There’s a lot of blank time on some school days, like waiting for your classes to start, getting out of class early or a lunch break that’s too long. One easy project that only takes a tiny bit of space in your backpack is a knotted bracelet, sometimes called a friendship bracelet, as they’re fun to swap, trade and match with friends.
Once a summer-camp staple, this bracelet now shows up in stores, sometimes with beads or leather, but very often just the simple cotton weave. Made of six-ply embroidery thread, this bracelet is both stylish and economical.
Embroidery thread comes in a massive rainbow of colors and costs about 30 or 40 cents. It’s often on sale for four or five skeins for $1. It comes in metallic and tie-dye tones, and also in jumbo packs with multiple skeins of different colors, although I still find it most fun to hand-pick the shades.
Use color in creative ways—school colors, favorite colors, contrasting colors, different shades of the same color (makes a very cool ombré look) or even the color of your favorite organization or charity. How many strands will affect how wide the bracelet is; the more strands, the wider it will be. I used five, but you could use four or even three for a very skinny look.
The technique is an easy half-hitch knot, done twice around each strand to make a smooth, flat surface on the “right” side. The “wrong” side will have two tight loops that don’t look bad if you want to wear it turned around.
The knots will create a diagonal pattern, clearly seen when using different colors to make stripes. Using twice the amount of thread (eight or 10 strands instead of five) and working halfway in towards the middle results in a chevron pattern. With practice, you can even make a “totem pole” or other various design patterns abundant on the Internet.
Try adding beads to the bracelet by stringing them up before knotting the threads. Or, once finished, try tying the ends to a big metal jewelry clasp for a tough, edgy look to contrast the soft threads. You could also string a charm or pendant onto the bracelet after you’re done knotting.
You’ll need:
4 or 5 colors of embroidery thread
1 bobby pin or piece of scotch tape
A book or notebook (something hard and that can’t be damaged by tape or a bobby pin)
Project steps:
1. Measure out 35 inches of each color string and cut. Holding all the strings together as one, make a regular knot about 3 inches from the top. Using the tape or bobby pin, secure this bundle to the book so you can pull against the threads snugly and stay organized. For this design, you’ll always be working left to right.
2. Separate all the threads and fan them out.
3. Taking the string on the far left (string #1), lay it over the string immediately to the right (string #2). Holding #2 taut, pull #1 around #2, loop it through and pull tightly as close to the top knot as possible. Think of it this way: Use both #1 and #2 to tie a regular knot, but instead of pulling both to close it, only pull #1 while holding #2 tight.
4. Repeat. Using #1, continue to make half-hitch double knots on all the threads. When you reach the end, let #1 hang on the far right. Now use #2 to make the knots across all the stitches, including #1, which is now at the end.
5. Repeat with all the colors, working row by row until the bracelet is as long as you want it to be (make it a little shorter than you think you’ll need, since it will stretch as you wear it).
6. Holding all the strands together, make a knot close to the end of the bracelet knotting. Tie both ends together to make the bracelet.
