A braided Bracelet with Letter Beads

Half Hitch Braiding   Cut a 100 cm piece and a 40 cm piece of your choosen cord (the more braiding and the less beads, the longer the pieces of cord). Double over the long piece of cord. Make a loop at one end of the small piece of cord. Join the cords with a knot, leaving a small loop. Cut off the short end.

Step 2.   Thread beads onto the middle cord (i.e. the shortest cord).

Step 3.   Put the right hand side cord over the middle cord, back under and up. Pull the cord up through the loop and tighten it whilst keeping the middle cord taut.

Step 4.   Repeat with the left hand side cord following the same procedure.

Braiding technique   A clip board is used for starting and supporting the braiding. Attach the pieces of cord under the clip. Thread beads onto the middle piece of cord.

Step 6.   Follow steps 6 to 16. Start again and switch from right to left until the desired length is reached.

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Step 14.   Push up the beads when they are needed.

Step 15.   Cut off the ends leaving approx. 1 cm.

Step 16.   Melt the ends one by one with a lighter and immediately push them into the braided section with the pointed end of a pair of scissors (for example) so they melt together.

Step 17.   Finish the bracelet with a tight knot and tie another knot in each of the two ends approx. 1 cm from the previous knot. Thread a bead onto each end, tie a knot and trim the excess cord.

A TIP!   Apply a small blob of glue to the end of the cord and leave to dry. This makes threading the beads onto the cord easier.