There are three approaches that I have seen, the basic whip stitch, the traditional Japanese pattern, and the modified Japanese pattern used by Strider knives, and others.
Get a book on knots from the library, and you will find the whip stitch. You basicly lay a bend along the handle and then wrap spirally over the bend. When you get to the end of the handle, you stick the loose end of the wrap through the loop in the bend and pull the loose end under the wraps. This is a pretty secure wrap, and very easy.
There are a number of web sites on the Internet that describe the Japanese wrap, including this one:
http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/~herden/ken/tsuka/tsuka.htm
With the modified Japanese wrap, you simply wrap the turns around each other in the center of each handle side, so that one end always wraps over the top of hte handle, and the other end always wraps around the bottom. Tying this one off requires a little creativity, but it ain't rocket science.
I recommend getting a pair of strong clips to hold the wraps while you put on another or rest your fingers. Tap the wraps together using a stick every other wrap to make sure they are nice and compact. It sure makes handle making easy.
I have used nylon boot laces, 5mm parachute cord, and mountianeering shops usually have some smaller diameter woven nylon cord, some in very pretty colors, if you like that sort of thing.
The big question is whether to epoxy coat or not.
