Surrounded Bead Bracelet

The technique which was used to make this bracelet can be used to make a ton of different bracelets. You can experiment with pattern, colour and beads. For this bracelet I used quite heavy iron beads but a pearl would work just as good.

Step 1: Picking Colours

When you are picking your 5 colours it's important to also choose some neutral base colours in order to prevent incohesion.

Step 2: Supplies

For this bracelet you will need:

- 5 different colours of embroidery thread
- middle sized beads
- thin iron thread
- pincers
- scissors
- tape

Step 3: Making Your Needle

This technique is incredibly handy in every project where you need to string beads onto unhandy thread. You cut a small piece of iron thread which you then fold in half, it's so easy yet so handy.

Step 4: Cutting Your Threads

From all of your 5 colours you will need threads of about 2 meters folded in half making 10 threads of 1 meter. You will have to make one of the threads about 20 cm longer, this will be used for the loop in the beginning.

Step 5: Beginning

I use this beginning in all of my knotting bracelets because it allows the person wearing the bracelet to easily put on and take of the bracelet. You might see a little grey bulb in the pictures but you shouldn't see that at your work, it's simply there because the wire was already pre cut at 1 meter and i knotted them together. If you have your 5 threads you take the middle of the 2 meters and paste it down with tape. Now you take your "longer" thread and start making knots (as shown in the foto's) around the other threads. This is by making a loop over the other threads, pulling the thread through it's own loop and after that pulling it snuggly. You switch from a right sided to a left sided knot until you have about 3 cm. Now you fold the threads making the piece of knotted work into a loop and pasting it down.

Step 6: Starting Your Bracelet

First you will have to make sure colours lay in the pattern like a-b-c-d-e-e-d-c-b-a as shown in the first picture. Now you take your most outer left string and make a right sided knot (as shown in the foto's) over the following string, know you will make a knot over the string after that. You will continue this until you reach the middle, you will leave the string you were working with and take the outermost right string. Now you make left sided knots to the middle again and if you done it correct the two string you used will meet and you can take the left string and make a right sided knot over the right string. Repeat this with the string that is now the outermost string and after doing that repeat it again, you now have three V shaped rows.

Step 7: Adding Your Bead

After making three rows you will take the two innermost threads and putting them inside your selfmade needle, you can then easily slide a bead onto the threads all the way up to the knotted rows. Now make a right sided knot with one of the threads you just slided the bead on over the other thread.

Step 8: Making the Side Rows

Take your outermost left thread (in my case orange) and make a knotted row just as you made the beginning loop. Stop the row just below your bead. Make another row in the exact same way on the right side of the bead. Now take the string that is the outermost string after making the knotted row and make a knotted row over the only thread left. stop it just past the bead but earlier than the other row and repeat for the right side.

Step 9: Making the Diamond Shape

Take the threads that you used to put the bead on. Now you start making knots from the inside out to the outside, don't forget that every 'knot' represent 2 actual knots. Put the threads you just made the knotted rows around (so the threads you don't see) in front of the threads you do see. make all right and left sided knots until the last knot where you will have to make one right sided and one left sided knot or the other way around depending on which side you are working. After making this row you will take the 2 strings that are now in the middle (in my case light orange) and do the same but stop before the thread you just made your last knot around. After that you make one knot with the 2 strings now in the middle. Finally you close the diamond shapes by knotting back to the middle.

Step 10: Changing Your Side Row Colour

The only thing you will do differently in this step comparing to step 8 is that instead of making knots with your outermost string you will take the one next to that and make knots around your outermost thread.

Step 11: Last Rows

Make three V-shaped rows at the end of your bracelet in the same way you did at the beginning of the bracelet.

Step 12: Finishing

Ending the bracelet will mean that you braid two braids to close the loop. You will have to take two strings twice and one string once but if you pull tightly enough it doesn't show.

Step 13: Done!

You have now completed your bracelet and this tutorial and I really hope you liked it!