Everyone loves a cute, simple friendship bracelet for summer. You can make them for your friends or for yourself, and they always look perfect with any look. Recently, I showed how to make Pura Vida Bracelets-inspired bracelets and in this post, I am going to show you how to make 4 easy DIY friendship bracelets step-by-step.
GETTING STARTED
These friendships bracelets are so much fun to make and they don’t take long. You could easily make a small batch for your class or group of besties in an afternoon. Making these would be a fun activity as a group for a sports team, an event, or a sleepover.
For each of these bracelets, I use the same basic materials and repeat a lot of the same techniques to create the different patterns. Here are the materials you will need and the techniques to learn in order to make these bracelets:
EVERYTHING YOU NEED (MATERIALS)
You will need the following items to make these 4 easy DIY friendship bracelets:
NOTE: You can use any string you want to create these bracelets, however, only the wax string will melt and allow you to create the Pura Vida-style drawstring closure that I use.
TECHNIQUES
Drawstring Closure
These friendship bracelets are super easy to make. I use the same drawstring closure that Pura Vida uses on all of these bracelets. The Drawstring Closure allows you to adjust the bracelet’s size to fit your wrist, and makes it so the bracelets are easy to wear and take off without any knots or clasps.
The Drawstring Closure is made in three main steps:
- Attaching the first drawstring tail (before you start making the bracelet pattern),
- Attaching the second drawstring tail (after the bracelet pattern is complete), and
- Securing both drawstring tails with a sliding knot.
You will need:
- Two (2) 8-inch strands of the wax string in whatever colors you choose. These are the tails of the bracelet that you can pull to adjust the size of the bracelet.
- One (1) 4-inch strand of the wax string in whatever color you choose. This is the tiny knot closure that holds the two drawstrings together and allows you to adjust the size of the bracelet.
ATTACH THE FIRST DRAWSTRING TAIL
Gather all of the colors of wax string that you will use for your bracelet, line up the ends, and hold them together in a bundle.
Tie a knot using one of the 8-inch tail strings around the bundle, leaving about 1/4″ of the out at the end.
Flip the bundle over, and tie a second knot around the back to secure it.
Light the 1/4″ ends of the bundle with your lighter to melt the string down until just before it reaches the knot.
Gently twist one of the ends of the drawstring tail in the direction it’s naturally going, and hold it securely.
Gently twist the other end of the drawstring tail the same way and hold both twisted strands taught together.
Release the bundle so that both drawstrings start twisting together to form one stronger tail.
Tie a knot at the end of the drawstring tail, leaving about 1/4″ out at the end.
Light the 1/4″ end of the drawstring tail with your lighter to melt the string down until just before it reaches the knot.
ATTACH THE SECOND DRAWSTRING TAIL
Once you’ve completed making your bracelet pattern, tie the second 8-inch tail string around the bundle. Use your scissors to trim the ends of the bundle so only about 1/4″ is left out at the end. Then repeat the “Attaching The First Drawstring Tail” steps above.
SECURE THE DRAWSTRING TAILS WITH A SLIDING KNOT
Position the two drawstring tails so they overlap each other.
Tie a knot around both drawstring tails using the sliding knot closure string. Tie 4-5 square knots around both drawstrings to create the sliding knot closure.
Here’s a video that helps to show this step in more detail:
Light the ends of the sliding knot closure with the lighter until just before the actual sliding knot to lock everything in place.
Forward Knot
With your bracelet bundle string colors separated, make a “4” shape with your active color so that the tail end crosses over your non-active color.
Use your fingers to reach through the triangle opening in the “4” shape, and pull the tail of the active color through to make the knot.
Repeat a second time to complete a Forward Knot.
NOTE: Making Forward Knots will carry your active color toward the right.
Backward Knot
With your bracelet bundle string colors separated, make a backwards “4” shape with your active color so that the tail end crosses over your non-active color.
Use your fingers to reach through the triangle opening in the “4” shape, and pull the tail of the active color through to make the knot.
Repeat a second time to complete a Backward Knot.
NOTE: Making Backward Knots will carry your active color toward the left.
4 EASY DIY FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS
Now that you are familiar with the Drawstring Closure and the Forward and Backward Knots, continue reading to find out how to make these 4 easy bracelets or click the links below to jump to the bracelet you want to make:
Simple Chevron Bracelet
Materials:
- Two (2) strands of the 4 colors you want at 22″ each. You can use more or fewer than 4 colors — the more colors you use, the longer your string will need to be; adjust accordingly (adding 2-3 inches for each additional color is sufficient).
Simple Chevron Bracelet Step-By-Step
Gather all of your colors together in a bundle (two strings of each color), and line up the ends together. “Attach the First Drawstring Tail”, detailed above.
Separate your bundle’s colors in the order you want the chevron to appear. The order of the colors should mirror each other to create the symmetrical chevron look.
Use the left outermost color “A” and tie a Forward Knots over “B”, “C”, “D”, etc., moving toward the right until you reach the middle.
Then take the right outermost color “Z”, and tie a Backward Knots over “Y”, “X”, “W”, etc. moving toward the left until you reach the middle.
Use color “A” to tie a Forward Knot over “Z” to join them in the middle.
Repeat this process, using the outermost colors and working toward the middle until you reach the desired length.
NOTE: Be mindful to tie all of your knots on the same side of your bracelet — there is definitely a “back”, less-cute side, so you don’t want to tie knots on the wrong side. If you do happen to tie a wrong knot or mess up somehow, the wax string is very forgiving in loosening a knot.
Secure the ends of the bracelet by following the steps to “Attach the Second Drawstring Tail” above.
“Secure the Drawstring Tails with a Sliding Knot” as detailed above.
Friendly Fishtail Bracelet
Materials:
- Two (2) strands of between 3 and 6 colors you want at 8″ each.
Friendly Fishtail Bracelet Step-By-Step
Gather all of your string together. You should have two strings of each color; hold them together so they are even and attach the first Drawstring Tail as detailed above.
Separate your string so that the colors are split evenly and mirror each other on each side. Organize your colors into whatever order you want your fishtail to be.
Move the outermost string on the left side “Z” in towards the middle, and add it to the group of string on the right side. Next, move the outermost string on the right side “A” in towards the middle and add it to the group of string on the left side. Because the string is coated in wax, it’ll “stick” in the position you hold it so you won’t lose your place easily.
Repeat this process of moving the outermost string from the left to the middle, then moving the outermost string from the right to the middle until it reaches your desired length.
Attach the second Drawstring Tail and Sliding Knot Closure to secure.
Hearts Forever Bracelet
Materials:
- Four (4) strands of the 2 colors you want at 22″ each. One color will be the heart shape and the other color will be the background. I suggest using contrasting colors so the heart shape is really obvious.
Hearts Forever Bracelet Step-By-Step
Gather all of your 8 strings together in a bundle, and line up the ends together. “Attach the First Drawstring Tail”, detailed above.
Separate your bundle’s colors, alternating between the two colors on each side. The order of the colors should mirror each other to create the heart shape pattern.
There are two steps to making the Hearts Forever bracelet:
- Chevron V-Pattern – repeat two times
- Special Pattern – repeat two times
Chevron V-Patttern
You already know how to do the Chevron Pattern from the Simple Chevron bracelet above.
Use the left outermost color “A” and tie Forward Knots over “B”, “C”, “D”, moving toward the right until you reach the middle.
Then take the right outermost color “Z”, and tie Backward Knots over “Y”, “X”, “W”, moving toward the left until you reach the middle.
Use color “A” to tie a Forward Knot over “Z” to join them in the middle.
Special Pattern
Use the second color from the left “B” and tie a Backward Knot over “A”, moving toward the left. Then take the second color from the right “Y”, and tie a Forward Knot over “Z” moving toward the right.
Use “A” to tie Forward Knots over “C”, and “D”, moving toward the right until you reach the middle. Use “Z” to tie Forward Knots over “X”, and “W”, moving toward the left until you reach the middle.
Use color “A” to tie a Forward Knot over “Z” to join them in the middle.
Repeat the Chevron V-Pattern two times, and then the Special Pattern two times to create a heart. Continue repeating this pattern until your bracelet recaches the desired length.
Attach the second Drawstring Tail and the Sliding Knot Closure to complete the Hearts Forever bracelet.
Twisty Bestie Bracelet
Materials:
- Between 2 and 6 pairs of 6-inch string (you should have between 4 and 12 total strings) in whatever colors you choose.
This bracelet is probably the easiest and most similar to the Pura Vida bracelets…but with a twist.
Twisty Bestie Bracelet Step-By-Step
Group your pairs together by whatever colors you want to twist together.
Tie a small knot at the end of your pairs, leaving about 1/4″ at the end.
Gently twist one of the strings of a pair in the direction it’s naturally going, and hold it securely. Gently twist the other string in the pair the same way and hold both twisted strands taught together.
Release the knotted end so that the pair of strings start twisting together to form one stronger cord. Tie a knot at the other end of the pair to secure the twisted cord. Repeat this process with all pairs.
Gather all of your twisted cords together, and line up the knotted ends together. Attach the First Drawstring Tail (detailed above) just underneath the twisted cord knots.
NOTE: Trim off the knotted ends to 1/4″ before lighting the ends.
Attach the Second Drawstring Tail in the same way.
Secure the Drawstring Tails with a Sliding Knot Closure.
I hope you liked this post! I had a lot of fun making these friendship bracelets; they are so fun and colorful that they just make me happy when I see them. Also, the wax string is waterproof, so you can wear your bracelet in the shower, swimming pool, ocean, or wherever. They feel a little stiff at first, but are very durable and become more soft over time.
MORE BRACELETS
If you liked these friendship bracelet ideas, share this post on Pinterest, and be sure to check out my Pura Vida Bracelets-inspired post where I show how to make two other easy friendship bracelet styles.
