Preparing bramble fibres for cordage.

Brambles are excellent for cord making or as bindings for basketry, prepare them now and you can use them for cordage later in the year. Use with my cord making instruction video or your own preferred method.

[Skyspiders]

My eyes are bulging out of my skull with shock awe and gratitude for this knowledge! I had no idea the incredible wealth of potential cordage blackberry brambles were offering me each and every day while I resentfully spat at them with contempt. Gaw just look at the way the fiber falls right off of them! I'm going to march straight out to the massive bramble patch by my front door tomorrow with a pair of leather gloves and a renewed understanding and appreciation for this horrendously invasive and tenacious species (at least where I am living anyhow)!

[Just_Sara]

Well, I've done it now, thanks so much for the help! It was fun, I hope lots of people saw me randomly walking around with my knife, chopping off blackberry plants next to the railroad tracks!

[deboraharmstrong]

Oh Sally, I can still hear my Horticulture professor, teaching Day 1 of the Pernicious weeds course.

"This is Himalayan Blackberry. In. A. BAD. Year. It. Grows. 15. Feet. A. Year. If any of you bring so much as an INCH of it into my greenhouse? I will kick you out so fast you will be airbourne until your hair is grayer than mine.

[luciemalbequi]

Sally, thank you a thousand times for your generosity of sharing. I am so existed to discover all you knowledge. Thanks for doing what you do and being this sunny.

[alyxlie]

I can wait to do this! I've recently moved and the garden is full of weeds and brambles, turning it into fiber sounds like a great way to make use of it ❤️

[Beryllahawk]

Just found this video (AFTER, of course, asking questions elsewhere, ha!) - and so it turns out - we do NOT in fact have blackberries in the southern US, not the same species at all as the plant you're showing here. We have "dewberries, " which are cousins to the blackberry - and delicious, but the vines are extremely thin and fine and the spines are just a bit toxic, they leave a rash on most folks if you get tagged by the bigger ones. They DO grow very very fast, but I don't think I've ever seen any of the vines get even half as big as what you harvested for this video. Another difference: they grow along the ground and sometimes climb over larger plants, but not trees; they're the sort of vine that makes roots all along its length, a bit like wisteria in that way...
Still searching for info on how the Choctaw (and related tribes) used native plants, but I just wanted to say to you - thank you again for such wonderful videos. Even if I can't use the same plants, you've explained the overall process SO well, so clearly - and demonstrated in a very easy to follow way, too! I feel sure that if I can lay hands on suitable materials, I can definitely muddle my way to my very own made-from-scratch cordage! (I don't expect to be so good at it for a long while, but that's okay, I just want to learn how it works!)

[brianchristie]

Just discovered your videos Sally and I'm really enjoying them. Thank you.

[pmtwarrior]

Thanks for teaching the bramble because I had no idea what i searching for x.x I have a bunch of black berry bushes growing around me and wanted to do something with them, so I’m glad I found your page !

[roseyork]

You have taught me so much, so many wonderful ancestral skills! Thank you for sharing!

[scottsurvival]

Wouldn't have thought that you could remove the thorns and make cordage out of that. Raspberry bushes are abundant here in the American midwest. I planted a small piece in my yard a number of years ago and now it's a huge bush. I'm going to try this technique. Thank you for another great video.

[shelleymonson]

I had no idea that brambles were a fiber plant. Have a million of them in my garden; will go out in the morning and find some nice canes!

[kitdubhran]

I have TONS of blackberry in my backyard. I’ve been putting it into the green bin (municipal composting) for ages. This is a great idea though! I’m going to look into uses for the fleshy parts. I know the leaves can be used as a tea.

[FrauWNiemand]

This is interesting. I just found this channel via Instagram and I never used bramble for cordage before, just linden tree bark and of course wine vines, which I used to tether the vines in our garden. But I used bramble for basketweaving.

[lotty]

Get a long mature thick length. Take thorns off with knife. Cut lengthways in half and then again to get 4 lengths. Use knike to scrape away inside. Pull each length over a round pole to get it flexible enough to coil up. Then put coils in brine to soak for 3 or 4 weeks. And there you are. Very strong and last ages.

[andyg]

Great videos Sally, thanks so much for all the wonderful content!
My first cordage-making season this year and I’ve been making some great bramble fibres, but I’m wondering whether these can be separated more finely like nettle (perhaps with the blackthorn tool), or is 1mm thickness practically the best one can get and maintain that lovely length?

[NikosKatsikanis]

willow is also great, and no spikes, easier prep

[pcolvin]

Interesting. I was doing this wrong. I peeled the outer bark off in wider strips and weaved a basket immediately. There wasn't much shrinkage and it made a surprisingly strong little basket, if a bit rough looking. Suitable though for picking blackberries, though.

I am looking for how to join two ends together. I have a lot of juncus, swamp grass I call it, on our property that I find myself making baskets with. It does have quite a bit of shrinkage bc it's so full of water. Not too bad if I cram the stalks in super tight. I have pics of all this stuff on my channel, btw.

Anyways, I spin wool from my alpacas in a spinning wheel, so I was experimenting on my spinning wheel last.nigjt with the juncus to try to make cordage. Normally I just.braid it. I thought I could fray the end of each piece and twist them together using the wheel like I do for alpaca fiber, etc. But plant fibers are completely different, apparently. I dried the juncus and then soaked it a little to spin. I meticulously split the stalks and removed the pith, rubbed the split pieces.over a corner to loosen the fibers up. All experimenting.

That first piece showed promise of making a very fine, thin cordage for basket weaving. But joining two pieces.together is kicking my rear still, so I came to YouTube looking for answers. I suspect that with plant fibers, I won't be able to do one ply at a time like on a spinning wheel. With one.ply, .joining.new.pieces in is a real problem. I even cheated and just tied the two pieces in a knot. I was hoping the spinning wheel would put the work on a spindle to keep it bound up, and also ease the abuse only hands. Maybe make the work faster. With wool, I spin 2 thin threads and then spin them together again the opposite direction to make a two ply yarn that is thin.enoigh to go through my knitting machine nicely.

Ultimately, I would love to make clothes, and experiment to see which invasive weeds are good for that. I have nettle, but not enough of it. I have dried bundles of flax I grew, but there's not enough of that yet, either. And I have lots and LOTS of alpaca and some sheep wool I've collected. But those things are hot in Spring and summer.

I will be checking out your other videos. Also liked and subscribes. Learning primitive skills is my hobby and part.of being prepared for the zombie apocalypse. Lol

[LittlePetieWheat]

I've seen people use a pad of denim (made from old jeans) to remove the thorns.

[thetightwad]

I enjoyed the video very much but would love it more if the closed-captioning was available for it.

[wenseager]

I'm a new member of your wonderful channel and will certainly be trying out what i have learned here! Thank you so much for your fun and informative video's. I do have a quick question, is it possible to use brambles in the winter to make cord with, or is it only the new shoots? Have a wonderful Christmas!