Friday, August 30, 2013

Round Friendship Bracelet Tutorial

Growing up we spent many hours with thread pinned to couch cushions making friendship bracelets. I'm sure my mom saw the benefit of keeping our hands busy. This round bracelet is one of the easiest and quickest to do.
Start with embroidery floss. You can find embroidery floss at JoAnn's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Wal-Mart. Any store with a craft section will have embroidery floss; it's a basic craft supply.

To begin, pick your colors. The more colors you use, the thicker your bracelet will be, and all the steps will be the same no matter the number of threads. Each thread will be about an arm length. Cut all thread and tie a knot at the top. You'll want to leave a bit of a tail to use when the bracelet is finished and you are tying it on. Tape the bracelet to a counter or table, or you can use a safety pin and attach it to a pillow or the thigh area of your jeans.
First, pick the color you want to use first and separate it from the group. Take the thread over the others and then under, like you are tying a knot.

 
Hold the group of thread tight and slide the yellow to the top and pull tight and repeat, I did each color 5 times here.


Then return the yellow to the group and choose your next color.
And repeat 5 times. You can do each color however many times you want to, but for even blocks keep them all the same.
Repeat with all the colors in the order you choose until the bracelet is long enough to wrap around the wrist, or ankle if you are making an ankle bracelet.

Tie a knot at the end, cut with a tail and tie. I recently taught a group of 8-9 year olds how to make these and they had so much fun!

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