What Bracelet Should I Make Next

One press picks your next bracelet to make, with the knot, braid or weave it uses.

What Bracelet Should I Make Next

Show all 82
  1. Charm braceletA bracelet that carries charms: small ornaments that mean something to the wearer.

Next step Draw a color for the threadOr pick a crochet project

How it works

Thread out and nothing in mind? The bracelets here run from a candy stripe and a three-strand braid to a cobra in paracord, a peyote stitch band and a rubber band chain: knotted, braided, beaded and woven.

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Pick by what is in your craft box

Embroidery thread goes with Half-hitch knots and Braids. Cord, twine or paracord goes with Square knots and cord. Beads and elastic cover most of Beads on a string; add a needle and thread for Bead weaving. Yarn, rubber bands and wire have a group of their own.

  • Pin the top of your strings to a corkboard before the first knot; macramé is worked on a pin board for the same reason.
  • Made it before? Take the next step in the same group: a chevron after a candy stripe, a king cobra after a cobra.

Questions and answers

What is the easiest bracelet to make?

A three-strand braid, or a row of beads on elastic. The easiest knotted one is the candy stripe: plain diagonal stripes from three strings or more. The smallest pattern of all, the double chain knot, needs only two.

What knot is used for friendship bracelets?

The half hitch: most patterns are based on that one simple knot. Friendship bracelets are a type of macramé, and they are usually made of embroidery floss, a six-strand thread that is most often cotton.

What is the difference between a normal and an alpha friendship bracelet?

In a normal pattern the knots are tied diagonally, which gives stripes, chevrons and diamonds. In an alpha pattern they are tied horizontally, row by row, so you can build letters and symbols.

What bracelets can I make with beads?

String them on elastic for a stretch bracelet, or weave them with a needle and thread. Peyote, brick, square and herringbone stitch need no loom. A bead loom locks each row of beads between its warp threads.

How long do you wear a friendship bracelet?

By custom, until it wears out and falls off by itself. It is tied round a friend’s wrist with a wish made at that moment, and the wish is supposed to come true when the bracelet falls off.

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All 82 bracelets

Good first bracelets 19

  • Best friend pair Two bead bracelets the same: one to keep and one to give, as a sign of friendship.
  • Box stitch in plastic lace The box stitch, also called square stitch, in two strands of flat plastic lace.
  • Braided T-shirt bracelet Three strips cut from an old T-shirt, braided flat and tied.
  • Button bracelet Flat buttons threaded on elastic through their holes.
  • Candy stripe Half-hitch knots in slanted rows: plain diagonal stripes, from three strings or more.
  • Chain sinnet bracelet A chain of crochet-like loops in one cord, each pulled through the loop before it.
  • Chinese staircase One strand is tied round the others again and again, in strings of different colors.
  • Double chain knot The smallest friendship bracelet pattern: it needs only two strings.
  • Finger-knitted bracelet A knitted cord made with only your hands and fingers: no needles.
  • Missanga A good luck charm of knotted embroidery floss; its basic structure is a three-thread plait.
  • Name bracelet with letter beads Letter beads that spell a name or a word, with plain beads either side.
  • Pony bead bracelet One row of pony beads on a stretchy cord, in rainbow order or your own.
  • Red and white March bracelet In Greece a bracelet of red and white string, the Martis, is made on the first day of March.
  • Rubber band loop chain Small rubber bands looped through each other; a chain linked this way is called a Brunnian chain.
  • Square knot bracelet A row of square knots, the knot sailors used so often they called macramé square knotting.
  • Stretch bead bracelet Beads strung on elastic, with the ends knotted together: no clasp to add.
  • Three-strand braid The simplest and most common braid: three strands, flat and solid.
  • Wish bracelet Any thin friendship bracelet: it is tied on with a wish and worn until it falls off by itself.
  • Wrapped bracelet Thread wound round and round a bundle of strings, in bands of color.

Half-hitch knots 15

  • Alpha bracelet with a symbol Alpha pattern: knots tied in horizontal rows that build a symbol such as a star or a heart.
  • Arrowhead Half-hitch knots that make a row of arrowheads along the band.
  • Bordered chevron A chevron with a border running down both edges, in half-hitch knots.
  • Broken ladder A combination of the chevron and the Chinese staircase.
  • Cavandoli macramé cuff Cavandoli macramé: double half-hitch knots that form patterns like weaving.
  • Chevron Half-hitch knots in slanted rows that make V shapes down the band.
  • Diamonds Slanted rows of half-hitch knots that open and close into diamonds.
  • Hearts Half-hitch knots that leave a row of hearts down the band.
  • Name bracelet in alpha knots Alpha pattern: knots tied in horizontal rows, which lets you knot the letters of a name.
  • Plaid Stripes that cross like plaid cloth, in half-hitch knots.
  • Polka-dot chevron A chevron with dots of another color knotted into it.
  • Shaped friendship bracelet Knotted so that the edges are not straight, or so that the band has holes in it.
  • Swirl and braids A combination of a braid and the Chinese staircase.
  • Tatted bracelet Tatting: a lace of rings and chains, made of half-hitch knots over a core thread.
  • Zig zag A stripe that runs to one edge and back again, in half-hitch knots.

Square knots and cord 10

  • Barrel stitch in plastic lace The box stitch with its strands crossed, which turns the square into a spiral.
  • Butterfly stitch in plastic lace One loop is put through another and pulled, then the loops are twisted like a butterfly.
  • Cobra paracord bracelet The cobra stitch: two strands tied back and forth round two others, here in paracord.
  • Cord bracelet with a button knot A Chinese button knot, tied in the cord itself, is the button of the clasp.
  • Half knot bracelet in twine The half knot, the first move of a square knot, tied over and over in cotton twine.
  • Josephine knot bracelet An interwoven, symmetrical knot: Josephine knot is macramé's name for a form of the carrick bend.
  • King cobra paracord bracelet A second layer tied over a finished cobra, which makes it wider and larger.
  • Square knots with beads Square knots with beads between them; macramé jewelry often mixes knots and beads.
  • Survival bracelet Several feet of paracord woven into a compact band, meant to be unraveled when rope is needed.
  • Turk's head bracelet A Turk's head, or sailor's knot: interwoven strands that form a closed loop.

Braids 10

  • Beaded plait Threads crossed as in a braid, with beads joining the crossings.
  • Fingerloop braid Loops of thread held on the fingers and interlaced; a braid known from the Middle Ages.
  • Fishtail braid The fishtail, one of the more complex braids, in thread, yarn or leather cord.
  • Five-strand braid One of the braids past the plain three-strand: five strands interlaced.
  • Flat kumihimo braid A flat kumihimo braid needs a rectangular or square plate in place of the round disc.
  • Kongō gumi braid A round kumihimo cord: eight threads folded in half, for sixteen strands.
  • Kumihimo braid on a foam disc Japanese braiding on a notched foam disc, a portable stand-in for the traditional round stand.
  • Leather braid A three-strand braid in leather cord; braiding leather is common in the Americas.
  • Lucet cord bracelet A square, strong, slightly springy cord made on a two-pronged tool called a lucet.
  • Sailor's sennit bracelet Sennit is plaited cordage; sailors plaited it into flat straps aboard ship.

Beads on a string 9

  • Charm bracelet A bracelet that carries charms: small ornaments that mean something to the wearer.
  • Disc bead bracelet Small disc beads called heishi, the word for shell bead among the Kewa Pueblo people.
  • Knotted bead bracelet A knot tied between each bead, the way pearls are strung on silk thread.
  • Memory wire bracelet Memory wire is rigid and comes coiled: thread the beads on and the coil keeps its shape.
  • Morse code bracelet Two kinds of bead stand for the dots and dashes of Morse code and spell a word.
  • Multi-strand bead bracelet Several strands of beads joined at one knot or one clasp.
  • Polymer clay bead bracelet Beads you shape from polymer clay; it hardens in a home oven, so ask a grown-up.
  • Seed bead strand Seed beads, the small round beads of bead weaving, on one thin strand. Make several to stack.
  • Wooden bead bracelet Round wooden beads threaded on a cord or elastic, plain or mixed with a few bright ones.

Bead weaving 12

  • Bead crochet rope Bead crochet works beads into crochet; by the 1920s it was used for bracelets.
  • Brick stitch bracelet Brick stitch: beads stacked the way bricks are stacked in a wall.
  • Cellini spiral bracelet A tubular peyote stitch with beads of increasing size, which gives a textured spiral.
  • Chevron stitch bracelet Chevron stitch: a triangular form of bead netting.
  • Herringbone stitch bracelet Herringbone stitch, also known as Ndebele stitch, built up from a ladder-stitch base.
  • Ladder stitch bracelet Ladder stitch, the foundation row of brick stitch and herringbone, as a band of its own.
  • Loomed bead bracelet On a bead loom the beads sit on the weft thread, locked between the warp threads.
  • Peyote stitch band Peyote stitch, also called gourd stitch: off-loom bead weaving, here as a flat strip.
  • Pony bead cuff Several rows of pony beads woven into a wide cuff, in peyote stitch.
  • Right-angle weave bracelet The thread makes only right-angle turns; with one needle its path is a figure eight.
  • Square stitch bracelet Square stitch looks like loom work but needs no loom, and it is very strong.
  • Tubular peyote rope Peyote stitch worked as a tube, not a strip, for a round beaded rope.

Yarn, rubber bands and wire 7

  • Crochet chain bracelet Chain stitch, the most basic stitch in crochet, worked to the length of your wrist.
  • Inkle-woven band A narrow band from an inkle loom, where the warp threads are raised and lowered by hand.
  • Rubber band bracelet on a loom A chain of linked rubber bands, made on a small loom built for the job.
  • Spool-knitted bracelet French knitting: a spool with four or five pegs turns yarn into a tube.
  • Tablet-woven band Tablet weaving, also called card weaving, makes narrow bands such as belts and straps.
  • Wire and bead link bracelet Each bead sits on a short wire whose ends are wrapped into loops that link together.
  • Wire-wrapped bangle Wire bent into loops and wrapped round itself, with no soldering; heavy wire suits bangles.