How to make a Champion Braid A.K.A. Texas Braid Tutorial

  

 

 

Braid Time!

This is what is called a Champion Braid or some people call it a Texas Braid.  This one is fairly simple, just tedious.  The best thing I can tell you is to be patient.  These things take a little time to make and if you rush through it they turn out poorly.  Also PRACTICE!!  Most of my braids took me making them over and over and over before they started to look right :-)

 

Supplies:

to make an 18" braid you will need:

•  3 - 18" pieces of #3 ribbon (I used navy for this)
•  1 - 90" piece of #3 ribbon (I used white for this)

to make a 36" braid you will need:

• 3 - 36" pieces of #3 ribbon
• 1 - 5 yard piece of #3 ribbon

 

 

Lets get started.................

 

 

First take your three ribbons and put them all next to each other side by side.

 

 Now you want to make sure they are nice and close together without overlapping but no spaces in between.  I use a piece of tape at the top to hold it down and still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now take the white piece and starting at one side, weave it through the 3 pieces.  Then tape the loose starting end down as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, on the right side we are going to take that white ribbon and fold under and down - FLAT up against that outside navy ribbon on the right side.   Make sure you crease the ribbon really well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now we take the white ribbon (note that the navy ribbons will not be moving - it is the white ribbon that will weave back and forth).  Take the white ribbon and fold it over and to the left and weave over and under the navy ribbons opposite of how you wove them on the line above (in this case it was over the first and last navy ribbons and under the middle navy ribbon).

   
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do this on the left side now.  Fold white ribbon under and straight down flush against the outside navy ribbon.

 

Then fold over and to the right - weaving through navy ribbon each time you go across.

Repeat back and forth - white ribbon - fold under and down, then over and across other ribbons until you get to the bottom.  Once at the bottom staple across it and cut off any excess.  Go back and staple the top also so it won't unravel.  Then decorate with whatever you like!!  **Added Tip - I sometimes use a ribbon iron (or regular iron on lowest setting - just BE CAREFUL) to go over the points to make them nice and super creased.

     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you have it!  A Champion or Texas Braid!  Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it helps.  Please feel free to contact me via email if you have any questions.  All feedback / comments are welcomed and appreciated!!

 

Have a great day!! Thanks for looking!!

Melissa

Made by www.MelzMumz.com

Comments

[Flo]

I am so glad I found your site with this braid info. It is my daughter's last year of school and I want her homecoming mum to be SPECTACULAR! This braid is just the piece I needed. Thank you!

[Melissa (Vintage Scrapping)]

Thank you for saying that! I am so glad this has been helpful to others - I remember the when I first started making these and I couldn't find many tutorials out there, I promised myself that once I figured it out then I was going to help others who want to learn how to do it too!! I'm not always the best at explaining things, so I am glad the tutorials have been easy to follow :-)

[Hilary]

I love different and unique!, This is cool!! Thank you for posting the directions!!

[Melissa (Vintage Scrapping)]

Thank you! So glad I could help!

[Ester]

Wow! I'm so glad to have seen this.

We have a flower shop in Texas, so a lot of orders come to us for homecoming mums for our area. It's nice to be able to do some of the braids that other places don't do -- to add some individuality and some flair to our mums!