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Friendship bracelet making kits are available in abundance in the Kids section of most craftware stores, yet we spend a great figure on the pre-made, meaningless bracelets marketed in high street stores such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and River Island to name but afew. So I’ve taken it upon myself to rekindle my love for childish craft making giving it that oh so grown up twist.

I discovered a handy template for creating variations of designs from Hearts and Flowers to Cheverons and Fishtales. Once you get the general gist of things, it really is just down to what colour string you put where.

The “Candy Stripe” is the easiest friendship bracelet pattern for a beginner.

Here’s how to make it:

Step 1:
Cut 3 strands of each of your 3 colors of floss to about 3 feet each. (I know, a lot of 3’s.)

Step 2:
Gripping all strands together, tie an overhand knot, leaving a tail of about 3 inches

Step 3:
Attach your floss to something – you can use masking tape to tape it to a table, clip it to a clipboard, or (my personal favorite) use a safety pin to attach it to your pant leg. (This last way makes it really portable. I like to make bracelet on my bus ride to school.)

Step 4:
Spread out your floss strands.

Step 5 (a.k.a. Row 1):
Using your left-most strand of floss, bring it over strand 2, behind strand 2, and back in front of strand 1. This is called a half hitch knot.

Make sure you are holding strand 2 taut when you make the knot, and pull strand 1 up and slightly to the right, gently but firmly to tighten the knot.

To continue down the row, use the same strand you knotted over strand 2, and use it to form the same knot on strand 3. Continue using strand 1 to make a knot on strand 4, then 5, etc., until you have made a knot on each strand all the way across.

If you completed the row correctly, the strand that was the left-most strand at the beginning of Step 5 is now the right-most strand.

Sidebar: Learning how to make friendship bracelets that look good takes a little practice. Patience and practice young apprentice! Pay attention to what you’re doing and try to keep an even tension for each knot. Not too tight and not too slack – too tight and it’ll start to curl and look weird. Too slack and it’ll look weird too.

Step 6 (a.k.a. Row 2):
Do it again, starting with your leftmost strand.

Once you’ve got the hang on the basics you can invent your own! .. Why not try attaching Charms such as Crosses to your bracelets to give them that extra personal touch.

Lots of Love Bloggers!
Rebekah Esme xx