Terry-Jean's Braid or Purse Strap

This is a lovely braid or strap made with 4 crocheted I-cord ropes, that can be used as an embellishment for the front of a bag or as a fun and colorful bag strap. If you decide to make it into a strap, calculate enough braid to fold over the purse ring that you'll use to attach the strap to your bag and sew on the back side.

This braid is based on the crochet I-cord, if you do not know how to make this cord or rope, please refer to this tutorial:
How to Make Crochet I-Cord Ropes

Materials-
Worsted weight yarn of your choice in 4 different colors to match or contrast your bag
Crochet hook size H
Scissors
Pins
Pillow to pin ropes to for braiding
Measuring tape (if you need to measure length of braid to fit your bag)
Purse rings of choice (if using for a strap)

Make balls for each color you will be using. Work 1 rope or I-cord per color. Make each rope twice as long as the finished item.
Leave one end of the rope attached to the yarn in the ball, just in case you need more rope. Once you finish your strap, you can easily fasten off, but if you miscalculate and do not have enough rope and have severed the yarn, you then have to start all over again, whereas if you run out of rope before you're done braiding, you can easily pin the part you have braided to secure it and crochet the necessary length of rope and finish your strap or braid without a problem.

To make the strap, proceed as follows: 


Mentally number your ropes 1, 2, 3 and 4, counting left to right.

1- Bend rope 4 over the 2 middle ones and place it under rope 1. Bend rope 1 under the 2 middle ropes and bring forward through the loop
that formed when you bent the first rope, tighten a bit. Repeat. (Do not tighten too much, let the colors of the ropes be seen.)

2- Pass rope 2 over rope 1, pass rope 4 over rope 3, and cross the 2 ropes that are now in the middle one over the other, left to right.

3- Repeat step 3.

4- Repeat step 1.

Repeat these 4 steps for as long as you need to to make your braid or strap.

There is an immense amount of variations to these beautiful straps, as many as the ideas you get for new bags, totes and purses, so experiment and have fun with them!

Look Beyond Today. . .