I can offer no help, but I see what you mean....
Hope someone comes up with a solution....
Good luck
Dorothy

Maybe it has something to do with the way the graphics are drawn. It's making my eyes go funny! But when you look at the projects, the photographs look fine. Click on Carolyn's - the braids look even. Just try it. It looks like fun!
BlueBars

Optical illusion

I see what you mean. Technically, the strips on either side are the same length; it's just that the ones on the left cover over the tips of the ones on the right, so you end up with a braid centered on the top of the point formed by sewing the left and right strips together.

However, I think that what would really satisfy the eye is to center it on the zig-zag line formed by the "points" where the one strip covers its partner in the middle of the entire braid. In other words, draw an imaginary line that cuts the zig-zag in half right down the middle, and make that the center of your braid. I just put a braided border on my Slide Show quilt, and this technique seemed to work.

To do it my way, after completing the braid, here is how to trim it:
I ironed the braid folded in half to make it easier. To do that, imagine a straight line on your ironing board, to the right of your braid, and fold the braid in half in such a way that you get a line of points all more or less touching on that line. Every other point will be the right side of the material, and the other points will be showing the wrong side of the material.
Note how the fold produces little triangles on the fold side, too. If you turned the braid over to look at the other side of the fold, you would see little triangles there, too, only not exactly opposite the others.
{{!gwi}}
I hope this helps, Red! I just put a braided border on my Slide Show quilt.

It just LOOKS funny.. I have made them and they turn out fine...

{{!gwi}}

I think that it is because there are different colors on each side, which caused the one on the left to appear longer. Jayne