DIY FRIENDSHIP BRACELET

It seems that I have fallen off the face of the earth recently. I blame the holidays. Really, I was up at Byron Bay, had little reception where I was staying and so posting was difficult. I wanted to do one DIY post that could be done while holidaying and I decided that road trip time-passer would be really cool. Books, magazines, music, crosswords... So many fun things to do on the way. I decided to make a friendship bracelet on said road trip. It's easy and is an lovely addition to any arm-party. You'll need to prepare beforehand, so buy all of your bits and bobs prior to leaving.


You'll need:
- Several colours of embroidery thread
- Safety pins
- Pillow
- Scissors

How to:
1. This tutorial is for a Chevron pattern friendship bracelet. Cut your threads prior to leaving, then you won't need a measuring tape and your arm won't be in the face of the driver! Cut several of your colours to about 75 cm. I've used 6 colours, but you need two sets of each colour. Combine your threads and tie a knot at one end, leaving about 6 cm of slack.

2. Pin your knot to your cushion on your lap. Separate the two sets of colours in half making sure to arrange the colours in a mirrored pattern, so the outside colours are the same and so on towards the centre.

3. Starting on the left side with the outermost colour (purple in our picture) make a forward knot in the shape of a 4 over the second colour, loop it under and back through the opening. Then pull the thread you just looped up towards the right to tighten it. Repeat this knot twice over each colour. Keep repeating this until the outermost colour has reached the centre.
4. Now do the same on the right hand side with purple, and make a backwards knot, which is done using the same process except mirrored (make a backwards 4). Thread through until it reaches the centre. Then repeat step 3 and 4 with the next colour. Be sure that you're repeating the knot twice each time.

5. When you have about 6 cm left to go knot the end of the bracelet and then braid each end and knot once more. Done!

There are other patterns to make as well. For a straightforward striped bracelet, just cut one set of colors and knot the outermost color all the way through to the right side. For an asymmetrical chevron, mix up the colors when dividing them into 2 sets just make sure you count the number of strands as you knot so you know when to stop in the middle each time. Cute right? Would love to see if anyone else has tried this and any other variations.