I finally put together a DIY tutorial for my simple macramé bracelet. After showing you a glimpse of it in my most recent Photo An Hour (Part 1 & Part 2), and my outfit post from this past Sunday, I figured I was past due for a tutorial.
I started off by drawing a straight line on a piece of cardboard, and then sticking 32 straight pins as close together as possible on the line. The number of pins you need will be determined by how wide you'd like the bracelet to be. This will become more clear once we begin. 32 pins will make a bracelet that is about 3.25 inches wide. For this tutorial I will only be using 12 of the pins, to make a bracelet that is about one inch wide.
Gather together embroidery thread, and a clasp. I am using three colors for this project, for the wider bracelet I used four, but it is completely up to you. I am using a five loop closure, that I bought at Michael's. On the wider bracelet I made, I used four toggle clasps. I thought about using some acrylic beads, but once I started I decided they were too big for this project.
Now measure out each strand for the bracelet, and wrap one strand around one pin. The middle of the embroidery thread should be touching the pin.
Since I made up this tutorial out of my head, I guessed how long they should be. My guess is 56 inches, but I never measured the threads for my first bracelet, and I lucked out with decent length tails. How I guessed the length, was I figured it should be one and a half times longer than the length I would need to make it around my wrist. Without the toggles my first finished bracelet measures six and a half inches.
This is what it looked like once I measured out all the embroidery thread, and wrapped them around each individual pin. I placed two threads of the same color next to each other, going from orange, green, and then pink, and repeating that pattern.
Now, let's get down to the actually bracelet making! Start by running your first strand through the first loop on the five loop clasp, and make sure the thread is perfectly doubled in half, and tie it in a tight knot. Do the same thing with the second strand in the first loop.
Continue tying each strand to a loop on the clasp. For twelve threads and five loops, I ran two through the first, three through the second, two through the middle loop, three through the fourth hole, and two through the last loop.
Moving on to the next row. Skip the first thread, and tie the second and third strands together.
Keep tying the strands next to each other together, until you get to the end. There should be a lose thread on each end. Now you have the technique down! The third row will be the same as the first two, and the fourth row will be the same as the second row. Keep repeating this until you reach the desired length.
I will share in another tutorial how to finish this bracelet off. This is how far I got before my ADHD got the better of me, and I needed to find a new project.
Well, I've had a long enough break now, and it's almost dinner ... err, I just ate dinner, and walked the dog. So back to making knots, and watching more Sister Wives. Hope ya'll enjoyed, and happy DIYing, chris.
