Punch & Judy Friendship Bracelet

This bracelet  is very "Indian Summer"-looking. The mix of the seed beads with the thread and the handmade look all make for an interesting piece. I really liked the simplicity and knew you'd love a tutorial on it, so here goes!

You can change up any of the colors (like most of the time) to create a one-of-a-kind piece. These are great friendship bracelets as well, 'cuz they are easy to make but not the usual run-of-the-mill knotted kind.

Make the beaded panel bigger or smaller, depending on the look you want. 

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are seed beads, a clasp, thin wire (I believe it was 26 gauge), embroidery floss, pliers and scissors.

Step 2: Cut a length of wire (size depends on how big/long you want to make the beaded panel) but a couple of feet will be plenty. Thread on 4 beads, then thread the other end of wire through the beads in the opposite way, securing on the beads. Pus the beads down to the center of the wire.

Step 3: Thread on 4 of a different color, and again thread the other end through the opposite way. Push the beads down to sit right on top of your first layer. Repeat with another color.  Keep building your panel in this way, increasing by one bead after about 4 rows of 4. I did about 4 rows of 5 then, a row of 6, a row of 7, then a row of 6, the 4 5's, then 4 4's. You don't have to follow this exactly, but make sure you gradually increase then gradually decrease for a symmetrical panel. When it's long enough, I threaded my extra wire back through the second to last row and cut right at the end of those black beads. I superglued the ends so they hold and weren't pokey. 

Step 4: Cut a length of embroidery floss, about 30". Fold it in half. Fold in half again. You should end up with a group of 4 strands of floss. Take this full group, and thread the end (starting with the side with two cut ends of floss) through the first two rows of your bead panel. Set up exactly as you see in the second picture here. Thread on so that half of the floss is on one side of the panel, and the rest is on the other side. Take the side of the floss that has the two loops as ends (the other side will have one end and two cut ends, where you cut the floss), also the side that is facing you. Separate this side into two groups of two threads, it should separate naturally. Take your side with the four threads, and bring it back over the bead panel towards you, and through the very end of the side facing you, through the two groupings you just made.

Continue pulling until your knot forms. When it is fully tightened, it should look like the picture above. Two threads will be on one side of the group of four threads, and the other two will be on the other side. This knot is also called a Lark's Head.

You can add beads to the ends tie knots to hold. To wear, simply tie the floss into a knot at the back and let the beads dangle! Super cool and handmade-looking!

All photos copyright Allison Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.

If you post/share this tutorial, please link back to me.