Braiding with 5 strands

I've been working on a really cool project today. Really cool. And I had to make a braid with five strands for part of the project. I thought I'd post a tutorial on braiding to hold you over until I can post about my actual project. :)

 1. Get your strips of cloth ready. While learning how to do this, it's best to use thickish strips of cloth as apposed to super thin yarn or thread. Just until you get the hang of it. :)
Tie a knot at the top, and then spread out the cloth strips.

 2. Imagine the two strips on the left to be a pair, the next two are a pair, and the last strip is alone. Take the left hand strips and cross them over their partners. Leave the last one alone.

 3. Now rearrange your imaginary pairs. Now the new two on the right are a pair, the next ones in are a pair, and the one on the far left is alone. Take the right hand strip from each pair and cross it over it's partner.


4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until desired length. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Of course, the first few times you do it,  you'll probably mess it up. ;) But never fear! Practice it up, and you should be fine!




These drawings are just to give you an idea of what to do. This is what it should actually look like:

Happy braiding!