can unbraid your practice piece and re-do it before starting on a serious project. The little bookmark (bottom right) is half an inch wide and contains only a single braiding sequence. A few beads, and you have a nice little personalized "thank-you" gift for someone.