My daughter Maude/Mimi prepared this Friendship Bracelet How-to for you. Here’s what she says:
I love making these for my friends — both boys and girls like to wear them. Sometimes I wear just one, and other times I like wearing a whole bunch. I like wearing them as anklets in the summertime.
Once you get the hang of it, this is a really good activity to do while you’re watching a not very good movie. Grown ups can make them too, but I think this is an awesome activity for kids age 8 to 14.
1) Gather your materials (see the picture above). You’ll need scissors, embroidery floss in 4 colors (for the bracelet pictured, I used blue, purple, green and lime green) and a clipboard. If you don’t have a clipboard, you can also use a safety pin pinned to your jeans, or even a clothes pin.
2) Cut lengths of all four colors. For a bracelet, 21 1/2 inches is a good length. If I don’t have a tape measure handy, I just use the length of my arm for a measurement. For anklets, or for grownup wrists, you’ll need to cut the threads longer.
3) Tie the threads together in a basic knot.
4) Tuck the knot under the clip and spread the threads apart. Notice the order I have them in — blue, green, lime green, purple — because the order will change during the lesson.
5) Take the left thread (the blue one) and cross it over the next thread (the green one) in the shape of a 4.
6) Take the blue thread and loop it over and under the green thread. Keep the green thread nice and tight with one hand and slowly pull the blue thread until it makes a knot at the top — right by the clip.
Repeat this again — blue over green.
7) Next do the same thing twice with Blue over Lime Green. Then do the same thing twice with Blue over Purple. Now, your blue thread will be on the right side instead of the left.
8) Repeat this process, starting from the left. Green over Light Green twice. Then Green over Purple twice. Then Green over Blue twice.
Then the same thing starting with Light Green on the left.
Then the same thing starting with Purple on the left.
Then the same thing starting with Blue of the left again.
After you’ve done the Blue one three times, the bracelet will be about an inch long and look like the photo above.
9) Every time you get about an inch done, move the woven part up under the clip and it will be easier to work with.
10) When you’ve woven about 5 inches, it’s time to finish it off.
11) Tie the bracelet around your wrist — I like to use a square knot (left over right, then right over left). You might want help because it’s hard to do with one hand. Trim the ends.
Tada! You now have a friendship bracelet.
When I first started making these, they took me awhile — like an hour, and I made lots of mistakes. But I practiced and now I can make them in about 10 minutes each.
I hope you enjoyed the how-to!
Love,
Mimi