Anna-Marie's Braid

My sister's name is Anna-Marie, so I decided to name this braid after her in honor of the fact that she's a terrific Sis. This is a very easy braid that you can use to decorate a tote or a large bag.
For the making of the cords, please refer to previous tutorials of this series.

Materials:
4 cords, twice the size of the bag or tote you will be decorating
Pins
Sewing thread in matching colors to attach cords to the bag
Sewing needle

Note- Until you learn how to make all these braids easily, use cords of different colors when you make them, so that it will be easier for you to follow the position of each cord and to get satisfactory results. (And to tell you the truth, braids look better when they're multicolored!)

To Make Anna-Marie's braid proceed as follows:

Make your cords, do not fasten off, just in case you need to either lengthen them or shorten them. Leave one end attached to yarn ball or skein and work with the opposite end.
1-To do the actual braiding, pin the 4 cords to the top of your bag, leaving a little excess that will go under the bag's lining and will be sewn to the inside of the bag under the lining.
2- Twist cords 1 and 2 together 3 times, pin down again. Twist cords 3 and 4 three times and pin pin place.
3- Pass cord 4 over cord 2, cord 2 over cord 4, and cord 4 under cord 1.
4- Place cord 3 over cord 1, then twist the two cords that wind up at both ends, the two on the left, twist them over each other, and the two that ended up on the right, over each other, pin in place. Rep steps 3 and 4 as many times as needed to complete your braid. Pin in place at each change.
Thread sewing needle with matching color and secure the braid to the bag.
Done!



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Lilly's Braid

This is a pretty easy and great looking rope braid that will greatly enhance any simple bag or tote or bag that you want to embellish. It is a 6-strand braid which, to start with, I recommend that you make with ropes of different colors so that you can easily follow what you do until you get it down pat and can make it with ropes of the same color against, say, a contrasting ground or a lighter or darker ground.

To start, make your ropes as explained in previous tutorials.
Make 6 ropes of co different colors twice as long as the size of your tote or bag. If possible, leave them unfinished at the bottom part of them, just in case you need to enlarge them or to shorten them when you are done braiding.
This is NOT an exact science! Pin your ropes at the top of the bag as usual, leaving a little excess which you will bed over the edge inwardly
and will be sewing to the inside of the bag, to be covered by the lining.
Think of your ropes as pairs. You have 3 pairs.
To make the braid proceed as follows:

1. Take the left rope of each pair and place it over the rope on its right side.

2. Skip the two outer ropes and working only with the ropes in the middle, take the right rope of each of the middle pairs and pass it over the left rope of each pair. (Look at the photos)






















3. From here on you just repeat the first two steps over and over until you have the right length of rope for your project. Pin the edges down and sew all around with matching yarn.


You can make the braid tighter or you can open it up a bit more so that the background of the tote or bag can be seen behind it.





































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Pepper's Braid

This is a pretty easy braid which will enhance any bag you want to embellish!
Note 1-
Unitl you learn how to make this braid well, i suggest that you learn to make it using 4 cords of different colors (it would look lovely against the black, dark brown, grey, white or beige crocheted fabric of a purse or bag.)
Or if you want to, use darker or lighter shades of the same color as the bag you will sew it to or contrasting variegated yarns that match or vice versa.
This will help you to keep track of where the cords are going until you learn this braid by heart, and no one will notice why you do it.
Materials:
4 Basic cords twice the size of the space they will be covering on the bag

Note 2- If you want to match the size of the cords exactly, do not fasten them off, but simply make bobbins before you start your cords with enough yarn to make more than twice the cord you believe you need, in case you need to add to your cord.
Nice little economic bobbins can be made from the little square closures of sandwich bread. Place the unfinished portion of the braid to the bottom of your work. If you can complete the braiding to your satisfaction with the amount of cord you already had, wonderful!
Simply fasten off, leaving a long tail to sew with, and sew the braid in place once you have finished it. But if you are short, simply attach pins to secure the braiding you have done above, and crochet yourself some more cord to finish your embellishment. Then, fasten off and sew in place.
Note 3- To keep your cords in place, pin them as you go so that they will not move from where you want them. If you want your braid to be as open as the one in the photos, keep the cords position "open" so that the crocheted fabric of your bag can be seen through the twists and turns of the braid.



Make Pepper's Braid as follows:

1- Place your 4 cords at the top of the bag you want to embellish, leaving 2 sc in between each cord. Pin them securely into place so that you can work freely.

2- Bring cord #1 over cord #2.

3- Bring cord #3 over cord #4.

4- Place cord 31 over cord #4 (which is now in the center)

5- Bring cord #3 over cord #1

6- Place cord #2 over cord #4

To continue, repeat from step 2 to step 6 as many times as necessary, pinning in place so that the cords will stay in desired shape for a beautiful open braid.

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Embellish it With Ropes--Faux Cabling 3

We will now make two braids, each with three ropes. These are the simplest kind to make, especially when you want to add "something" to a project in the spur of the moment or are in some hurry to finish it. (By the way, the names for these braids are my own, and the way I make them is also my own, they don't come from any book or publication like this.)

Undecided Braid- Materials: Ropes of colors of your choice crocheted in advance. Pins Blunt needle to sew finished braid in place Yarn or embroidery yarn to sew through side loops of braid Measuring tape This is a 3 strand braid that goes from side to side, chaging from a right side braid to a left side braid on purpose, to make it a bit fancier.

To work this braid proceed as follows: Arrange three ropes at the top of your project, pinning them to the top, but leaving a portion of the braid unworked so that you can later on sew it underneath the lining of the bag. Center them well, use a measuring tape, if necessary to make sure they are centered. To braid do this: 1- Take the rope on the right and bring over the middle rope. 2- Take the rope on the leftt and place it over the new middle rope. 3- Take the new left rope and place it over the middle rope. 4- Take the rope on the right and place it over the middle rope. 5-Take the new rope on the left and place it over the new middle rope. Tighten the rope a bit. Tighten a bit. Repeat these 5 steps once more. Now comes the change: 6- Take the new middle rope and place it UNDER the rope on the left. 7- Take the rope on the right and place it OVER the new middle rope. 8- Take the new rope on the right and place it over the middle rope. 9- Take the rope on the left and place it over the middle rope AND the rope on the right. 10- Take the new rope on the left and pass it over the middle rope. 11- Take the rope on the right and plass it over the middle rope. Continue this way indefinitely. You can also make a longer braid that will encircle the middle of the bag and disappear behind the sewn sides, but for that, you must make your braid before you completely sew the bag.

Wanna Walk Down the Middle Braid- Materials: Ropes of colors of your choice crocheted in advance. Pins Blunt needle to sew finished braid in place Yarn or embroidery yarn to sew through side loops of braid Measuring tape This is a 3 strand braid that goes from side to side, chaging from a right side braid to a left side braid on purpose, to make it a bit fancier.

To work this braid proceed as follows: 1- Take the rope in the middle and place it over the rope on the left. 2- Take the new rope in the middle and place it over the new rope on the right. 3- Take the rope in the middle and place it over the rope on the left. 4- Take the new rope on the middle and place it over the rope on the right. Continue this way indefinitely until you get the length of braid you need for your bag or purse.

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Embellish it With Ropes--Faux Cabling 2

Let's start with the faux cabling. As I said before, instead of making the cables with dc or tr sts, you will be making them with previously crocheted ropes which you will then sew to the purse, tote, bag, etc., using the little loops the ropes have on the side of them. Using these ropes as stems of plants is often used in Russian Irish Crochet, but we will use them here in the form of Aran cables. They are easier and faster and can be an after-the-fact embellishment to aproject nearly completed which needs a little "something" to make it prettier.

Things to remember:

1- You should make your ropes twice as long as the braid you want to make, since
the braiding process shortens the ropes.

2- You can leave the end of your rope unfinished so that if you run too short, you can crochet the number of rows that will complete the length you need and then continue braiding.

3- Complete your braid by pinning it to the bag before you sew it up. Make sure you're happy with the results before you make them permanent!

We will start with a really easy 4 rope cabling: Rusty's Cable

Make 4 ropes in a color of your choice.

Pin the ropes to the front of the bag as follows, (leaving a little bit extra rope loose which you will sew to the insde of hte bag under the lining of it):

In our example, 1 made 2 ropes with Carrot and 2 ropes with Pumpkin.

1. Pin 1 rope at the edge of where you want to start your braid. Pin the other ropes beside one another.

2. Pass the 4th strand of rope over the third strand of rope, under the 2nd and over the 1st strand of rope. Consider now the third strand the 4th strand, now repeat the procedure you did before, pass that strand over the strand that is now the 3rd rope strand, under the 2nd and over the one that is now the 1st, continue in the manner until you have braided all your cable.

Note- If you do not have enough, rope, pin what you have done carefully and crochet some more until you have completed the length you want. If you have ropes that are too long, unravel them to fit. Remember to leave a little bit of an excess so that you can sew the ends of the braid to the inside of the bag under the lining to secure it well. Secure well to the bottom of the bag as well.

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Embellish it With Ropes!---Faux Cabling 1

I have been so busy that I had not had the time to continue with the tutorials but I'm back! We will begin a series of lessons dealing with faux cabling. We will be using crocheted ropes as the basis of the cables, which will be sewn to the purse, bag or tote you have already made, BEFORE you add the lining to it. The edges of the ropes will disappear under the lining and curve gracevully towards the bottom of the bag. This is, as our theme has been, an after-the-fact form of embellishment which you will add after you have completed the shape of your bag up to the point where you would start adding the straps, lining etc. You will be adding these ropes to decorate the front of a very simple bag, preferably with a squarish shape that will lend itself to a sewn rope without bulging or pulling. I don't know what would happen to a more difficult shape. You would have to make a sample to test. You can add the braids horizontally around the bag, or vertically down the front. You must make each cord twice as long as the bag you are going to braid. We will make a series of sample braids to give you an idea of how to do it. Testing will give you the results you will want. This is a wonderful embellishment alternative to make a run-of-the-mill-looking bag really special! We will start by learning the basic cord that you will be using to make these wonderful ropes. Notice that the ropes will have little loops on the side edges, those are the loops you will be using to sew the braids to the bag with a blunt needle. Basic Cord-Ch 2. Row 1- 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook. Turn Row 2- Insert hook in little loop that formed on the side of the sc and pull up yarn, you and complete sc. Turn. Continue repeating row 2 for the length of the rope you want to make.

Craftybegonia’s Crossed Cord This is my own cord, which I came up as I was just playing around with the basic cord. Ch 2. Row 1- Insert hook in second ch from hook and pull up loop, yo, make 1 sc as usual. Ch 1, turn. Row 2- Look at the side of your stitches, the very side edge of them, you see a loop that has formed there, Insert hook into that loop, pull up yarn, yo, pull up yarn through all loops on hook. Ch 1, turn. Row 3- Now you see a loop has formed on the side of the cord, insert hook in that loop, pull up yarn, yo and pull through all loops on hook. Ch 1, turn. Rep row 3 for cord pattern. First pactice making the cord until you have an even rope that you can braid and we'll start braiding!

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Embellish it With Knots: The Dragonfly

This dragonfly can be made in any color you want, just use two different colors that match well with the purse, bag or garment you are embellishing with it. It would also look cute also on afghan blocks!

Materials:

Red Heart worsted weight yarn Tea Leaf
Red Heart worsted weight yarn Spring Green
Crochet hook size H
Blunt needle
Scissors
Previous knowledge on how to make French or Colonial Knot (see previous tutorials that teach the knots. You will find them here:
http://craftypursenalityshoppe.blogspot.com/2011/01/texture-it-with-knots-french-knot-and.html)

Body-

With Tea Leaf, ch 11.
Row 1- 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, and in each ch across. Fasten off, leaving long tail to sew with.

Wings-

Skip 3 sc, join Spring to 4th sc, ch 10, sl st in same sc, fasten off, leaving long tail to make knots with.
Skip 1 sc and repeat wing on next sc.
Rep two wings on opposite side.
Thread needle and sew center of body to the crocheted fabric you want to embellish with a running stitch or any stitch you are comofortable with. Fasten off.
Thread needle and sew the wings onto the crocheted fabric, fasten off.
Thread needle with Spring Green and make a row of 4 French or Colnial knots in a straight line inside each wing. Fasten off.
That's it! You have an easy dragonfly you can increase or reduce in size and add to purses, wallets, eyeglass cases, clothing, beanies, quilt blocks, etc.

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