How-To: Sailor’s Knot Bracelets

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Story by Julie Schneider

Published on Sept 15, 2012 in Make

With fall days of colored leaves, chunky sweaters and spiced cider in our future, it’s just about time to pack up the beach gear until next year.  Luckily, it doesn’t have to be summer to rock these stylish (and easy to make) nautical bracelets. We originally published this tutorial from Simone as part of our How-Tuesday series in 2010, but we’re bringing it back because, well, why not?

I’m Simone of Groundsel, and a member of Etsy New York Street Team team. I made the following sailor’s bracelet tutorial using a Turk’s Head Knot for you to share with your summer friends.

So, read on, and get knotty…

Supplies you’ll need:

  • 3.5 yards of twine
  • 14 ounce can for a smaller bracelet or a 20 ounce can for a larger bracelet. Any other round object that has the appropriate circumference for your wrist will do.

Directions:

Step 1: Wrap one end of the twine around the can to shape an X. Leave about a 4″ tail. You will need this tail at the end to finish the bracelet.

Step 2: Wrap the long end of the twine around the can again and bring it up to the middle of the X. Then pass the long end of the twine under the right, upper leg of the X and pull the long end all the way through.

Step 3: Next, move the upper left leg of the X over the right leg of the X to create an oval shape.

Step 4: Pull the long end of the twine through the oval shaped opening you just set up.

Step 5: Turn the can a bit and you will see that the oval shape has created another X shape. Again, pass the long end of the twine under the right upper leg of the X and pull the end through.

Step 6: Repeat steps 3 through 5 until you get to the beginning of your project.

Step 7: You will now find a three-stranded braid. Follow the twine you initially laid out and create a parallel second line.

Step 8: Continue around the can. If you find that it’s getting too tight to pass the twine through the openings, you may want to take the bracelet off the can and continue with the knotting in your hand. If you take it off, be careful not to pull the twine too tight, otherwise your bracelet will shrink on your wrist.

Step 9: Continue knotting the rope around the bracelet until each strand of the braid has one parallel line — a total of three passes. At this point you can stop or add another three passes to create the traditional pattern of three parallel lines, like the bracelet in the third picture in this step.

Step 10: To finish, just knot the ends together and weave them into the inside of the bracelet.

Thank you to Simone Tan and The {NewNew} team for sharing this project with us. For more how-to projects from the {NewNew}, check out their blog.

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