@ smithmal.....For braiding/weaving patterns try:
Rope Weaving; Paracord weaving; and Challah Bread braiding; videos on You-Tube. Think outside the box for additional sources. Hibiscus weaving; Hair-braiding videos Palm Frond weaving videos, also. Just substitute fig stems for the original braiding materials. I've done this kind of braiding using other plants (seedling oaks and maples), and anything over a four-stem braid is really difficult.
However, fig stems must be green, and soft, and are usually braided into position, gradually, over time. Thin, tall, and wiry, green stems, work better than shorter, thicker stems. Braiding is a work in progress, and don't expect tightly braided stems. Figs stems don't bend as easily as rope, or, some other plant material. Green, and semi-lignified wood will only bend just so far, and then....it snaps. Use plenty of foam covered twist ties or tape, to hold the braided stems in position. Over time, the braided stems will take a set, and stay in place. I found that a well placed, thin, stainless-steel wood screw (drill a smaller diameter pilot hole first, to avoid splitting) going through all the three of stems, at the topmost crossing will lock the three braided stems in place and will prevent the individual stems from trying to unravel. As the braided stems start to thicken, and try to expand away from one another, the top screw - that locks them in place - will not allow this, and the stems will start to fuse-graft over time wherever the cambium layers cross and touch, and eventually over time, will become "one" thicker, composite-trunk.
You can probably plait fruit tree whips together also. Most use bud grafting, but a braided apple tree or Paw Paw tree would look better, and visually, be more interesting, I think. Trees needing male and female flowers to produce fruit can also be braided together....forever locked in a botanical embrace, that will assure progeny.... Be the first to grow "menage a trois" pears...or a have cherry bacchanalia.
Frank