Hello, sports fans! How are you holding up now that football season and the Olympics are over, and a lock out is making the start of baseball season a bit questionable? Fortunately, there is still plenty of hockey and basketball to keep us entertained, NASCAR is underway, and the Major League Soccer season kicks off on Saturday!

Hopefully you have a team that is currently playing, or will be very soon!

So how about a new piece of team spirit jewelry, that you can make yourself, with a little patience and just a few simple supplies?

If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I love string and macramé bracelets, because they are so easy to make, and they look so good. And today, I’ve got a new twist to the macramé bracelet I showed you a few months ago: BEADS!

That’s right! We are going to add some beads for a fun, new look!

Ready to get started?

Let’s start by gathering your materials:

  • 1mm macramé cord
  • size 6/0 seed beads
  • sharp scissors
  • masking tape
  • ruler

1 – Cut Macramé Cord and Anchor To Work Surface

a. Cut a 18” of cord for the base of your bracelet

b. Cut 40” of cord for the macramé knots

c. Use a piece of tape to anchor one end of the 18″ base cord to your work surface.

d. Slide about 12 beads onto the base cord, then tape down the bottom of the cord.

e. Find the center of the 36″ piece of cord, and use a simple overhand knot to attach it the base cord, about 7″ from the top end of the base cord.

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2 – Macrame

a. Create a figure “4” with the left side cord, laying the long end over and perpendicular to the base cord.

b. Lay the right side cord over that long end of the left cord.

c. Bring the right cord under the base cord, and up through the top part of the “4” shape.

d. With one long cord in each hand, start to pull the cords out to the side.

e. Continue pulling, until they are snug, to complete Knot 1

f. Create a backwards 4 with the right side cord, laying the long end over and perpendicular to the base cord.

g. Lay the left side cord over that long end of the right cord.

h. Bring the left cord under the base cord, and up through the top part of the backwards “4” shape.

i. With one long cord in each hand, start to pull the cords out to the side.

j. Continue pulling, until they are snug against the knot above it, to complete Knot 2.

k. Repeat steps a through j to create another set of knots 1 and 2.

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3 – Add Beads and Complete Macramé Section

a. Slide 1 bead up against the macramé knots.

b. Repeat steps 2a through 2j TWICE, to add 2 more sets of knots 1 and 2.

c. Slide up another bead, and add 2 more sets of knots 1 and 2.

d. Continue the pattern of adding 1 bead and 2 sets of knots until your macramé section is about 4.5″ long. Be sure to end with macramé knots instead of a bead!

e – Finish the ends of your macramé cord by either tying a double knot close to the macramé section, then trimming with a scissors OR trimming the cord to about 1/4″, then using a lighter to melt and seal the end up against the macramé section. Make sure to do both sides.

4 – Create the Sliding Knot Closure

a. Remove the tape from the base cord, and lay your bracelet on your work surface with the loose ends overlapping.

b. Cut a new 12″ piece of cord.

c. Find the center of that new cord, and position it under the overlapped bracelet ends.

d. Use that new cord to create macramé knots, the same way you did in step 2, making sure you catch both ends of the bracelet in the knots.

e. Create a total of 3 sets of knots, but don’t add any beads.

f. Finish and trim the ends of this sliding knot the same way you finished the ends of the main macramé section in step 3e above.

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5 – Check for Fit and Finish the Dangles

a. Pull on the ends of the bracelet to make it smaller.

b. Slide the bracelet over your hand, and open the bracelet up enough to fit easily over your hand.

c. Take the bracelet off.

d – Slide 3 beads onto each of the bracelet ends.

e – Tie knots on each of the bracelet ends, and trim. You can make these dangles as long or as short as you like!

f. Slide the bracelet onto your wrist, then pull on the dangle ends to snug it up to your preferred fit.

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And there you have it!

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That’s all I have for you this week! See you back here next week, when we start getting geared up for all things MARCH MADNESS!

Carrie

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P.S. Love the looks of these bracelets, but don’t want to make them yourself? No worries, because you can find them in my online store! You choose the cord and bead colors, so you can match your favorite sports team’s colors! Beaded Macramé Bracelets

The bracelets are also available with pretty silver metal beads: Silver Beaded Macramé Bracelets

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