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How to Make a Rope Bracelet

Rope bracelet with silver clasp on a wooden table

With so much cotton rope left from other projects, I have been looking for new projects to use up some of these old scraps. I came across rope bracelets and thought these would make bright and cheery summertime accessories as well as great gifts. Not only are they easy to make, but everything I needed to make this rope into jewelry, I was able to find in our local big box store. Here is what you will need.

How to Make a Rope Bracelet

Materials:

  • 25- 30 inches of Rope- 3 times the measurement around your wrist, plus 6 inches. (I used a 3/16 Cotton Bolo Cord by Simplicity, but for a thicker/ heavier bracelet, you can use cotton clothes line.)
  • 2- Cord Ends- 6 x13mm
  • 2- 8mm Split Rings
  • Super Glue or E6000
  • 1- Lobster claw clasp- (You can go big or small with this clasp. It all depends on how well you can hook and unhook the clasp.)
  • 2 Small pieces of clear tape
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Start your bracelet by adding a split ring to each of the metal cord ends. To one of the split rings, also add a lobster claw clasp.
  2. Now you need to take your rope and measure it around your wrist. Once you have the measurement, fold the rope double that length with the cut ends pointing away from you and the connected end towards you. The longer length of rope needs to be on the left hand side.
  3. Take the longer length of rope on the left, pass it under the cut piece on the right, come over the top piece and though the hole. Point the long length under the loop and off to the left out of the way. Be sure to leave about an inch and a half to 2 inches between the start of your braid and the end of the cut piece of rope on the right.
  4. Keeping the long piece of rope out of your way in your left hand, take the loop hanging down and twist it right over left.
  5. Next you are going to take the long rope on the left and place it through the open loop through the top. Point the long length under the right side of the loop and off to the right out of the way.
  6. Now take your loop and twist it left over right. Once again feed you long length of rope through the top of the loop. under the left side and off to the left out of the way.
  7. Repeat steps 4-6 until you get to the end of your braid. The last twist should create just enough of a loop for your rope to slide through.
  8. With the rope now braided, straighten any loose sections of braid and try to make it as uniform as possible.
  9. Lay the braid out flat on a surface and mark 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the braid end out. To find this measurement, wrap the braid around your wrist and bring the rope pieces together. If you want a looser bracelet, cut the ends longer. For tighter, cut them shorter.
  10. Once you have them marked, cut them with a sharp pair of scissors. Now take some clear tape, (I used packing tape because it was what I had on hand) and tightly wind it around the ends of cut rope. You want it as tight as you can get it to make it easier to feed into the cord ends.
  11. Check that the rope ends fit in the cord ends.
  12. Take a scrap of paper and place a dollop of glue on it. Roll the end of the rope in the glue, then place the end into the cord end. Repeat for the other end.
  13. If you use super glue, you should be able to wear the bracelet within minutes. For the E6000 you will want to let your bracelet dry for about 24 hours.

How to Braid Rope -1 strand

Braiding one strand of rope like in the instructions above, really isn’t too hard if you think of it like this. Forget about the loops on wither end of the project. Pay attention only to the fact that you are braiding 3 strands of rope together. Except for how you start and end, it really is just a plain braid.

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