Posts Tagged with bracelets

Help, I can’t stop!  I love making these, the varieties of patterns, colors, and styles are endless.  I bought connectors here and used the macrame technique from this site to make these:

Then I tried something very simple – just a looped strand of knotting cord on each end of the connector makes a beautiful bracelet:

Or anklet:

Here you can see the detail of the pull closure – I used the macrame technique to make a 4-5 bump closure that the strands pull through to loosen or tighten, then I strung beads onto the ends of the cord and knotted them on the ends.

You can find complete directions for these bracelets in my earlier posting here.

I’ve used embroidery thread to make friendship bracelets in prior summers, but this Chinese knotting cord is a game-changer!  It’s so much easier and much more fun to work with, and the colors are bright and saturated.  The bracelets I made with this cord are sturdier and show off their colors better than anything I’ve tried before.

My inspiration was, as is so often the case, the Purl Bee:  you can find the instructions here and the Chinese knotting cord here.  I experimented with several of the patterns, but my favorite was the simple braid with six strands (two each of three colors).  To me, this produced the best color and the ideal weight and thickness for the bracelet.

I tried Purl Bee’s closure instructions, but I wasn’t satisfied with the result.  I surfed around on the Internet and made several other attempts before finding these instructions.  This technique worked perfectly – I made the macrame closure, per the instructions, then I threaded a bead onto each of the two “pull strings”, knotted the end of the cord, sealed the cut end with a lighter, and used a drop of glue to secure the bead to the knot.

I initially had a lot of trouble stringing the beads, but I found that if I rolled the end of the cord in a little bit of glue, then when it was tacky, used my fingers to roll it into a stiff point, it threaded much more easily.

My daughters loved making these, too, and were very successful with the braiding, although it took a little practice to keep the cords from rolling and to maintain the perfect amount of tension along the chain as the braiding progressed.

The Chinese knotting cord is not very expensive, and you get a lot of cording on each reel.  We plan to make a whole basketful of these bracelets to sell at our school’s winter crafts fair this Christmas.

This is a great quick and easy summer break project . . . I found easy-to-follow directions here.  For supplies, you’ll need:

Waxed linen cord
8/0 seed beads
Two-hole buttons

The fun is in the combinations of color and texture – the colors of the waxed linen cord, the bead finishes and textures, and the two-hole button designs and colors.  I made up three in quick succession – I like how it looks when I wear them all at once.  One note:  make sure you fit them carefully, since the clasp (a loop around the button) doesn’t allow for much adjustment.

A friend recently gave all of the women in our group of friends friendship bracelets that her daughter had made – a beautiful, simple yet thoughtful gift that inspired me to try making my own. Armed with a package of embroidery floss from JoAnns and the Daring Book for Girls for starter patterns, I gave it a try and found it fun and easy, once I learned to pull the knots tight enough. I also found a plethora of information and patterns on numerous friendship bracelet websites, so I tried three patterns: twisted snake (demonstrated in the pics to the left), candy stripe, and chevron.

For me, the best part is putting the colors together – there are so many different combinations and patterns that it’s hard to stop! I also liked the touch my friend used of adding a charm to the bracelet (I tie them around my ankle, so I suppose they’re really anklets), so I found small charms at Michaels that work adequately, but I think that next time, I’ll order something a little sturdier online.

The twisted snake pattern demonstrated at left uses three different shades of pink — two strands of each color. The knotting is simple and the result (see below) is an interesting twist pattern. You can make each color block whatever size you want, and use as many colors as you like.

I know this is a popular activity for girls’ slumber parties, but I think it would be just as fun for our next girls’ night out!