Fingerloop braiding

 Over the summer I have realized that the most correct cord for me to use on my 16th century gowns should be made by fingerloop braiding. Lucet cors had gone out of fashion by that time. I have tried to follow instructions on fingerloop braiding, but I hadn't understood them. Then I found this video about an easier way of doing fingerloop braiding, and it really was easy.

I think I picked up the movement of the fingers within just a few turns, and then I could do it while watching stuff on the computer.

I worked in my kitchen. My kitchen table turned out to be perfect to create the loops around it's ending, and I could tie the loops to my kitchen aid. I could also put the loops down on the table, and then continue to pick them up later. The little metal thingies were used when I stopped overnight and I wanted to make it easier to keep the loops apart.

Now one thing I noticed straight away is that fingerloop braiding hurts my shoulders. I get this after a while when doing lucet cords as well, but then only in one shoulder. Fingerloop braiding is slow and I would not be able to do it all in one go, due to the shoulder pain.

For this test cord I used heavy linen thread. It wore out and one of the loops broke. Thankfully it broke at the top of the loop, so when I tied it together the knot didn't end up in the middle of the braid. The knot made this loop shorter than the others, and it turned a bit fiddlier to work after that. The video tutorial had the same problem, so you can see how she worked it out.

I continued, but after a while the knot on the broken loop broke as well, and since this was a test cord I didn't feel like continuing. So this is the finished fingerloop braid. To finish it I took the bows and tied them into a simple overhand knot.

So my impressions of fingerloop braiding compared to lucet cord.

It was easier to pick up this method of fingerbraiding than it was for me to learn to lucet. The finished fingerbraid cord is very strong and stiff, while lucet gives a cord that is much springier. 

It is possible to do a very long lucet cord, while the fingerloop braid is restricted to how far you can stretch your arms out to tighten then braid. If you have a friend that can help you it is possible to make longer cords. I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of medieval manuscripts that show fingerbraiding show two people working together.

When doing lucet cord it's possible to bring it with you, I've been working my lucet while watching sports and listening to lectures, while the fingerloop braid needs a fixed spot when you work it.

With fingerloop braiding it's possible to work with colours and different techniques to make beautiful patterns, and even eyelets, while with lucet you are basically stuck with just one piece of string.

This very thin cord that I made is thin enough that I think there would be a risk for it to cut into the fabric if I used it to lace my gowns and kirtles. I need to find a yarn or thread that is a bit thicker than my linen thread, and I need to find a friend that can help me make a really long cord for the lacing, but I definitely think if I get those then I rather use fingerloop braiding than lucet for my cords.