Made With Love: DIY Leather Braided Knot Bracelet

So the other day, I was surfing the web, like I do.... and I came across some fresh leather bracelets on the urban outfitters website... but alas they were listed as "no longer available" :( So I did what any able bodied crafter would do and I got down to work...

May I present to you.... my DIY Leather Braided Knot Bracelet!

(I'd show you the original from UO but I can't even find it anymore! I think they took it off the website :( )

Materials:

♥ Safety Pin- Any kind

♥ Tape- Any kind

♥ Bracelet closures- The clasps at the ends on the bracelet that you use to clip and unclip your bracelet (pictured in the top left corner of the photo above)... you know what I'm taking about, right? The little clip thingie... you can get them at literally any jewellery store or you can just take them off some old bracelets

♥ End Caps- These are a lot harder to find than I thought they would be... End caps (pictured in the bottom right corner of the photo above) are the pieces you put at the end of your bracelet to keep it all together... I went to Michaels but they only had one variety, and it was way too small, but luckily my local jewellery supply store had some that were perfect... you want them to be roughtly 7mm in diameter, depending on what material your cord is made of

♥ Leather, Suede, or Faux Suede Cords- So I know the title of this post is DIY leather Braided Knot Bracelet... but I'm actually going to go ahead and recommend not using leather for this project. It's too thick and sometimes the texture is inconsistent... I used faux suede insted. I know what you're thinking- "Where do you expect me to get faux suede!?" but I swear to you it's literally everywhere! I'm not sure who is purchasing all this faux suede but I keep seeing it where ever I go. You just need to keep your eyes pealed... craft stores, jewellery supply stores, dollar stores, I even found some at a rock and gem shop

♥ Glue- I would recommend using a jewellery glue made for binding metals to other materials... but I didn't. It was 10$ and I had super glue at home, which worked fine! The only caution with super glue is that allegedly it doesn't fair well in water, but I'm not going swimming anytime soon so I'm sure it will be fine... On my first attempt I also used a glue gun because I couldn't find the super glue, and it actually worked fine; however, I burnt my fingers a bit

Alright, here we go!

Start with a 1 meter long piece of string (3.3 feet), and cut it into thirds

Now tape together the three pieces you just cut and stick your safety pin through them

Remember in elementary school when you and all your little friends would braid bracelets by pinning them to their pant legs during recess? This is the same idea

Attach your safety pin to your pants or your chair or whatever you want... something that wont move when you tug on it

.... Now I miss recess!

Alright... now it's time to braid your bracelet!

I usually braid mine till its about 18cm... but it depends on how big your wrist is! Just try playing around with it

Once you get near the end of your braid, keep braiding as usual, but in between folds, dab a bit of glue on the inside of the cord... do this for about 3 folds. This will keep the ends of your braid together

...do this to both sides of your braid

Then snip off the loose ends!

*CAUTION*

If the cord you used is quite thin, than your end cap may be too large. If this is the case, not to fear!

Instead of snipping off all the loose ends, leave one of the three. Apply glue to this remaining piece and wrap it around both ends of the braid a couple of times. This should make it thick enough to fit in the end cap, and it helps keep the two ends of the braid together

Alternatively, if the cord you are using is slightly too thick, and the end cap you are using is slightly too small, then just snip away a bit at the part of the braid which will be going in the end cap.

And there you go! What do you think?

Make some for all your friends!

Sorry there aren't many good photo's of the bracelets... I'll have to take some better ones later!

But my excuse was that a little someone wouldn't leave me alone when I was doing my bracelet photo shoot

Cat the cat LOVES the camera... the second she hears the shutter clicking away, she sprints over and plops herself down wherever your camera is aimed. It's a bit ridiculous... she will climb up shelves and furniture just to get in the shot. Cat is what us kids call a camera-whore!