Being relatively new to making my own jewellery, I wanted to share some of the simple, beginner techniques that I’ve picked up in the first few months of being at Beads Direct!
Since I first started looking at the brilliant jewellery being made by the girls at Beads, I’ve been fascinated by macramé square knotting and making adjustable bracelets that can fit any wrist. The finished bracelets can look really intricate and professional, but I was assured that the technique was really easy to get the hang of!
Here’s my step-by-step guide on how create a simple macramé square knot bracelet (with a little feature in the centre)!
- What you will need:
- – 0.5mm or 1mm satin cord. Click here to pick yours.
- – 9x round pearl beads, 4mm with a minimum 1mm threading hole.
- Click here to buy the rose gold beads, or Click here to pick from our range of round pearl beads.
- – Glue or clear nail polish. Click here to buy Fevi Kwik One Drop Instant Glue.
Click on the video below to view my short tutorial on how to square knot!
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Let’s make a dainty daisy bracelet!
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- Step 1: Find a surface that you can pin and secure your thread to while you are knotting. Cut about 40cm of cord and tie a knot at one end. Thread a small bead on and tie another knot about 6cm from your last knot.
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- Step 2: Use a pin, safety pin or bulldog clip to secure your thread onto your work surface. Now cut another strand of cord about 1.5metres in length (more cord is required for finer thread).
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- Step 3: Thread this cord under your middle thread and find the halfway point.
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- Step 4: Cross the left hand cord over the middle cord.
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- Step 5: Bring the right hand cord down over the cord you just moved over.
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- Step 6: Bring the same cord (right) upwards, under the crossed threads and into the loop created at the beginning. Pull through the loop and gently pull the two strands to make half of the square knot. Step 7: Repeat this knotting process on the other side, starting with the right hand cord.
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- Step 8: Carry on knotting until you have around 6cm of knotted cord. Step 9: Thread 3 beads onto the middle cord, and 2 onto each of the outer cords. This will make a little daisy/flower shape in the centre! Adjust the positions of the beads and carry on with your knotting for another 6cm’s.
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- Step 10: When you have finished knotting, tie a tight over-hand knot and secure this with a little drop of glue. Make sure your knot is secure enough and won’t unravel before trimming the left and right threads close to the knot.
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- Step 11: Trim the centre thread to approx. 6cm, thread on a bead and knot the end.
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- Step 12: Take the two ends and place them next to each other to begin making the sliding knot. Pin the threads at either end to secure to your work surface. Use the same macrame knotting technique for the sliding clasp until you have knotted approx. 2cm’s. Make sure not to pull your knots too tightly, as the threads inside need to be adjustable.
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- Step 13: Carefully add a little drop of glue onto each side of the final knot, so that you can trim the two threads close to the knot. While the glue is drying, make sure you haven’t glued the inside threads, by pulling each in turn, checking that your bracelet is adjustable. Once you are happy with your sliding knot, trim the two threads and admire your work!
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From Holly x
