Friendship bracelets originate from Guatemala and made their way to the States in the 1970s. Friendship bracelets are a form of macrame since the woven patterns are created by knots. It is traditional to make and give a bracelet to a friend as a sign of long-lasting friendship. The bracelet is not supposed to be taken off, it should fall off naturally, some people say that if you remove the bracelet you break the friendship 🙁
Materials:
- Embroidery Thread (at least 2 different colours)
- A safety pin
- Plenty of patience 🙂
Making the Bracelet
- The general rule is to cut pieces of thread the length between your fingertips and shoulder. Hold the end of the thread in your fingers and stretch your arm out, do this 2x so you have 1 long piece of thread, double the length of your fingers to shoulder. Do this for all the different colours of thread you are using
- You should secure the ends of the threads to something using sellotape or I like to use a safety pin and pin it to my trousers 🙂
- Take the first piece of thread on the left, shape it into a number 4 with the 2nd strand next to it being the straight line of the “4”. Make sure the first strand goes over the second strand, and then behind . It is important the first strand always goes OVER the second strand, it’ll give it the right look.
- Now hold the second strand taut, and pull the first strand up and into the loop. Pull until you meet resistance, but not any harder! This will create a small knot on the second strand.
- Make another knot by tying the first strand around the second strand again – by just repeating steps 1-2.
- Continue moving across to the right, using the first strand to create two knots on each strand of floss/yarn in the bracelet.
- Once you’ve knotted all the way across to the right and reached the last strand of floss/yarn, begin again using the first strand on the left. Make sure you’re making TWO knots on each strand.
- Keep knotting until you have the right measurement for your wrist.