Introduction: Chevron Friendship Bracelet

By CLAMP Podcast
About: Hi! I'm a slightly feral mountain hermit that likes to be helpful. I do community management at Instructables & Tinkercad. 🙌 Want to hear me chat about making? Search "CLAMP Podcast" on YouTube or your favorit…

The fancier version of the classic candy stripe friendship bracelet. Chevron friendship bracelets are gorgeous and not much harder to make!

You can make them in the traditional chevron pattern (one color per triangle) or you can also mix the colors up for a very pretty and unique chevron friendship bracelet.

It might be a little tricky to get the hang of, especially if you're used to candy stripe bracelets, but I bet you'll be able to make your own chevron friendship bracelet in under an hour. :D

Step 1: What You'll Need:

  • embroidery floss or thin yarn
  • scissors
  • tape or a pin to get the bracelet in place
I'm using Lion Brand Yarn's bonbon yarn for this one. They're cute! And a good thickness for friendship bracelets. :D

Step 2: Brush Up on Candy Stripe Bracelets First

This will really help you out! I did a complete instructable explaining the basic technique. This will help you understand the knots you'll be making. I've decided this instructable is going to have a lot less detail than that one so as to save my sanity.

So go review that and come back. :D

Step 3: Decide on Colors and Cut Your Floss/yarn

You will need at least eight strands of floss/yarn for a chevron bracelet. It's probably better to shoot for 10 if you're using embroidery floss since it's thinner. :)

Since I'm using thin yarn, I'm sticking with eight strands.

You want two strands of each color. For example, I'm using pink, blue, green and purple. Two strands of each of those = eight strands total.

Cut at least 30 inches of floss/yarn. I ended up doing 36 inches just to be safe, and had nearly eight inches left over. :)

Step 4: Begin by Braiding

Knot all your strands together, and braid them for three inches.

You will have an uneven number of strands for braiding and that's okay. I did two bunches of three and one bunch of two.

Knot everything again when you're done braiding. :)

Step 5: Get Your Strands in Order

You will need the strands to be in a certain order for this to work.

You will divide them into two even groups - a left and a right group - each strand will have a match on the opposite side.

For example:

purple - pink - green - blue - blue - green - pink - purple

Step 6: Knot the Left Side

In my case, this is the four strands on the left side. Pick those up and disregard the other side. You will have one strand of each color.

Starting with the left most strand, knot twice on the other three strands moving to the right using the standard knot you would use for regular friendship bracelet. Carry the left most strand into the middle. The last photo shows you how it should look. :)



Step 7: Knot the Right Side and Then the Middle

Now you'll pick up the other four strands. You'll be knotting from right to left in this case and knotting in the opposite direction. You'll hold the right most string to the right of the strand you're knotting on instead of holding it to the left like we did before. :)

Knot twice on all three strands moving towards the left. Now both of your original outside strands should be in the middle!

Step 8: Knot the Middle Strands

You'll only knot them once!

This will complete one row of your bracelet. Pretty, huh? :D

Step 9: Keep on Keepin' on + Some Tips

You're going want to keep creating chevron stripes until you've got about three inches of them. :)

Some tips:
  • your first row is going to feel wrong and wonky. (I've included a picture of my first row so you can see what it should look like) Take extra care to keep your strands in the right order, because they will want to shift on you. Once your first two rows are done, the strands will stay in the correct order and you won't have to worry about them.
  • don't pull the knots too tight! especially when using yarn - it can warp the bracelet.
  • make sure to keep a pin/needle around to help you pick knots if you mess up, they're often too tiny to get out using just your fingers.

Step 10: Finishing

Once you've got at least three inches of chevron stripes done, knot it at the very end of the stripes. Braid for another three inches, and then knot again.

Cut the ends of the yarn off to clean it up and when wear it!

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!

Back to School Contest

Participated in the
Back to School Contest