DIY Beaded Friendship Bracelets

I used to make loads of friendship bracelets when I was about 13, and recently I saw a picture of some really cute beaded ones so I thought I'd do a tutorial on them. They're the perfect gift because you can personalise them to suit anyone. And they look really good layered up with a few different ones. The two in the picture are made using the same technique but with different materials, so you can see how versatile the design is. 

You will need...

* Embroidery thread or leather cording (the thicker one is leather cording - I got mine from Tiger)

* Small beads that can you can thread onto your cording

* Scissors

* Sellotape (or equivalent)

* A bracelet clasp (optional)

I'll show you how to make the thicker bracelet first and then explain how you can adapt the technique to make the bracelet with embroidery thread.

1. Cut 4 lengths of the leather cording: 2 need to be about 2 times the length needed to go round your wrist (or the wrist of the person you're making it for), and 2 need to be about double this length.

2. Tie the 4 strands together and place them in this formation..

As you can see I have taped the cords to the table at the top.

Then I have separated the cords out so that the shorter ones are in the middle and the longer ones are on the outside.

You then need to thread your beads onto the two middle cords. It doesn't matter how many you put on at this point - you can always add more or take some off.

Then tape the bottoms of the two shorter cords the the table as well to make them taught.

It should look something like this!




3. Now you can get started.

Take the right hand strand and place it over both middle strands. Then take the left hand strand and place it OVER the right hand strand and the UNDER the middle strands. This will make a loose knot. Grab the two strands and pull tight so that the knot moves to the top of the strands and tighten. I should look like this...Don't worry it's easier than it sounds!

5. Now, push one of the beads on the left middle strand up to the top, and repeat the action above but this time reverse it, so the left strand goes over the middle strands and the right hand strand moves over the left strand and under the middle ones. 

6. Keep repeating this alternating the sides and pushing one bead up on the side you are starting with each time. After a while it should look like this...

7. And that's basically it. When it reaches your desired length, tie a knot in the bottom to secure. I then added a clasp because I find bracelets hard to tie on but you could skip this step if you didn't have one.

To make the bracelet with embroider thread, do exactly the same but instead of having a bead after every knot, I did about 5 knots in between each bead, otherwise you couldn't really see the thread because it's quite thin.

Anyway, these are so easy to make once you've got the hang of the knots and you can be really creative with different colours and beads.

Enjoy! :)