Custom handmade sageo, braided with traditional Japanese techniques.

Made from pure silk, hand dyed, designed to your specifications.

Right now the waiting time is pretty long, because there’s a significant amount orders in the backlog. GET ON THE WAITING LIST NOW!

SAGEO TIER 1

various styles and textures, all hand made

SAGEO TIER 2

Kikkō gumi (turtle shell) sageo

SAGEO TIER 3

custom motifs

Welcome to sageo.se

My custom handmade sageo come in a variety of designs. Some are textures from the structure of the braid it self, and some have simple repetitive shapes. The most high-end styles have complex motifs.

They are several traditional Japanese tools for making kumihimo. I use the round stand (marudai) and the tall stand (takadai).

Custom designs, handmade to order

You can choose from solid colors, or staged-dye threads, also known as “danzome silk”. Dansome silk creates a gradient-fade or a pixelated effect in the sageo. I hand-dye pure silk for each sageo and design to your specifications.

If you are not sure on which style that suits you, I will do my best to help you along the way.

Each sageo is one of a kind, because I always bring my personal aesthetic and touch to your order.

A bit about me…

I’m a full-time UI designer living in Stockholm. In 2015 I discovered my passion for making Japanese cords (kumihimo). Combined with my interest in iaido, I started to make sageo, cords used for the Japanese sword. My goal is to make custom handmade sageo. I want to blend traditional Japanese techniques with modern designs. I try to capture the Japanese essence of striving for perfection through repetition.

Take a look at how I work

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What is kumihimo?

Kumihimo (組紐)

is Japanese for “braids”, which means “the assembly of threads”. Kumihimo is an umbrella term of various techniques used to produce cords.

Japanese braids were originally created by using “finger loop braiding”. In finger loop braiding, you hold long loops of thread with your fingers. The loops then move from finger to finger as you braid.

Later on, braiders could make more complex braids faster on marudai and takadai. This led to more variations in the braids.

Historically, samurai used kumihimo on their armour and weaponry. Modern uses of kumihimos include ties for haori jackets and obijime for kimono.

What is a marudai?

The marudai (丸台)

is a round stand used Japanese braid makers. It’s commonly made with a close-grained wood. .

It is made of a round disk (kagami, or “mirror”) with a hole in the center, set in a base by four legs.

The Japanese style marudai is usually around 41 cm high. You can braid while kneeling, or sit with it placed on a table. Taller marudai (around 66 cm) allow the you to sit in a chair to braid.

You can make flat, square, as well as round braids on a marudai.

What is a takadai?

Takadai (高台)

is a sort of braiding stand making kumihimo, almost resembling a western loop. The braids created on the takadai can be both flat and rectangular.

Weighted bobbins, “tama”, hold the threads in place. The threads hand from slidable wooden blocks with pegs called “koma”. A braider separates the thread with their fingers, and one or more tama are cast through. Then they use a flat wooden sword to beat the weft into place.

On a takadai the weaves have a V-shape; a regular loom produces a straight front.

Why is the waiting time so long?

It takes a lot of time and effort

to make a long sageo. I try to work on my orders on my free time as much as possible, because I have a full time job. A tier 1 sageo might take up to a week to complete. A tier 2 and 3 sageo may take up to a month.

How are you setting your prices?

Because it takes a lot of work

for a single sageo, I have to charge accordingly. Except for harvesting the silk, everything is done from scratch and by hand. I prepare the warps my self, then dye the silk. For the tier 3 sageo, I also spend a lot of time designing the motifs and planning the dye segments.