This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Kumihimo is my new thing. I absolutely love it for a good couple of reasons.
- It’s incredibly easy to learn.
- It’s a project that doesn’t take too much concentration so you can keep your hands busy while watching TV.
- Playing with the placement of cords produces some really interesting results (gotta love experimentation!)
- It’s as cheap or as expensive as the supplies you use.
- The color combinations are endless.
WAIT! Need to learn how to make the braids? Check out this post first: Kumihimo 8 strand cord tutorial.
I know I’ve mentioned here before that I have a hard time with millimeters. And guess what, you kind of need to get mm when buying jewelry notions because they’re all in mm. And since I can’t have Midsommarflicka, who lives in Europe and knows all about it right by my side while I’m online shopping for beads and findings, I have to guesstimate. Hiya, Mid! (check out her blog So, It Was Weekend. And I was Bored.
That’s right, I freaking guesstimate. If I see something I like I buy it in the size I think I need and then I just wing I buy either one bigger or one smaller. Sometimes this system works out but most of the time it doesn’t. So on my recent shopping spree for findings for my kumihimo ends, you guessed it, I guesstimated on what would work.
And when the package came in the mail today I ripped that sucker open and got right to figuring out what would work and what wouldn’t. (and by the by, not all of that is even Kumihimo stuff. Just dumped that sucker out and got to it!)
So first off here are my findings: 6 mm end caps work well with a bit of extra space (but not annoyingly so) for 8 strand braids made from the 1mm rattail. 4mm caps work well for the 8 strand braids made from 1mm also, but the fit is really tight and I had a hard time getting them on, but it’s totally doable. 8mm end caps work well for the 8 strand braid with 2mm rattail. See, isn’t that simple? I have NO clue why I couldn’t find this information anywhere online. But it’s on the webs now, baby!
Even better is here are the exact caps I used:
Barrel cord ends for up to 8mm — Works well for 8 strand kumihimo made with 2mm rattail.
Bullet Cord Ends for Kumihimo up to 8mm — Works well for 8 strand braids made from 2mm rattail.
Bullet Cord Ends for Kumihimo up to 6mm cord — Works well for 8 strand Kumihimo made with 1mm rattail
Bullet Cord Ends for Kumihimo up to 4mm cord — Works well for 8 strand Kumihimo made with 1mm rattail but it is a tight, tight fit.
For this project you will need:
- Cord ends
- Jump rings and Toggle Closures
- Tape
- Scissors
- Strong glue like E-6000 or Quick Hold E-6000
- Jewelry pliers
Take your finished strand and give it a good stretch. It will stretch out one way but doesn’t have give to go back. So if you don’t stretch to begin with when it does it will be way too big.
Grab the tape and wrap tightly around the braid.
Use your scissors to make a clean cut.Slip into the end cap and make sure it fits well and trim down so that the cap covers the tape on the braid. LEAVE THE TAPE ON. If you remove it things just start unraveling on you and it is a mess.
Place a few drops of glue into the cap. Give it a few seconds, or the duration on the directions, for it to become tacky.
Shove the cap on and put the braid to the side until it is fairly dry. Measure around your wrist, tape, cut and glue on the cap for the other end. Set aside until good and dry (a few hours is great).
If you got a kumihimo findings kit you’ll also get these nifty bails to add charms to your necklaces or bracelets.
To finish up, use a jump ring to secure your findings to the loop on the end of the bullet cap.
Be sure the glue is dry before trying to wear so you don’t accidentally pull the cord out of the end.
I love how easily you could make a stack of arm candy with these bracelets! I just dug braids I’d already made out of my stash and put ends on the ones I thought were the prettiest!
You can use whatever closure you like best, but I think that the toggles work exceptionally well. Above is a 8 strand kumihimo braid using 2mm rattail finished using the barrel caps for up to 8mm.
And if you make the cord especially long, you can either turn it into a necklace or a wrap bracelet.
And that’s all she wrote! I hope that this post finds you well and helps you out if you, like me, just can’t seem to manage millimeters!
Does gluing the ends hold really well? I am around kids who love to pull and like to make sure the things I make will survive.
I’d probably use e6000 and give it a while to cure if you’ve got kiddos pulling on things. The bond will only get stronger with time and then I’d imagine you won’t have any trouble.
THANK YOU!!! I’m trying to order supplies for my 200+ middle school art students to make 2 kumihimo bracelets each (they get to keep one and we’re selling the other for a fundraiser) and I want to buy everything at once, but I was going crazy trying to figure out what end caps to get for 8 strands of 2mm cord. You are my heroine! The kids are SO excited to start, and now I can order stuff tonight instead of having to make one to try it out first!
Thank you for all the information you put on, it makes life so much easier for us newbies, when the small things are put down,
Cheers
Just started and I m hooked…my first bracelet came out toobig once I put the end toggle on. So looking for a sure measuring formula to get the correct size….any tips?..I did measure it at the start.
BTW …multi lingual measuring in uk….we have to cope with metric and feet and inches. Metric..just think in tens. Lovely blog post
Thank you for this very clear explination you made it look so easy.
You’re so welcome. I am very glad that the post is helpful to you!
Hi Allison – I’ve been addicted to beaded Kumihimo for a few years now. As an alternate to just glue-ing the caps on – the ones that have the loop built in – I use eye pins that I make myself out of 20-22 gauge wire. I start braiding with just the stringing material (I use C-Lon, craft cotton) for about a half inch, braid with beads & then braid with the stringing material again. I then insert the “eye” part of the pin at the base of the non-beaded part (use an awl to poke a hole first for ease), glue with ZapIt glue (dries very fast), put an end cap on that has a hole to put the wire through and will cover up to the beaded section and do a wire wrap when connecting the toggle clasp at each end. I’m not explaining this well, am I?
I’m afraid I don’t quite understand but I must admit that I am intrigued and would love know how to do it your way :)
HEY! I will be teaching basic kumihimo at an RV park in the southwest this winter, and the information on the caps will be a GREAT help!!! Thank you!
You’re so welcome. What a fun class to teach!
I love the one with the neon colors!
I think the neon is a lot of fun, too!
I’m a norwegian kumihimo fan, but although I’m used to millimeters and the metric system it is still not easy to determine the size of end caps corresponding to the size of cord. At first I figured 8 strands of 2 mm required end caps of 16 mm, pure maths. Big mistake! I ordered end caps for 16 strands with the same useless logic too. If anyone need end caps of the approx size of a small appartment please let me know ;-)
Anyways, yesterday I googled around for kumihimo patterns and stumbled across two really nice sites. The first was the great 12 strand spiral ridge tutorial (thank you Allison, and please keep up the good work!) and the other was a chart to determine which end caps to use: http://whataknit.com/2013/09/10/kumihimo-tip-19/
Spiral ridge is my new favorite braid, and great for necklace using embroidery floss instead of rattail.
My math was so wrong, too. I went a totally different and more ill conceived way – I figured a 2mm cap should work with 8 2mm cords. What?! I HATE wasting money so I’ll do what I can so that others don’t do it too… even if that makes me look like the biggest dummy on the planet!
I haven’t done the spiral with anything but rattail so far, but I’m thinking I’m going to have to try it with floss now!
Love these—but–WHERE did you order these end caps etc FROM???? Desperate crafter wanna-be’s and their grand daughters NEED to know!!!!
Finding these end caps to buy can be such a pain, can’t it?! If you click the orange link below the image or the image itself you will go to Amazon where you can purchase them!
Hi – Thank you so much! I have tried and it is first time ever that I am successful in any braiding! This is so much fun. But sorry to be so silly – how big are the jump rings? Is 5mm diameter too big? Please – keep the postings coming – I can’t wait for more design and tips!
You’re not being silly at all! I used 6mm jump rings on the bigger braid and 4mm on the smaller. I try to keep a stash of all sorts of sizes… jump rings are cheap, cheap so I keep 4-10mm on hand. I can look and see which one looks like it will “fit” the best and use accordingly. Since I’m technically kind of fumbling through making jewelry this works best for me in the end!
No problem, C.J. I also did a post for adding beads. That really dresses up a simple 8 strand, too :)
I love the look of these with the end caps! I just learned kumihimo about two years ago, but I've only ever done them with the cheap embroidery thread and tied the ends like friendship bracelets. These look so much nicer and could really be dressed up more than the other stuff. Thanks for the tutorial! :)
Hey, everybody! I'm so excited to return to so many wonderful comments on this post :)
Steph – so glad to have you around the blog, welcome!
Alice – I don't know what it is but conversions are so stinking tricky. Glad to know that the problem can go both ways!
Scott – I got the neon cords at Hobby Lobby on a spool in the ribbon area of the fabric section. The cost was about $1.99 per spool but they often have 50% off sales. They had lots and lots of neon colors but the diameter is between 2.5-3 mm so it's a bit bigger than what you might be wanting (but the braids are awesomely chunky!)
Emily – I'm so glad to have helped! Get 'em all and see what works is always a great way to go about it!
Mid – Next time you're in Oklahoma we're having some tutoring sessions! Ha!
Jane – You are so welcome. I was desperate for the info and couldn't find it online. Very glad to have helped!
Ama – Don't even get me started on cups, gallons and liters. The whole liquid thing is a total mystery to me. Thanks, big time for the link. I will be using the heck out of that sucker!
Nice bracelets…I totally understand you problem with measures, but me it's the inches / gallon / cup which I understand nothing! So I just go here : http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm
;)
thanks for the much needed info on end cap sizes!
Oh, I would love to sit by your side and explain our small european mm sizes! And then you could teach me all about kumihimo! That would be fun :)
I'm working on a bunch of these right now, and did just what you did. Just ordered a bunch of different sizes. Thanks for the information. I've pinned it!
I am new to Kumihimo. Found it by accident while getting my daughter into making Friendship Bracelets. These are much easier and quicker. We have about a dozen spools of rattail in different girly colors. I just ordered 2 books so I can move from the basic 8-strand to more complex designs. I will have to experiment with beads at some point. I need to learn how to attach findings. I know it is easy, but I do not have any at the moment.
My question is where did you get those bright/flourescent cords?
I found mine in the ribbon section by fabrics at Hobby Lobby. Lots of cool colors including fluorescents.
You found end caps or satin rattail?
Oh wow, these are all so pretty!!!! I would totally love to have one or two. I might get into it after my holiday. :) I used to make all sorts of bracelets for myself.
And I feel ya, I obviously don't have a problem with mm, but I do with inches, so I always have to use the conversion app on my mac. (Don't know what it's called.)
-A
Love the look of these braids! Off to check your first post now…. looks so fun :) ~Stephanie