Braid an Anglo-Saxon belt
People used all sorts of natural things to make colours to dye their wool and string. They would boil leaves or flowers or bark and then soak the fabric in the liquid. For example:
Orange or brown = Onion skins
Blue = Woad leaves
Yellow = Broom
Black/grey = Oak tree bark
They spun the wool or string and then wove it into wide cloth (for clothes) or made it into narrow strips of braid.
Braid was used for belts, straps for tools, basket-handles, head-bands or sewn on to clothing to protect the edges, or, of course, to wear as wrist bands.
Why not have a go a creating your own braided belt or wristband?
You will need:
Yarn or string. Macrame cord works particularly well.
Sticky tape (or someone to hold the ends of your cord or yarn while you braid them!)
Make your plaited braid:
Cut 6 cords to the length you want. The longer they are, the harder they are to braid because they get a bit tangled up. These braids look best when you have 3 different colours of cord. Use 2 of each colour for this braid (6 in total).
Lay them out so that the colours are paired up 2 of each colour side-by-side. Tape the top down to the table to hold everything firmly in place.
Keeping them as flat as possible, cross the 2 right-side colour threads across and in-between the other 2 colours.
Then take the 2 left-side colour threads across and in-between the other 2.
Then the right 2 again and the left 2 again and so on.
Every so often check that they’re flat and even.
When you get to about 8cm from the bottom, undo the tape and carefully knot all the strings together at the end to match the top.
If you have time you can fray the tufty end parts beyond the knot
