How To Make Stretchy Friendship Bracelets

These stretchy friendship bracelets are really simple to make and so much fun. Follow these few steps to customize your own friendship bracelets:

STEP 1: Measure + Cut the Elastic String

If you’re making a bracelet for yourself, measure your wrist and then add 5″ to that number. You’ll need enough of the elastic string to make any adjustments and tie the finishing knots.

If your bracelet is for someone else or you plan on trading them, 12″ is a good average length to cut your elastic string.

STEP 2: Plan Out Your Bead Pattern

Take the time to make sure your words are spelled correctly and ensure the letters are oriented the way you want. Since these beads are so tiny, a little prep work will help make things easier.

For my bracelets, I used a variety of different beads to accent the letter beads: seed beads, clay beads, and acrylic crystal beads. All my beads were pretty small (2mm – 5mm). I think the variety makes each bracelet extra special.

STEP 3: Stretch + String Your Beads

Tug on the stretchy string to “pre-stretch” it. This ensures that the bracelet won’t become loose and show gaps between the beads once you wear it. I pull the string apart in ~4″ segments, and work my way through the length of the whole string.

Thread the beads onto the elastic string in the order you laid them out. Using a binder clip, some tape, or a clipboard to hold the other end of the elastic string will prevent the beads from slipping off.

NOTE: If you’re going for a symmetrical stretchy friendship bracelet (one where the knot is directly opposite the letters that will appear at the top of your wrist), line up the tails of the elastic string and fold the bracelet in half. This will help you to ensure your beads are even on each half. This is more of a consideration when using letter beads if your word/phrase is an odd number of letters, or if you have been going for a more random beading pattern.

STEP 4: Check the Length

Hold your bracelet around your wrist to see if you like the fit. You can add or remove beads to adjust the fit. Ideally, the bracelet should fit close but not be tight so that you can’t wear it comfortably.

I aim to make my bracelets between 6.25″-7″ for a comfortable fit. It’s nice to have different size bracelets so they can stack a little bit easier on the wrist.

STEP 5: Secure Bracelet With a Knot + Glue

NOTE: If you will be using one of the hollow bead covers, be sure to add it on one of the tails with the other beads before tying your knot. This cover will be used later to conceal the knot. Read through STEP 6 to decide what bead cover you think will be better for you.

Use a surgeon’s knot to tie the ends of your bracelet together. One thing to keep in mind is that you want the knot to be tight and the bracelet to have some tension, but you don’t want to “over tighten” so much that you pull all the elasticity out of the bracelet and it’s rigid.

TIP: To help get the tension that you want in the bracelet, start to tie the surgeon’s knot, but don’t cinch it tight yet. Then, place a finger in the little hole that the surgeon’s knot forms and start to pull the knot tight around your finger. This helps put the tension in the bracelet that you will need to keep the knot secure. Then quickly slip out your finger and continue to pull the string to fully tighten the knot.

Here’s the surgeon’s knot tutorial that I used:

Pull the knot in all directions to ensure the knot is “locked in”. It’s better to test the knot now than to have it come undone later. Most times I was able to get the knot feeling tight with just this knot. But occasionally, I would add a square knot on top to really lock it in. Here’s a square knot tutorial:

Keep in mind that if you add a square knot on top, the knot will become more bulky and you may need a larger bead cover (STEP 6) to fully cover the knot.

Glue

Once your knot is secure, apply a small amount of glue to reinforce it. The glue is the key to keeping your knot from coming undone. The stretchy string can be “slippery” and knots can loosen, but the glue cements everything in place. I tried using super glue at first since it’s what I already had at home, but the super glue gets hard and can crack/flake off.

TIP: I find it super helpful to stretch your bracelet out over something else (I am using the disc bead case), so that you can move the beads to the side and clearly see the knot. Then you have a clear area to work and all you have to think about is applying the glue.

This glue is non-brittle specifically for jewelry/beading, it has a needlepoint applicator and it’s fast setting (~10min). I was really careful with this because I read so many reviews of the glue oozing out uncontrollably. But it’s just like the metal tubes that some skincare comes in — you need to first just hold the tube to warm it with your hands (no squeezing). Then, if nothings starts to come out after a few minutes, barely squeeze the flat end of the tube and just wait. Be patient; a tiny bead of glue will slowly start to appear at the tip.

This is perfect because you can control the application so much easier. Then re-insert the needle stopper when you have applied all you need.

STEP 6: Trim the Tails + Cover the Knot

The glue takes 10 minutes to set, but 24 hours to dry. I like to give the glue a day to fully cure. So at this point, I move on to making other bracelets until they are all at this stage: with the knot glued.

Once the glue has dried, pull the tail taught and trim off the long tails with scissors close to the knot, but leaving a tiny bit. You could leave the bracelet as-is, but to take it to the next level, I’m using a bead cover to conceal the knot.

Bead Covers

There are a couple of different types of bead covers. I used both kinds that came in my set: crimp bead cover & hollow bead covers.

Crimp Bead Covers

TIP: Make sure you use a bead cover that is large enough to fully enclose the knot. If your bead cover is too small, you may accidentally crimp the bracelet string. This can cause your bracelet string to snap or mess up the shaping.

Place the glued knot inside a bead cover, then use the pliers to close the cover. Be sure to fully insert the knot, and position the bracelet string in the bead cover’s hole openings on the sides.

NOTE: I used my pliers to gently pinch the cover, but I wasn’t able to fully close it without accidentally also crimping the bracelet string on the sides. If I did that, I either tried to re-open the bead cover and try again with a new one, or I would cut the bracelet and re-string it all because I didn’t want to risk it with the string being pinched/cut by the bead cover.

crimp cover not closed all the way, but not noticeable and still comfortable

So, most of my bracelets’ bead covers are like slightly opened beads/a pacman with a slightly open mouth. I think it still looks pretty good and much nicer than just a glued knot. It’s also smooth on the wrist still and so small, you wouldn’t notice it unless you were looking.

Hollow Bead Cover

I think the hollow bead cover looks really nice too, and it’s super easy. To use this option you should have added the hollow bead prior to tying the knot (STEP 5). And now that the tails are trimmed and the glue is dry, you just slide the bead cover over the knot; no pliers needed.

I had the best success with this method after I had made quite a few bracelets and I was really good at securing the string with just the surgeon’s knot. With a smaller knot and the right size bead cover, it’s a lot easier to conceal the knot. This method looks super professional.

CUTE STRETCHY FRIENDSHIP BRACELET INSPO

I am so happy with how these bracelets turned out. I loved using different beads and customizing each one. They are so cute and feel really high quality. Here are a few of my favorite stretchy friendship bracelets to hopefully inspire you:

If you liked this step by step guide to making these cute stretchy friendship bracelets, share this post on Pinterest!

MORE BRACELET + BEAD DIYS

I love making friendship bracelets and sharing the process, step by step. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of these stretchy friendship bracelets and my wax string alphabet bracelets:

stretchy bracelet on top with the cube beads vs wax string bracelet with circle beads

I love both bracelets so much! The pull-string, adjustable closure of the wax string bracelets make them easy for multiple people to wear. I also like how beautiful and effortless they look. The dainty beads and the hidden knot in the stretchy bracelets make these bracelets look more polished and professional. I love them both and I think stacking them together makes a really cool look.

Here are some of my other bracelet and bead DIYs:

How To Make Letter Bead Friendship Bracelets | Pura Vida-Inspired Alphabet Bead Bracelets

Here’s the full post for the wax string letter bead bracelets I mentioned. These bracelets were so much fun to make. And now that I have these smaller letter beads, I think I will use them with the wax string to make a more cutesy + beachy friendship bracelet. I think the smaller seed beads with the smaller letter beads could look really nice.

How to Make Seed Bead Daisy Flower Bracelets

These bracelets were super fun to make and I think they were the most intricate. In this post, I share three styles of DIY daisy bracelets. My favorite part about these bracelets is that the beading thread is nearly invisible so your daisies look like they are floating; super dainty. I also used cute clasps and connectors so these bracelets seem more like a “real” jewelry to me.

4 Easy Friendship Bracelets

I used wax string to make these more traditional camp-style friendship bracelets. These bracelets are made up of simple knots to create different designs, and I used the adjustable sliding knot closure from my other wax string bracelets to make them more professional.

DIY Pura Vida-Inspired Bracelets | How To Make Wax String Friendship Bracelets

I think these bracelets were my favorite because I really loved the look of Pura Vida bracelets. I also really love the square knot closure and the adjustable tails. These bracelets are really beachy and carefree vibes, and I love how there is a lot of room for customization.

How To Make Beaded Phone Charm Straps

I sort of carried the look of the letter bead bracelets to make a charm strap for my phone. These beaded phone charm straps are a super cute decoration to make your phone look more fun. I also like it for a little more support while I use my phone (I use wax string which is stronger than an elastic string). I used some seed beads, but also larger beads for a more chunky, playful look. I love the beaded phone charm straps because you can create so many different looks.

♡ I hope this post was helpful for you. If you liked this step by step guide to making stretchy friendship bracelets, share this post on Pinterest!

LITTLE WORDS PROJECT-INSPIRED

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