The famous Brazilian bracelets! When we were kids, we loved making these colorful braided bracelets, also known as"friendship bracelets", in the school playground, at camp... And even when we're grown-ups, we continue to make these DIY bracelets.
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make an easy Brazilian bracelet. This is the most classic bracelet, with simple bias patterns. You don't need much in the way of materials, just use the color of your choice, such as cotton thread or Linhasita thread. Here, I've used 5 colors of Brazilian bracelet thread, so I'll have 10 threads to tie.
The Brazilian bracelet technique isn't all that complicated. The knot is always the same. Knots are formed by one thread around another. A knot is made in three steps. And these 3 steps must be repeated 2 times on the same thread.
To find out all you need to know about the Brazilian knot, and to understand the terms right-side-up and upside-down knots, take a quick look at our data sheet on how to tie a Brazilian bracelet knot.
And once your lucky bracelet is finished, how do you tie a Brazilian bracelet? There are various solutions. In this tutorial, I've chosen to fasten it with two braids. To attach the friendship bracelet, simply tie them together on your wrist.
Want to discover other patterns? Check out our other Brazilian bracelet tutorials:
Choose your skein yarns and their number. Cut about 80 cm of thread each. Tie your threads together. Be sure to leave enough thread above your knot.
Use masking tape, for example, to attach your wires to a table.
Then arrange your wires in any order you like. To create a gradient effect, position the wires from darkest to lightest, twice in a row as the wires are doubled.
The threads will overlap, but don't worry: as soon as you've made your first row, the threads will instantly be in the right order. The 1st row will be the least beautiful of all, but as you knot your next rows it will improve a little.
Tip : When tying your knots, be careful not to snag the threads next to you, especially when you're making your first row.
The classic Brazilian bracelet is only made from right-side-up knots. To show you better, I've moved the bracelet forward a little, but the following steps are exactly the same for the 1st row of the bracelet.
Take the leftmost thread, which we'll call 1st thread. Pass it over the next one, in this case the light purple: this forms a 4.
Pass your 1st thread back inside the 4, this time underneath your 2nd light purple thread.
Now grab the end of your 1st wire and tighten. Your 2nd wire stays still, so the knot forms around it.
Repeat steps 3-4-5, always using the same two threads.
Caution: Whatever your pattern, knots must be made twice on the same thread.
Repeat steps 3-4-5 again, twice in the same order, but with different threads.
Follow the order of your wires. For a classic Brazilian bias bracelet, the left-hand thread is always the one used to make the knot.
So, with your 1st wire, the dark purple one, make knots around the other wires, one after the other (2 times around the pink, then 2 times around the light pink, then 2 times around the white etc.).
Your 1st row is finished when your 1st thread is at the far right, and you've made knots around each of your threads.
Now your 1st thread, the left-most thread, becomes the light purple thread.
Repeat the previous steps (3-4-5-6), knotting your light purple thread around your other threads.
And so on with each thread, each color, until you get the right size bracelet (here stop it a little early, so you can make the braid for the "clasp").
Tie all the wires together.
Take your wires and start making a braid. Tie a knot to finish the braid, and trim off any protruding wires. Tighten the knot and add a dot of glue.
Do the same on the other end of your bracelet, after the 1st knot you've made.
Your bracelet is ready. To wear it, simply tie the braided parts together.
You have a question about this tutorial? Ask it to our team and the people who have already tested it. The Perles & Co community is here to help you!
Credits
Perles & Co, Internet & E-Commerce company [12/05/2016] Any reproduction, representation, adaptation, in any form whatsoever, even partial, is prohibited, except for reproduction for private use not intended for collective use, representation in the family circle (art. L 122-5 CPI) and online publishing on condition that the source is mentioned and a link is included to the corresponding page of our site www.perlesandco.com.
