Melbourne Kumihimo Group

Index About Japanese Braiding Membership Meetings Sheep & Wool Show 2009 Contacts

ABOUT JAPANESE BRAIDING

Japanese braiding (kumihimo) is becoming increasingly popular around the world. The multiplicity of patterns and the different shapes of braid make it a fascinating craft. Both decorative and useful, these braids can either add that special finishing touch to handcrafted items or just be beautiful on their own. Braids are made using a stool or a loom and a number of weighted bobbins, the number of bobbins varying according to the style of braid to be made. (A braiding style dictates which order to move the bobbins in and where they are moved to.) The most versatile piece of equipment to use is the marudai (pronounced MAroo-DA-ee), a round-topped stool with a hole in the centre. With just eight bobbins you can make quite an amazing variety of braids even using one simple braiding style simply by changing the layout of the strands or by varying the colours of the strands.      Example of a Kumihimo stool [marudai] Christmas braid TOP

MEMBERSHIP

Membership is $25 a year. This entitles members to the use of the library, yarns and equipment. Marudais can be hired with a A$20 refundable deposit and $1 per week. The Library, Fibre Supplies & Equipment are available for members' use. Kumihimo Dragon Fly TOP  MEETINGS Meetings are held from 10. 30am to 2.30 pm every 4th Thursday of the month, from February to November. Our meeting days for remainder of 2009 are 27th August, 24th September, 22 October and 26th November. Meetings include a demonstration and/or hands-on braiding, show and tell, and discussion. Visitors are always welcome.   Kumihimo bracelets TOP  Australian Sheep and Wool Show 2009 The Kumihimo Group exhibited in the Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo in July 2009. We exhibited in the group section "Spinning a Yarn" and the title of our entry was "Telling a Story Around the Maypole" In the entry we needed to list 5 different articles for judging and as many techniques as we liked. We chose Kumihimo (Japanese Braiding) , weaving, felting, knitting and embroidery. We were surprised our Group had knowledge of so many techniques. Our exhibit was quite large - the backdrop was almost 1 metre square and the base about 75 c.m. square. We received 2nd prize and we were all thrilled with the result TOP CONTACTS Nina Macgeorge   Irene Schiffer 4 Avenel Rd   27 McDowell St Kooyong 3144   Greensborough 3088 Victoria   Victoria Australia   Australia Phone: +61 3 9822 5522   Phone: +61 3 9435 2328

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