How to Make a Friendship Bracelet

So, in order to get the look Madewell had going on with their bracelet, I decided to grab my trusty Trader Joe’s bag.  The handles were basically the perfect size, so I ripped those puppies right off so I could use them for my bracelet!  Instead of attempting the lovely pattern Madewell went with, I decided to go with altering shades of pink for my design.  What do you think?

Supplies:

– Handle from a Trader Joe’s Bag (you could also use any brown bag and fold it like the TJ handle)

– Embroidery thread in three shades of a color of your choice

– Felt

– Sew on snaps

– Thread and needle

– Scissors

– Glue gun and glue (I thought I would use regular glue initially, but decided hot glue would be stronger).

{Step 1}: Measure your wrist to determine the length of your bracelet.  Then, cut your handle using this measurement.  (Remember: you want your bracelet to be able to move, You don’t want it too tight).

{Step 2}:  Take one color of your embroidery thread and tie a knot around the end of  your bracelet.

{Step 3}:  Wrap your thread around your bracelet leaving space in-between.  The space doesn’t have to be exact.  When you get to the end of your bracelet, tie another knot to secure your thread.

{Step 4}: Repeat steps 2 and 3 with your other two colors of embroidery thread filling in the gaps with alternating colors.

{Step 5}:  Cut your felt about 2 inches wide.

{Step 6}:  Cut your felt about and 1/2 inch long.

{Step 7}:  Grab your snaps, open them up, and place them in the center of your felt.  Make sure  you have placed your snaps the correct way.  You will want to check that they will actually snap togther before you sew them in place.  Sew your snaps to your felt (this is just like sewing a button).

{Step 8}:  Center your felt (snap side facing down) at one end of your bracelet.

{Step 9}: Put hot glue on each end of your felt.  Fold each end over and glue it to your bracelet.

{Step 10}:  Repeat steps 8 and 9 on the other end of your bracelet.

{Step 11}:  Take your needle and thread and sew the open end of your felt together.  Do this on both ends.

 Your finished bracelet should look like this.