Mystery Braid Bracelets!

[Grey Drakkon]

Thanks to Nstarleather, I got my hands one some luscious Horween leather. Because I'm a newbie, I'm petrified of screwing up the nice big slabs I have and figured I'd start with something nice and small that would trim up the edges which would be waste material anyway. My guy has been making noise about a bracelet he can wear to work and I had been looking at mystery braids, so off I went. I think I'm on my fifth bracelet now, I might have a problem. First pic is of the latest one I made, nicely snug without cutting off circulation.

I decided to play with punches a bit, I think I need to sharpen them because the edges are a bit fuzzy. This wasn't an ideal scrap so it looks a bit rough, but I like the idea of a pattern like that.

I was on such a roll with mystery braiding that I decided to use up a scrap of thin veg tanned leather I had laying around and then spray it with two new colors of eco flow dye I had recently gotten. My guy is now clamoring for me to make a version of this for him. -_- I call it the joker bracelet for the colors used.

My biggest annoyance is the snaps, I have some line 24 snaps in different colors but the shafts on them are so long that I had to take a jewelry saw to them to shorten them up and it still ended up deforming the cap a bit (just enough so I noticed). The other snaps I'm using are from Joann fabrics and while they're just the right length, the hardware that is used for the top/bottom bits come in this weird plastic clamshell thing that you hit with a mallet, and of course being plastic it snapped at the hinge so now I have to wince while having my fingers way too close to the mallet to hold everything together.

[Grey Drakkon]

You had to show me that video, didn't you? Good thing I left my leather at home! ;D Any tips on cutting the straps? I've been using tape on the back of my leather to keep it from wiggling around as much and basically focusing my chi to cut that leather like it owes me money (which it does, come to think of it) but with five strands I worry about the leather flexing around too much.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Grey Drakkon

[Grey Drakkon]

I see what you did there.

[Tugadude]

Stips would be easier with a cutting wheel and a straightedge. Use a straightedge with cork on the back to prevent slipping.

[Thor]

What's the width of each strand? Either you have one of these http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-QNYBzv3TZs/maxresdefault.jpg or make a home made one yourself. That should do the trick. Saves you about $3000 for the clicker press and dies ;-)

[Grey Drakkon]

These are each 1/4" wide, mostly because I have a piece of 3/4" wide brass that I've been using as a template and that way it divides evenly into three strands.

[Grey Drakkon]

Just finished this bracelet. Soft vegetable tanned leather base dyed purple with a turquoise pig suede layer on top of it. The suede was glued around the edges and each strand was folded in half, then mystery braided with the purple layer. Now I'm wishing I got bought more of that suede when it was on sale!

[Grey Drakkon]

5-Strand bracelet: challenge accepted. Made a beefy 1 1/2 wide bracelet, the vudeo was invaluable for figuring out what I was doing wrong at every step. In any case, my guy is pleased with it, even with a couple of wobbles in the straps. (Really need to get my hands on a strap cutter)

[Dave Richardson]

Nice work Grey and thanks for the post, I learned a lot !

Dave

[Grey Drakkon]

Thanks, Dave!

Northstar, you did a great job in the video, it's visually very clear and voicing a rhythm to the pattern makes it much easier for me to remember. Every issue I had while making the 5 strand was user error.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Grey Drakkon

[Grey Drakkon]

My straps on this one were very uneven so I decided to experiment with spraying dye. No big loss if it looks bad, right? I was thinking of how you tie-dye t-shirts by bundling them up/knotting them, so I braided it really tight, sprayed from one side purple, the other side green, then undid the braid and redid it with a different starting strap and braided it looser then sprayed red on top. It ended up more like a coral snake than a tie-dye shirt, and makes it look pretty neat even with wobbly straps! I'm really wanting to get a real airbrush system now.

[jmkjmk2]

look really cool. thanks for sharing

[Mark Peters]

Very cool. I've been experimentimg some with these myself and also found nstarleather's video very helpful. Since you have tried the five strand you should try the seven next. Basically the same sequence -3/4 and braid seven times then flip vs 2/3 and braiding 5 times.

[Robin Wood]

Hope I didn't skip the part in which there would have been the answer to my question, but: how much longer does the actual strand of leather have to be compared to the finished bracelet?

[Robin Wood]

It varies depending on the thickness some, but on a 8.5" bracelet you start with a 9 5/8" wristband blank. You can also make it longer/shorter depending on the tightness you braid.

Thanks!

[Grey Drakkon]

My friend was foolish enough to leave her airbrush kit with me so I've been playing with it a bit. Liked the gradients I made, but didn't like the fuzzy partially dyed edges so I took some lumiere acrylic paints to them (gold on the red/purple and black on the other two) and heat set them, then brushed on some diluted resolene to since I noticed the dye run a bit when it got water splashed on one of the bracelets. Alas, I'm out of snaps and my shipment is sitting in Germany (so says the online tracking)

[Grey Drakkon]

A couple more bracelets, one 5 strand horween that I think turned out pretty nice, and a tri-color Red-turquoise-purple veg tan 3 strand that I sprayed a few coats of diluted resolene over. I like the finish it gives, and don't worry about the colors running with the coating on it. It does make the leather stiffer, but it seems to amp up the color intensity so good trade off in my opinion. Also I painted the edges with black lumiere acrylic paint (a heat setting acrylic) and love how it makes the colors stand out even more as well as gets rid of the fuzzies.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Grey Drakkon

[Grey Drakkon]

Another 3 strand 3 color, this time purple-red-green.

[Reegesc]

Those are cool as S***.

[Grey Drakkon]

Thanks! ^_^ One day I WILL make sandals from your tutorial, wouldn't it be a riot to have braided straps sprayed like these?

[Grey Drakkon]

Now that I'm not ruining the surprise, here's two "mirror" braids made for twins. The colors are the same on both, but I started the braid at opposite ends which changes the way the braids look. I didn't add on the snaps since Cseeger wanted to experience the joy of setting snaps himself. >

[Oldtoolsniper]

I tried one, looks so simple and then, well poo, poo, and double poo. I ordered a bunch of tools from Japan and they sent me a blank as a freebie. It was a tease, it looked so simple, they must have known I couldn't tie my own shoes until late in kindergarten. That's why they sent it.

Those look really nice, glad to see you leaping into the airbrush arena. It's a lot of fun to do and fast too.

[Reegesc]

I can confirm, it was indeed a joy installing the snaps myself. You know how it is...it's all about the little things. The Twins loved the bracelets... and the snaps.

[Windrider30]

Very nice I like those. I have been trying to do a 21 strand mystery braid out of kangaroo hide...its not going well but damn it I will get it one day!!!

[Grey Drakkon]

O_o I'm trying to picture just how long a strap you'd have to have and how wide to make that feasible.