Crafting with Steph: Friendship Bracelets

Hello all!

Today, I would like to introduce you to my newest hobby: friendship bracelet making. Now, I know what you're all thinking: friendship bracelets are for tween girls. But my new hobby goes way beyond all that. You've never seen a friendship bracelet quite like this before.

This is not a simple braided bracelet. It's not a candy stripe, and it's not even a chevron. This is an alpha bracelet. Just the name let's you know it's above the rest.

ALPHA

Don't believe me? It's ok, I'll quit telling you about how great they are, and just simply show you.

^These are some of my first attempts at this form of friendship bracelet making. It took me a while to learn how to make these perfect, but that was because I was lazy and didn't read the tutorial completely. I wasted a lot of sting messing up, but I finally went back and reread the whole thing, and that was when I got it. Making these bracelets is really simple, and I hope you enjoy making them as much as I now do.

Now, for some instructions.

You will need embroidery thread or floss (when I first started making these bracelets, I used floss I had had since the sixth grade. It was pretty old, and it actually broke while I was tying the knots). I would actually suggest using DMC floss, because it's quality, and wont rip. You can find them at Joann and Michael's stores for about 39 cents a skein.

Making these bracelets requires knowing how to make two simple knots: the forward knot and the backward knot. These are really simple, and you can find instructions on how to make them here: http://friendship-bracelets.net/tutorial.php?id=66 I believe watching the videos would be the simplest way to learn these knots, because at first, I just could not understand those charts.

To make the bracelets, you need to start off by finding a chart. This mustache chart is simple, and won't take you too long. For this tutorial, I will be referring to this chart.

To begin, cut out 6 lengths of embroidery thread. The color will not be visible, so it is not important which color you choose. Each should be about twenty 24-26 inches in length. Next, choose a color for the background (what is shown in black on the chart). You will most likely use a whole skein of this color, so there is no need to cut it. Take all your strings and line them up, including the background color, and fold them in half, and make a knot at the top, leaving a loop. This loop is important, because you will use it to tie your bracelet at the end. You should have 13 strings to use as the skeleton of the bracelet, and another to use for the background color. Start tying forward knots until you reach the last string. Then make your way back to the first string by tying backward knots. Do this for a couple of rows, and then start the pattern. Since I'm not so good at explaining the process, here is a link to a video I found very useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5isoq_e-kFo

Now, after finally figuring out how these awesome bracelets are made, I bet you'll want to make tons of different patterns. Well, you're in luck. These two websites here have THOUSANDS of patterns: http://friendship-bracelets.net/ and http://www.braceletbook.com/patterns.html?type=alpha . If you make your own account at braceletbook.com, you can even design your own patterns, using pictures or pixels.

The following are some of the bracelets that I made in my spare time: