They are generally constructed from leather strips of differing
color, this is so they are strong enough to hold your gold or silver
charms. You will want to use a number of different ideas with respect
to your charms and bracelet design, incorporating different gemstones
and beads will help you get your unique look. You do not have to
choose leather for your base material, you may also go with gimp,
embroidery floss, hemp or wire.
You may wish to use homemade charms also on your bracelet. You can
recycle a pin or include fashionable beads. Choose pieces you love and
it will bring you good memories every time you look at it. When
choosing your material make sure the colors and fabic will match the
style and design of the charms you want to add to it.
When you are looking into making your first friendship charm
bracelet and you have chosen the material you wish to use, you will
want to learn about the different knots you can put to design your
band. You will need to measure your material. When measuring you want
to keep in mind the size of your wrist, and you want to have about six
inches to tie the end of your friendship bracelet also.
The knots style you have chosen, whether forward or backward knot,
are very similarly constructed, instructions for the forward knotting
are: put one strand down straight and the working color will cross from
left to right on top of it, then you bring the working strand around
the back of the straight floss and knot it in so it lies to the right.
The backward knot is the same except you cross your working color
strand from right to left and it lies on the right when you are done.
It took some for me and my friends to work the knots correctly.
Jane was all thumbs and she would tend to work the knots different ways
when going through the same row. No matter how many times she tried,
she always ended up with a ghastly design. She switched to bangle
bracelets after a while, although one or two of the rest of us would
present her with one of ours.
After you have finished working your knots, you may want to braid
the end or put a bead on the end to finish it. Then is tie it together
or loop the ends together and you have your own perfect friendship
bracelet ready for attaching your collection of beautiful charms.
