This video tutorial teaches fingerloop braiding with 7 loops, showing the divided, square, and flat variations of a 7-loop braid, plus how to unbraid back a few cycles to fix a mistake. Learn 5-loop square and flat braids first.  Once you’ve braided a few of those you’ll be ready to try this 7-loop version (the fingers need to “work up” to 7 loops, it’s not a good idea to skip the 5-loop version.) I did a little better with this video – managed to squeeze all the variations into one video!

[The color-patterns setups for most of the braids above are taught here]

7-loop braids:
On one hand all 4 fingers hold a loop, and on the other hand index, middle, and ring fingers hold a loop. With 7 loops, the bare little finger is the “operator,” instead of the ring finger. The little finger will go through three loops on the other hand to take the index-loop, instead of through two loops as in the 5-loop braid. The sequence is exactly the same—take the loop, shift, tighten, repeat on the other side…

Tips for efficient hand positions (click to follow link)

Start watching the video at 8:30 (8min,30sec) to see ‘square’ braiding moves with no pausing and explaining. The video starts with me talking and explaining a lot, then demoing ‘divided’ braiding moves, before moving on to the square braid. (See my trouble-shooting hints below the video’s timeline.)

Drag bubble under video to any listed timepoint. If you go to the Youtube site to watch it (click below the video), and then click “show more” under the video, you’ll see the same timepoints—but there the timepoints are actual links. If you click on one, the video will start right at that timepoint. Use your ‘back’ button to come back to this post.

[I show how to unbraid toward the end of this video. If you want to skip to that part, move the little bubble under the video up to 23:50.]

0:00   Intro
1:23    Start of braiding a divided braid
1:59    Loop shifts
2:58    Next loop transfer.
5:30    Explaining a DIVIDED braid.
5:58    The top of the braid — a divided section.
6:40    Intro to SQUARE braid.
7:12     Starting the square braid section.
8:30    Continuous, slow braiding moves, then faster.
10:15   Showing the braid, skip to 12:03 for FLAT braiding
11:27   Explaining the FLAT braid
12:03   left side WITH a turn, right side with NO turn.
13:06  Braiding. (Mantra: “Left OVER, right THROUGH”)
14:21   Describing a common mistake.
15:30 How to check for the mistake
15:56   Showing the flat section
18:05–19:05   Faster braiding.
19:55   Showing more of the flat braid.
20:13   Fixing a dropped loop
22:15   Another mistake (taking the right loop turned)
23:11   Showing the mistake in the braid
24:48  Unbraiding.
25:40  Reaching the mistake.
26:40  Starting braiding ‘forward’ again
27:25   Showing the braid at this point, mistake gone.

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Oops! I just noticed a mistake in the video, a verbal one—at the point where I am showing the four sides of the square braid, I say that the top and bottom surfaces show chevrons and the 2 side surfaces show “zigs”—it’s really the other way around… It’s the SIDE surfaces that show chevron designs. The surface that faces you as you braid—and the opposite one that faces the floor—show the “zigs”.

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How to set up the loop bundle:
I show this in the 5-loop tutorial.

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Loop-shifting problems:
The loop-shifting may suddenly seem much harder with 7 loops than it did with 5.
Some people have little problem with this, others (like me) find it quite difficult at first.

1. The ring and little fingers have to learn how to detach from each others’ movements during the new loop shift. Some people experience this as a ring-finger problem, others feel the little finger is the problem. The two fingers have probably never been asked to do separate things before, so it may take a little practice before they catch on.

2. Ring fingers naturally have a much smaller range of independent motion than the other fingers. However, the whole hand can help the ring finger lift out of its old loop and move into the next loop:

Tip your loop-shifting hand back slightly to help get the ring finger out of one loop and into the next. It really isn’t necessary for the ring finger to lift up as high as the other fingers if the hand itself tips back a bit to help the finger out, then turns slightly to help the ring finger position itself into the little finger’s loop.

If one hand seems better at the new loop shifting than the other, that’s a good thing! Pay attention to exactly what the ‘good’ hand is doing that works, and try to emulate it on the other hand.

Let each hand do its own loop shifting – if you use the opposite hand to ‘help’ it will not help, instead it will completely prevent the first hand from ever learning the new move!

It’s normal to drop a lot of loops at first – even from fingers that had no problems before with 5 loops. You are focusing so much on the new motions, that you can’t pay as much attention to the rest of the fingers at first. Just pick the loops up and keep going. Don’t worry about mistakes for the first few 7-loop braids.

If it really seems too hard, you may want to try a 6-loop braid as a more gradual way to get each hand used to the new loop-shifting. When you braid with six loops, the first hand to be the active ‘loop-fetcher’ will make 7-loop movements; while the other hand will only make 5-loop movements – for the whole length of the braid. To switch and train the other hand, start the next braid by having the opposite hand begin the braiding moves. Remember: tip the whole hand back to help the ring finger lift out of its loop.

Once you get past that little hurdle you will love 7-loop braids! It’s really fun to use all 4 of your fingers effortlessly to produce beautiful braids. Just those two extra loops make a much “richer” braid, more solid-looking, with a lot more color possibilities and longer, more eye-catching patterns.

Nudge: After making a few 7-loop braids without dropping loops, move right on up to 9-loop braids, where the thumbs will now be loop-holders. This is not necessarily any harder than moving up to 7 loops! And if you wait too long to tackle them, you might get so swift at 7-loop braids that you won’t have the patience to slow down for 9-loop braids. (Seriously, longtime and speedy 7-loop braiders sometimes seem more taken aback when adding thumbs than do newer braiders!)

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Flat (and divided) 7-loop braids:
See the Start Here tutorial for more about the 4 different shape variations:
Divided, Square, Flat, and “3/4 Flat”. It’s usually easier to get a truly flat, wide braid with 7 loops than it is with 5 loops. If you consistently get the 3/4-flat version instead, you are probably tightening much too hard. Tighten widely, but do it lightly. Don’t pull hard.

[I now have some further insights about avoiding or achieving the 3/4-flat braid shape – within my more recent post Pickup 3: Flat Braids.]

Here’s a photo montage of a 7-loop flat braid – first right after being braided (top view) where it is still in its folded, 2-layer shape with the appearance of a square braid; then two more views as I gradually open it out and spread it flat.

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In the banner picture at the very top of all my pages, the hank of braid on the far right side is a 7 yard long, 7-loop square braid, made out of embroidery floss. I used very pale colors in this braid, so the pattern doesn’t show very well. Here’s a close-up I took when it was half-finished:

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7-loop braid color-pattern and shape variations:

Check out my post on color-pattern planning – it includes set-up instructions for several beautiful 7-loop braid color patterns.

My two tutorials for ‘unorthodox braids’ are both geared toward 7-loop braids, though they can be made with more or fewer loops as well:

1. The D-shaped braid
Plus a color-pattern post on some D-shaped color variations
.

2. The Triangle braid
Plus this color-pattern post on a LOT of Triangle braid color variations
.

Hint: Any of the color-pattern set-ups in the two posts above (for D-shaped and Triangle braid patterns) will likely turn out very nicely when braided as a square braid as well! just follow the color set-up instructions for any of them, but then braid a square braid instead.

The following tutorial teaches how to make some striking color-patterns in 7-loop flat braids by linking loops within the braid (this adds another move to the braiding procedure):
Color-Linking in 7-loop Braids.

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Finishing:
I usually end a braid by braiding a loop into it (a divided braid section followed by a short square or flat section). Then to finish it, below the bottom loop I usually divide the braid into several thinner loop braids to make a braided tassel. (see the third video in my Bracelet with Chevrons tutorial).

You could just tie a big knot at the bottom of the braid to finish it, with a tassel of ends hanging below. Or tightly wrap and tie with thread near the bottom (called whipping) and sew the thread ends into the braid, again with an ending tassel below. Or you can buy or make metal end-caps to clamp and glue onto the tied, trimmed and glued end of the braid (as a jewelry-type finishing), or use aiglets (those things at the tips of shoelaces) or bolo-tie end caps, depending on your intended use for the braid.

See this note for some other ideas for ending braids.

After the braid is all finished (but before opening it out, if it’s a flat braid) I ‘relax’ the braid by manipulating it in the opposite manner to stretching it. Instead, I squeeze the braid inward all up and down its length, as if I’m trying to shorten it. It does shorten it a bit! This helps braids fill out and look better after having been pulled lengthwise for the whole braiding process. If it’s a flat braid, it’s then easier to open out width-wise and tug the edges outward to flatten and widen it.

If the braid doesn’t ‘want’ to stay flattened out, I’ll then wet or dampen it, gently stretch it flat again, and let it dry on a towel or hanging over my towel rod overnight. (my version of ‘blocking’) Sometimes I simply wash it in fact.

Apparently Japanese Kumihimo braiders steam their braids to finish and block them—holding them (carefully) over a kettle on the stove, for example. I usually just dunk them in warm slightly soapy water, or hold them under running water. (If I am certain the colors won’t bleed—whenever I use a new type of yarn I test it first by soaking a sample for a few hours in hot water and detergent in a clear or white container, to see if any color bleeds into the water.)

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Last updated Feb 14, 2024

© 2012–2024 Ingrid Crickmore
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