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Daily Archives: February 25, 2012

Braid-A-Long 2012 Day 2 – Starting A Braid

Posted on February 25, 2012 | 6 Comments

Hi Braid-A-Longers and Freinds,

It’s day 2 on our Braid-A-Long and I bet you are all getting super antsy to start braiding that t-shirt yarn you’ve cut up aren’t you?

So today’s lesson is all how to START the braid, and here’s what I want you to do. We are going to practice. Yes, practice. We are going to start SEVERAL, as in a minimum of 3, braids. What???

The reason why I want you all to practice this initial step is to get a good starter center of the braided rug. This is important! For the success of the rest of the rug your center needs to be completely FLAT and not buckle in any way. It is a little tricky because these t-shirts stretch and are prone to act in a way that is entirely not how you intend. So we are going to practice and may the best center win!!!

So go grab your yarn and let’s begin.

With TWO pieces of yarn, one that is about 1 yard in length and another that is about 18 inches in length…

Stitch the shorter length into the longer length in a T formation like so… Clip your threads and let the yarn roll back onto itself again. Now start the braid by taking the RIGHT yarn OVER the CENTER yarn… And then the LEFT yarn OVER the yarn you just passed into the center position… Then again with the new RIGHT yarn over the new CENTER and continue this… until you have used up all but 6-8 inches of your length of yarns… This is your starter braid.

Now go make up at least 3 of these!

And when you are ready we are going to move over to the machine and sew the braid together…

Position your braid so it makes a shepherds crook to the LEFT. The bent over portion is about 2 inches… Position this under your pressure foot and set your stitch to a zig-zag stitch as wide as it will go and a medium length. Now begin zig zagging… Continue going around and around, pushing the two edges together until you have a disc about the size of a coaster… Be sure to keep the Feeder braid (what is being fed into the machine) loose, you almost have to give it a slight (very slight) push forward as you press the two edges together. You don’t want to stretch it too much or you’ll end up with a cup instead of a coaster! Slight cupping is normal, but just slight! Your goal, my fearless braiders, is to get your practice braids FLAT!