Homemade Paracord

 Here is a fun craft project that will give you a basic understanding of how paracord is made. Here we are going to make an eight strand casing with a three strand core. Real military grade paracord has a 32 strand casing & a seven strand core. But the process is the same for both. 
 For this Project we are going to make a kumihimo wheel & eight bobbins out of cardboard this is going to be the jig to braid the outer casing. 
 For your fist time get two different colors of thread this will help you from getting to confused as you braid.
For this braid we will use green & purple.

 To braid up the casing for your paracord you will need to make a kimihimo wheel & eight bobbins out of some thick cardboard.

 Step 1.  draw out two circles one within the other one. The  outer around 6-7 inch. & the inner 1-2 inch. then 16 marks on the outer circle in equal distances from one an other.
 
Step 2. cut out the two circles & make 1/2 inch cuts on the 16 marks.

step 3. Then draw & cut out the bobbins out with 1/2 inch. cuts on each end.

  

 You will need four threads in one color & four  in another color each around 3ft . This is for the outer casing in this example we are using four green & four purple. Then three in some other color for the core threads here we are using white thread.

 Step 1. to load the eight threads of purple & green thread on the bobbins by first wedging one end of a thread in one of the notches on the bobbin. Then wrap the thread around the bobbin then wedge the other end in the other notch.

Step 2. take the eight treads of green & purple that you just put on the bobbins, plus the three white threads that will be used as the core & tie them together.

Step 3. put the knot in the center of the kimihimo wheel & wedge the eight threads of green & purple in the slots cut around the wheel alternating colors. then just leave the white thread free.

The braid is simple to do. Just take your time & enjoy.

 Step 1. all the green threads jump over the purple threads moving counter clock wise.

Step 2. all the purple threads jump over the green threads moving clock wise.
 
step 3. repeat steps 1 & 2 as needed. The white threads do nothing.

 This is a fun craft project to as you watch T.V. As far as kimihimo braiding goes this is just the tip of the ice berg.  Hope you give it a try, it is always fun to have a tactile experience on what goes into something.