Friendship bracelet tutorial

How to make a friendship bracelet

I am lucky to have great relatives. One niece is a follower of this blog and another niece showed me how to make the really cute friendship bracelet featured in this post. Lucky me! The completed friendship bracelet is in the middle of the picture.

Here’s what you need to make a friendship bracelet.
1. A round piece of fairly firm cardboard to make a disc or circle
2. Seven pieces of embroidery thread in the colours of your choice, no less than 30 centimeters long

Fold the cardboard circle in half, then into quarters and then into eighths. Open up the circle and make a short snip at each of the eight folds. Next poke a small hole in the middle of your cardboard circle.

Look to the left of the picture and you will see that I have gathered up the thread and made a big fat knot to hold it together. Make sure you leave about 2 centimetres before the knot to create a tassel end.

Pull the thread through the hole in the centre of your disc and now look to the right of the picture.I have turned the disc over and pulled each one of the seven strands through one of the snips.

Imagine the disc is a clock. The eighth snip, the one without the thread, is always pointing to 12 o’clock. You begin to “weave” or make a rope by taking the piece of thread at 4 o’clock and pulling it over the other threads and sliding it into the 12 o’clock slot. Turn the disc so the empty slot is back facing 12 o’clock keep repeating. You have to pull the completed piece of home made rope through the hole every now and again.

Once the bracelet is long enough to fit around your wrist snugly stop “weaving”. The extra length comes from the two knots you make to form an opening and closing for your bracelet. If you look at the completed bangle again in the middle of the picture you will see how the bracelet fits together.

Pull your bracelet out of the disc and make a knot where you stopped “weaving” to prevent it coming undone. Leave a small gap after the knot, just enough for the knot you made right at the beginning to slip through and make a second knot. The image in the middle should help you get the configuration of the bracelet.

It might sound tricky but it really is child’s play. Have a look at this kid making one on a You Tube clip – how to make a friendship bracelet.

Here is someone else making a 32 thread bracelet. I gotta say that 7 threads was hard enough. They get a bit tangled and 7 threads was the right thickness. But have a look to get a sense of how the “weaving” process works – 32 thread friendship bracelet.

The Greenie Galleries have lots more ideas for making your own clothes and accessories. Go back to the top of this page to find them.

More next week.

Greenie.