Beaded Leather Wrap Bracelet

Close-up of finished bracelet

The bracelets that my mom and I have made. This photo is a great example
of different types of leather and beads you can use. The one on the left is
jasper, and the other two are different types of turquoise.

I just made one of these as a birthday present for a friend, and my mom and I made some for ourselves a few months ago. I love the way they look, and how simple and fun (though time consuming) they are to make, so I thought I'd share some pictures and instructions.



Materials

• 2mm Leather Cord (the formula for the amount you need is below)
• 4-6mm Beads (the amount of beads you need depends on how many times you want your bracelet to wrap around your wrist)
• Beading Thread
• Needle (a special beading needle works best, but any needle will work as long as it is thin enough to pass through the beads)
• Scissors
• Clipboard
• Cotton Ball (optional)

Materials

Setting up

First, you need to find how much leather you need for your bracelet. A loose measurement of my wrist is 7", so I will use 7" in the formula, just substitute your wrist measurement for 7". The formula is: 7 x number of times you want the bracelet to wrap around your wrist x 2 (the leather is doubled) + 7 (extra for loop and knots). All the bracelets I have made have been double wrap, so I needed 35" of leather for a double wrap bracelet for my 7" wrist. 

Now cut your string (I used over 20 feet for a double wrap bracelet), fold it in half, thread your needle, and knot the ends together. Fold the leather in half, and holding the leather and the end of the thread with the knot together, tie a knot, leaving a loop big enough for the knot at the other end to go through.  Clip the loop onto the clip board so that the bracelet is held in place while you are working. You can put a cotton ball between the clip and your leather, so that the clip doesn't leave marks on the leather. You are now ready to start stringing the beads.

Stringing the beads

Adding a bead

over, under, over, under

Before you start adding beads, you are going to take the thread over the right strand of leather, under the left strand of leather, over the left, under the right. Pull the string tight each time. Repeat this a few times to secure the thread and leather. This should create figure eights holding the two strands of leather together. You are now ready to add beads. It's just the same as what you were doing before but you go over the right, bring the thread through a bead, under the left, over the left, bring the thread back through the same bead, under the right. You now have one bead on your bracelet. Repeat this process with each bead until the bracelet has reached the desired length.

Finishing your bracelet

To finish your bracelet do some figure eights without beads, just like you did after you first attached the thread. Then tie a knot with the leather and thread, and trim off the excess.

Close-up of knots and lashing

I hope you have fun making and wearing your bracelet! :)