Hexagonal 4-Strand Flat Braid

This is a braid I really like the hexagonal look of. I've made versions of it with yucca, palmetto, and strips of paper. I want to try making a longer strip and sew it together to make a coiled basket, but I'm not sure how.

I first came across this design in a book called By Southern Hands: A Celebration of Craft Traditions in the South by Jan Arnow. It wasn't a how-to book, so I tried to do more research online. I found many examples of how to make this braid, and it was really cool to see versions of it from different cultures. In Louisiana, it's a technique from the Houma to braid palmetto strips. I also found versions of it in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Hawaii, New Zealand, Japan, Russia, Czechoslovakia, and the UK. I found some examples of it connected to wheat straw harvest and Palm Sunday decorations. Most of the uses are just for short lengths. It doesn't seem to be very common pattern, but historically was used to make hats or bags. I couldn't find any info on how to sew coiled strips together, other than the general description that it was overlapped. It looks like the base for Houma bags or baskets was woven separately in a different style.

Resources

Louisiana- Houma Palmetto braiding by Marie Billiot Dean

https://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/Houmaarts.html

https://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/images/Houma/p22.jpg

https://www.nsula.edu/documentprovider/docs/860/Dean,%20Marie%20Billiot.pdf

Arnow, Jan. By Southern Hands: A Celebration of Craft Traditions in the South. p 44-45

Bermuda- Fishtail braid of palmetto

 Of Fishpots, Bonnets, and Wine: The Cultural History of the Bermuda Palmetto, Anna Saskia Wolsak  

https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/24/1.0362882/4 p 144, p 151

Bahamas- Jacob’s Ladder plait of palm fronds

 https://www.grandbahamamuseum.org/exhibits/culture/plaiting-and-thatching

Hawaii- nihoniho headband with hala tree leaves

      Bird, A.J. et. al. The Craft of Hawaiian Lauhala Weaving

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Craft_of_Hawaiian_Lauhala_Weaving/

 

New Zealand- Maori whiri mekameka (flat four plait) mostly for headbands with New Zealand flax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Hjmueusvw 

Russia- Zubatka (fish plait?) with paper tubes

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMCYr5qo4pI

https://stranamasterov.ru/node/438796

UK/Europe- Tyrolean or Rustic Plait with straw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es9TEyuRJAs

https://www.hatplait.co.uk/plaits