Braided Macrame Bracelet

I like macrame bracelets and I like the structure of braided bracelets. When I was thinking about that, I suddenly realized what I wanted to make: braided macrame bracelets. But, that sounded like something a lot of people would already have done, so when I got home I checked google images. To my surprise, there were just a few the way I wanted to make them! So, I decided I would just make them and turn it into an instructable.

Normally I make two pieces of the jewelry I want to show, one to test and reveal errors and the second to document. The first one actually went without any errors, against my expectations, and I completely fell in love with it. I made one more, this time documenting, but looking back at the pictures I decided the documenting could be clearer, so I made the third one. All three of them turned out amazing in my eyes, I hope you like them too!

Materials

To make one of these bracelets, you will need the following:

- three colours of yarn
- two
- a closure
- two key chains (I'm using the two rings in the middle of the key chain, you could also replace this with two rings)
- pliers
- scissors

Cutting the Yarn

Take one of the colours. Cut off a piece that, when folded in half, fits around your wrist more than once, about 1-1.5 times will do just fine. The other piece is a longer piece, also folded in half, it has a total length of 2.4 meter, folded in half 1.2 meter.

Starting the Macrame

Start by taking the long thread, folded in half. Put it down and move the two sides slightly from each other. Place the short thread, also folded in half, on top of it.

While doing the following steps, try to keep the middle of the long thread on the same place. Put the right part of the long thread over the two middle threads. Next, let the left part go over the right part of the thread, under the middle two threads and back up through the marked loop on the right side. Pull both right and left sides tight to end this knot.

More Macrame

On the left side of your just made knot, you will see a vertical part of the knot. I've also marked it in the pictures.

On the side of this part, put the long thread over the middle, then continue the same way as last time but mirrored: instead of starting by putting the right thread over the middle strands you already put the left thread over. Next put the right part of the long thread over the left thread, under the two middle threads and back up through that loop, that is now positioned at the left instead of the right.

For the next knot, you can do exactly the same. Start by looking at which side the vertical part is and repeat last part, this time it will be mirrored again.

To keep everything clear, here are the steps you should follow every time:

1. Look at which side the vertical part is.
2. Starting from the side found in step one, put the thread on that side over the middle thread
3. Put the other thread over the thread used in step one,
4. Under the middle threads
and 5. up through the loop on the side of the vertical part
To end the knot, pull both threads tight.

Until It Is Finished

Keep repeating the steps explained in the last part of last step until you have reached the length you need.

Keep in mind:

Because you will braid this part later, it needs to be longer than a usual bracelet. I needed 16.5 cm instead of 14.5 as usual.

Best is to macrame a few centimeters extra and make sure you don't cut off the excess yarn, then you can always macrame a bit more if it turns out to be too short.

Repeat for the Other Colours

Repeat step 2-5 for the other two colours. Of course, you could also choose to make one with just one color, in that case, repeat step 2-5 two times.

Joining the Three I

For this step you will need a thread of yarn and one of the cord crimps. Knot the thread to the loop on top of one of the macrame parts. Put the thread up through the cord crimp and pull it up, so the loop comes through as well. You could repeat this for the other two macrame parts, but you could also take a look at the next step.

Joining the Three II

There is also a second option to add the macrame parts to the cord crimp, which is slightly different. Start by putting the yarn through the cord crimp partly, then knot the macrame part to it and pull it back up. It is a bit easier to add the thread from the top of the crimp cord instead of from the bottom, as I did in last step. For the last macrame part, I turned the cord crimp around and added it to the back, since that was still empty.

Close the Cord Crimp

Using a pair of flat nose pliers, close the cord crimp. Make sure the three parts are straight and the way you want them to be when you close it, since it won't be easy/possible to open it again.

Braiding

Since the three parts are joined now, you can start braiding! There isn't a lot to say about this, just don't braid it too tight, a bit of a loose braid will do fine. And, for those who don't know how to braid, just follow the pictures, I think they are clear enough to go without further explanation.

Closing the Bracelet

Put the threads of the middle macrame part straight down and the other threads to the sides. Let the two long threads of the middle macrame part go through the second cord crimp by knotting them together first, then knotting an extra strand to the just made loop and pulling that strand through the cord crimp. Let the left threads go through the cord crimp to the right as shown and the right threads to the left. Close the cord crimp to prevent the bracelet from unbraiding.

Cut Off the Ends

Take your scissors and cut off the excess yarn left at the cord crimps. You just have to try to cut as close to the cord crimps as possible, this will leave you with the best looking end result. After cutting off the threads, take your pliers again and close the cord crimp a bit further.

Rings and a Closure

For this step, you will need those two key chains and the closure. Take the key chains apart and take the rings from them. Add one of these rings to the end or beginning of the bracelet. Add the other one to the other side as well and add the closure before closing it again. It turned out the ring was too thick for the closure, so I had to replace one of the rings with a smaller one.

Finished

Now you have finished your bracelet!

I hope you liked this project, if you have made one I would love to see a picture :)