In 2019, Makiko Tada introduced a new foam braiding plate – the ‘OCTO Plate’. The OCTO Plate was designed to make braided flowers, 3D forms and wide braids.  It uses some of the same patterns that Makiko designed for the Square Plate.

The Octo (eight sided) and Square (four sided) Plates have significantly different slotted opening dimensions. While the Square Plate has an opening size of less than an inch, the Octo Plate is much wider, with an elongated center hole (3 in L x 7/16 in W (72.6 mm x 11.1 mm).   The larger opening on the Octo plate allows the braider to use more strands to make a larger, wider flat braid.  The ten additional slots allows larger patterns and provides more surface area to manipulate your braids. The shape of the Octo plate enables the braider to easily move the larger number of strands across the plate.

Flower of Kumihimo – The “Flower of Kumihimo  (Designed by Hiroko Ojima and Makiko Tada) braid is an expansion of the winding circle, flat spiral braid found in Makiko Tada’s book; Comprehensive Treatise of Braids VI: Kumihimo Disk and Plate.

Comparison of the sizes of the octo plate and the square plate. Also note the difference in the sizes and shapes of the openings.