How to make a macramé cuff bracelet - jewellery making tutorial

Cut 12 x 1 metre lengths of cord. Bring all the cords together and tie a knot at the top. With your 12 strands set your board up as shown in the picture below. I used a mini macramé board but a larger board would work well. 

So, take your far left hand cord and take it out of the slot.  Position the cord at a point (see image). Now go under the first cord on the right and up through the left hand cord (weaving cord).  

Pull tight and push the knot to the top of the braid. With the cord you are weaving with repeat step 2 again on the same cord. So on each cord you only create two knots on each and then move to the next cord. Before you move onto the next cord, move the cord you have worked on to the next slot in your board - this is so you know you have worked on it already. 

Keep weaving through all the 11 strands until you have reached the other side. 

With your weaving cord, place it in the slot on the board next to the 11th strand. Now you can start this process again with the left hand cord and weave through the 11 strands. Repeat this process until you have reached your desired length. 

Don't worry if the braid looks messy at the beginning, as it will start to form once you have a few rows. 

Once you have completed the braid, remove the cords from the board. To attach the ends of the bracelet, I used scissors to cut the excess cord and used a thread zapper to keep the braid in place. Repeat this for the other end of the bracelet. 

You may need to cut further down your bracelet from the knot at the top to make it all level. 

I used a multi strand tube end, however a crocodile clip end would work well too. As my braid was quite thick, I had to carefully open the tube end with pliers to fit the braid inside. You may also want to place a small about of glue inside the tube, so that it makes it more secure. 

Attach the multi strand ends to both ends of your bracelet. Attach a clasp to one end using a jump ring and on the other end I have attached 2x jump rings. 

Now to embellish your cuff. Position the organza wings accordingly and sew onto your cuff. I used a 4mm bead and a size 15/0 seed bead as a focal point on the butterfly to hide the thread. 

Your bracelet is now complete :) I hope you enjoyed making this bracelet with me. As I had a lot of YarnArt ™ macramé cord left over. I decided to make a bracelet and a ring using the macramé square knot braid.  If you wish to learn the macramé square knot technique, click here to follow one of our tutorials.