How to Make Friendship Bracelets: Easy Tutorials for Every Skill Level

Friendship bracelets have been a beloved craft for decades, and for good reason. They’re affordable, portable, deeply personal, and genuinely fun to make. Whether you’re a complete beginner who has never touched embroidery floss before or someone looking to brush up on techniques you learned at summer camp, this guide walks you through everything you need to know to start making beautiful bracelets right away.

From the simplest knotted designs to slightly more ambitious patterns, you’ll find step-by-step instructions here along with tips, material recommendations, and ideas for personalizing your creations. By the end, you’ll have everything you need to sit down, pick up some thread, and make something worth gifting.

What You Need to Get Started

One of the best things about friendship bracelets is how few supplies you actually need. Most projects require nothing more than thread and your own two hands, though a few small extras can make the process much smoother.

Embroidery floss is the most popular choice for friendship bracelets. It comes in hundreds of colors, costs very little, and is available at any craft store or online. You’ll typically use six-strand floss, which you can separate into individual strands depending on the thickness you want. DMC and Anchor are two of the most trusted brands, known for their consistent color and durability.

Scissors are essential. Sharp, small scissors make clean cuts that prevent fraying and keep your work looking tidy.

A safety pin or tape is used to anchor your bracelet while you work. Most beginners tape the top of their bracelet to a hard surface like a clipboard or a table edge. Others use a safety pin to clip the bracelet to a pillow or their jeans. Neither method is superior — it just comes down to what feels comfortable for you.

A measuring tape or ruler helps you cut your threads to the right length before you start. Getting this wrong can leave you scrambling with thread that runs out too early, so it’s worth taking a moment to measure.

Optionally, you might want beads, charms, or letter beads to personalize your bracelets. These are easy to incorporate once you’ve learned the basic knots and want to add a little extra flair.

Understanding the Basic Knots

Before diving into full tutorials, it helps to learn the two fundamental knots used in almost every friendship bracelet pattern. Once you have these down, every other design becomes much more approachable.

The Forward Knot

Hold the working thread (the one you’re knotting with) in your dominant hand. Loop it over the base thread in a “4” shape, then pull it up through the loop you’ve created. Pull the working thread upward and to the side until the knot slides up to the top. Repeat this process once more on the same base thread — you always make two loops per knot. This double-knot technique is what keeps your bracelet tight and consistent.

The Backward Knot

The backward knot is the mirror image of the forward knot. Instead of making a “4” shape, you loop the working thread in a reverse “4” or “P” shape. Loop it over the base thread, pull it through the loop, and tighten upward. Again, do this twice on each base thread before moving on.

There are also forward-backward and backward-forward knots, which are combinations of the two, but you can revisit those once you’ve practiced the basics. For the tutorials below, you only need the two foundational knots to get started.

Tutorial One: The Classic Striped Bracelet

This is the quintessential beginner bracelet. It creates clean diagonal stripes and gives you the repetitive motion needed to really internalize the basic knot before trying anything more complex.

What You Need

Cut four to six strands of embroidery floss, each about 60 inches long. Choose as many colors as you like — each color will become one diagonal stripe. For your first attempt, keeping it to four colors makes the process easier to track.

Fold all your threads in half and tie an overhand knot at the folded end, leaving a small loop above the knot. This loop will be part of the bracelet’s closure later. Tape or pin the knotted end to your work surface so it doesn’t slide around.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Separate your threads so that each color is distinct and you can easily see what you’re working with. Line them up side by side. For a striped bracelet, you’ll work from left to right.

Take the leftmost thread and hold it in your dominant hand. This is your working thread for this row. Cross it over the thread immediately to its right in a “4” shape and pull it up through the loop. Tighten it gently so the knot sits snugly at the top. Do this again on the same base thread so you’ve made two knots total.

Now move the same working thread to the next thread to the right and repeat the double-knot process. Continue across all the remaining threads until your working thread has traveled all the way to the right side of the bracelet. You’ve just completed one row. The color you used as the working thread is now on the far right, and a diagonal stripe of that color runs across your work.

Now pick up what is currently the leftmost thread — this will be a different color — and repeat the same process. Work it all the way across from left to right, making two forward knots on each thread as you go.

Keep repeating this row by row. Each time you finish a row, the working thread ends up on the right, and you start fresh with whatever is now on the left. The diagonal stripes will emerge naturally as you work through the colors.

Continue until the bracelet is long enough to wrap around the intended wrist — typically 6.5 to 7 inches of knotted length for an average adult wrist, leaving room for the closure. Finish with an overhand knot at the end and trim the threads, leaving about 4 to 5 inches of tail on each side for tying the bracelet on.

Tutorial Two: The Chevron Bracelet

The chevron is one of the most iconic friendship bracelet patterns. It produces a repeating V-shape design and is only slightly more complex than the basic stripe. If you’ve gotten comfortable with forward and backward knots, you’re ready for this.

What You Need

Cut eight strands of embroidery floss, each about 60 inches long. Choose two to four colors. For a classic chevron, use pairs of matching colors — for instance, two strands each of red, orange, yellow, and pink. Fold them in half and knot them as before.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Arrange your threads symmetrically. If you’re using four colors, your order from left to right might look like: red, orange, yellow, pink, pink, yellow, orange, red. The pattern mirrors itself on each side.

The chevron works from both sides simultaneously. You’ll work the left half with forward knots moving toward the center, and the right half with backward knots moving toward the center.

Starting on the left side, take the outermost left thread and make forward knots across each thread until you reach the center. Starting on the right side, take the outermost right thread and make backward knots across each thread until you also reach the center.

When both working threads meet in the middle, join them with one final forward knot. This forms the point of the V. After that, your threads will be in new positions — the threads that were working threads are now in the center, and the outer threads have shifted inward. Repeat the process from each side, working inward and meeting in the middle again.

As you continue, the chevron pattern builds up row by row. After five or six rows, you’ll clearly see the V shapes forming. Keep going until you reach the desired length, then finish and tie off as with the striped bracelet.

Tutorial Three: The Simple Braided Bracelet

Not every friendship bracelet needs to be knotted. Braiding is even simpler and can produce beautiful results, especially when you use varied thread thicknesses or combine floss with other materials like cord or ribbon.

What You Need

Cut three bundles of thread. Each bundle should consist of three to four strands of embroidery floss twisted loosely together. Choose three colors that complement each other. Cut each bundle to about 30 inches, then tie all three bundles together at one end with an overhand knot, leaving a tail for tying on.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Anchor the knotted end and separate your three bundles clearly. Standard braiding applies here: take the right bundle and cross it over the middle bundle so that it becomes the new middle. Then take the left bundle and cross it over the new middle. Repeat, alternating right-over-middle and left-over-middle until you reach the desired length.

Keep your tension consistent as you braid. Loose braiding produces a floppier result, while tighter braiding makes a firmer, more structured bracelet. Neither is wrong — it’s a matter of preference and style.

Finish with a knot and trim as with the other styles. You can also add beads to braided bracelets by threading them onto individual bundles before you incorporate those bundles into the braid. This is one of the easiest ways to incorporate decorative elements without adding much difficulty.

Tips for Making Better Bracelets

Knowing the steps is one thing, but a handful of practical habits will make a noticeable difference in the quality and enjoyment of your work.

Keep your tension consistent. This is the single most common challenge for beginners. If you pull too tightly, your bracelet will curl and pucker. If you pull too loosely, the knots will look uneven and gaps will appear. Aim for firm but gentle — the kind of tension where the knot sits comfortably without distorting the neighboring threads.

Work in good lighting. Embroidery floss colors can look similar under dim or artificial light, and accidentally grabbing the wrong thread can throw off a pattern in ways that are frustrating to fix. Natural daylight is ideal.

Use clipboard clips or a project board. While tape and safety pins work fine, a dedicated clipboard with a clip keeps everything firmly in place and lets you rotate your work as needed. Many experienced bracelet makers swear by foam boards or cork boards that let them use straight pins to hold patterns in place.

Don’t rush fixing mistakes. If you notice you’ve made the wrong knot a few rows back, it’s almost always worth carefully undoing the recent work to fix it rather than pressing on and hoping the mistake becomes invisible. With embroidery floss, knots can usually be loosened and redone without much damage to the thread.

Measure twice before you cut. It’s tempting to eyeball your thread lengths, but running out mid-bracelet is deeply frustrating. The general rule is to cut threads at least three times the desired finished length of the bracelet, with some tutorials recommending four times for thicker patterns.

How to Finish and Tie a Friendship Bracelet

Finishing a bracelet well is just as important as making it. A poorly tied closure can mean a bracelet falls off unintentionally or becomes difficult to fasten.

The most common closure method is the overhand knot loop-and-tie system. When you start, fold your threads in half and knot them, leaving a loop. When you finish, divide the remaining tail threads into two equal groups and braid each group for about two inches, then knot each braid. To wear the bracelet, thread both braided tails through the starting loop, wrap them around the wrist, and tie them in a bow or knot. This allows for adjustable sizing.

Another popular method is the sliding knot closure, which creates an adjustable fit without any loop at all. This works better with thicker cords than with embroidery floss, but it’s worth learning once you start experimenting with materials.

Creative Ways to Customize Your Bracelets

Once you’ve got the basics down, the real fun begins. Friendship bracelets are wonderfully personal, and there are endless ways to make them unique.

Letter beads let you spell out names, initials, words, or short phrases. Thread them onto individual strands between knot sections for a clean, integrated look.

Color storytelling is a tradition with deep roots in bracelet culture. Some people assign meanings to colors — green for growth, red for passion, blue for calm — and build palettes with intention. Others simply choose colors they know the recipient loves.

Mixing materials opens up new textures and appearances. Waxed cord, satin ribbon, metallic thread, and hemp twine all work with the same basic knotting techniques and can transform the feel of an otherwise familiar design.

Stacking bracelets has never been more popular. Making several thin bracelets in coordinating colors and wearing them together creates a layered effect that’s easy to achieve with simple stripe and braid designs.

Why Friendship Bracelets Still Matter

In a world where almost everything is digital and mass-produced, there’s something quietly powerful about making something with your hands and giving it to someone you care about. Friendship bracelets carry a handmade quality that no store-bought item can replicate — the slightly imperfect knots, the color choices made with one specific person in mind, the time you spent making it.

They’re also just a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Knotting is meditative in the best sense. It requires just enough attention to keep your mind gently occupied while leaving room for conversation, music, or podcasts in the background. Craft therapists frequently recommend repetitive handwork for stress relief, and bracelet making fits neatly into that category.

Whether you’re making them for a best friend, a sibling, a coworker, or yourself, friendship bracelets are a small act of connection in thread form. Start with one of the tutorials above, see how it feels, and don’t worry about getting everything perfect the first time. The imperfections are part of what makes each bracelet genuinely one of a kind.