Katie's Rose Garden: DIY Macrame Charm Bracelets

Over the last few months I've noticed that many shops have been stocking these little knotted macrame bracelets, each for around ten pounds a pop. Every time I've seen them I've been tempted to buy one, but have been held back by what seems to be a ridiculously high price for what is predominantly prettily knotted string. So I did a little research and found out how to make one, which I will now share with you.

You will need:
Chinese knotting cord (I used 2mm but I think these could look just as pretty with thinner)
Connector beads
Scissors
Super glue
A clip board

Start by cutting a piece of cord which is long enough to wrap loosely around your wrist twice. Fold this in half and loop it through your connector bead. Fold this loop over the bead and pull through the rest of the cord. This will anchor the cord to the bead. Then, clip the bead to your clipboard. This will make the threads easier to work with as you don't have to worry about them not staying taut.

Next, take another length of cord about double the length of the first. Find the centre point of this thread and pass it under the threads connected to the bead. Now you are ready to start a simple square knot.

For the knot, take your left hand thread and pass it over the middle 'anchor threads'. Your right hand thread should then pass over the left hand thread and under the middle anchor threads. The knot is finished by poking the right hand thread up through the loop on the left side and tightening.

Now repeat this, starting with the new right hand thread.

Continue until your knot is roughly half the width of your wrist. Pull your final knot firmly and cut the left hand and right hand cords. I the dab a tiny splodge of superglue on the ends to insure they won't unravel. Tie off your two anchor threads with little knots at the end.

Repeat these steps on the other end of the connector bead. Now you should have two long knots attached to either end of the connector bead.

Finally, to make this bracelet adjustable, you need to make a clasp. Loop your bracelet in a circle so that your anchor threads from each end are crossing. These four threads will form the centre anchor threads for the clasp knot. You may find it useful to tie the threads together with some spare cord while you're working with them.

Cut a short length of cord (you only need to make around four or five knots) and centre it under the four anchor cords and knot as usual. This can be a little tricky just because the bracelet is loose and the there are more anchor chords.