This doubled stranded bracelet has a striking design in vibrant colors, making a great accessory!
I often stumble across images that invoke my inner “Do-It-Yourself” persona, and this bracelet was one of them. I do not remember where I originally saw the design for this double stranded jewelry, but I was excited to make it, nonetheless. There were quite a few challenges that came along with this project as well. I will admit that the biggest problem was the cat; the strings scattered across my desk were very exciting for her.
Once I got her out of the office, the beads remained the main difficulty. While I am calling this a double stranded bracelet, it has three threads (or strands). It took me a moment to understand how to achieve the oval effect. First was to figure out the stringing, then I had to figure out the pressure… but more on that later.
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To make the double stranded bracelet, I first needed to gather all my supplies. This project came from the desire to use up some of my beads rather than getting the beads for the project. I wanted to keep the look simple but cohesive so I decided to use only two colors. I ended up choosing teal and gold beads. I picked gold because the clasps that I wanted to use were also gold, so they paired together nicely.
The thread at the core of the double stranded bracelet was a black thread that is thicker than a sewing thread but thinner than embroidery thread. I am always fascinated by how many different types of materials exist in the crafting world. The last things that I needed were the circulate clasp to hide the thread as well as a loop and clasp for putting on / removing the bracelet.
Process
I love how simple this double-stranded bracelet is to make, but it gives quite the impact. I started by knotting three threads together on one end and threading the working threads through the knot cover clasp. It’s much easier to do this at the start before adding other beads than to do it later.
One thread was filled with gold beads. Just a single solid line. I wanted the golden line to be longer than the other, but I do think I went a little overboard on the final length. If the patterned strand ended up being 8 inches, this one should have been about 8 ½ to 9 inches (leaning toward the shorter side). I think mine ended up being about 10 inches, which made it feel very loose.
The patterned strand requires a little more work since it effectively combined two threads into one. I started with a gold bead to ground the two threads together. Then I threaded five of the teal beads onto each thread. Five just felt like a good number with a 2 “increase”, a center bead, and then a 2 “decrease”.
The next step was to thread both threads through a gold thread, effectively bringing the two threads together again. I repeated going from the two threads to one until I got to the length that fit around my wrist. I typically aim for bracelets that are about eight inches in circumference as this is the standard length.
The final step was bringing the three strings back together through another knot cover clasp. Getting a knot to fit into the clasp while keeping the strings taught. Then I attached the second half of the clasp to the knot cover clasp.
Reflections
I really love the way this bracelet turned out. The patterned strand turned out just as I had imagined it, but I think the secondary strand really brings the bracelet together. It is what makes it a double stranded bracelet. The second strand was also a little too long to match the first strand. I am also curious to see how other colors will work when put together
Lessons
Remember to Measure
The best way to avoid having the length issue that I had would have been to measure. Actually knowing the length of the two strands would give a more specific target. I think having the single strand be about ½ inch longer than the patterned strand would have created the perfect double stranded bracelet.
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