How to Make a Friendship Bracelet with Hemp

I made this friendship bracelet today while watching some old episodes of The Office (Michael just started his own paper company!).  I find braiding these friendship bracelets fun and calming... And it makes me feel ultra zen because I am braiding natural material into jewelry and thus feeling extra eco-cool!

Here are the steps:

1. It is probably easiest if you choose two different colors to begin with because it will be easier to identify which string belongs to which set.  But once you become familiar with braiding this braid, you can always make the bracelet using the same color of string.

2.  Cut out one long strand of each color:  Generally you would want each strand to be 4x the desired length of your bracelet.

3.  Align your two colors of strings together, fold it in a half, and at the half mark tie a knot:

You can use the knot as a button loop at the end so that one end of your bracelet will have a big bead (like the bright pink mother-of-pearl bead I have in the pink bracelet up top).  But while you are making the bracelet, you can also look the knot onto a safety pin and pin it somewhere to stabilize your bracelet as you braid.

4.  

Strand 4 goes under 2 and 3

5.

Strand 4 goes under 2 and 3 once again

6.

Strand 1 goes under 2 and 3

7.  In the next loop strand 1 will go under 2 and 3 again, but you basically repeat the same loops.

Strands 2 and 3 just remains in the middle throughout the entire bracelet for this pattern,

it is only strands 1 and 4 that moves and round.  So to recap:  

Loop 1: Strand 1 goes under 2 and 3

Loop 2: Strand 1 goes under 2 and 3

Loop 3: Strand 4 goes under 2 and 3

Loop 4: Strand 4 goes under 2 and 3

Loop 5: Strand 1 goes under to and 3

Loop 6: Strand 1 goes under to and 3

Loop 7: Strand 4 goes under to and 3

Loop 8: Strand 4 goes under to and 3

See the pattern?

8.  Now, if you want to add some beads in the bracelet like I did in the pink bracelet, you can string strands 2 and 3 through the bead and slide the bead up to the last knot created by strands 1 and 4, and then continue to loop strands 1 and 4 as usual underneath the bead.

Dear Pets

I had to go to work today (7am-7pm)...  The ability of cats to jump to high places and get into small places has allowed my kitty cat to get into my jewelry supplies box.  Of all the things in the box, the only thing he chose to do was to unravel and chew up two big spools of hemp.  I guess the cat-loving-yarn thing isn't just something the Garfield guy made up!

Note to self: Do not leave spools of anything lying around.

Playing with Hemp

I love colors.  So I decided to buy a bunch of colored mother-of-pearl beads to make bracelets or something fun.  Because I prefer more natural materials I decided to buy a bunch of different colored hemp to experiment with.

Stringing beads to make it a bracelet seems so much easier than it actually is and I am just finding that out after having spent way too much money on beads thinking it would be easier!  I always thought, "Okay, just get some beads, get a string, string them and then put a clasp on the end.  Easy peasy." ... I guess in reality that really is just that but it really TRULY is a lot more difficult that it seems.

Perhaps my decision to string with hemp is what made the stringing process so difficult because of how much it frays!  Turns out there are some things to consider about hemp, and that there is more to consider when choosing a stringing material than just what seems pretty. So here are some thoughts and tips I have for those considering hemp:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85566559/colors-galore?ref=v1_other_1

There is colored hemp and uncolored hemp; guess which one looks funner?  The thing with colored hemp is that the coloring process actually weakens the hemp and so it is recommend to use uncolored hemp along with colored hemp to strengthen your jewelry.  As for the bracelet above, I used uncolored hemp to string it, but because I am clumsy and I wanted to make it extra durable I actually strung in an unnatural clear string along side the hemp!

Hemp makes stringing beads difficult because it frays pretty much on contact.  I tried licking the tips to make it come back together.  After my mouth got dry I tried dipping it in a glass of water.  Doesn't work.  And by the way, putting water on your hemp is not good for the hemp - makes it less pretty. I also kept cutting the string to create a neater unfrayed end only to find I would eventually end up with a tiny baby bracelet.  Maybe someone out there has better advice for working with hemp but speaking only from trial and overnight experience I have discovered that this is the only thing that worked for me:
1) Put a piece of clear tape at the end of the hemp.
2) Twist the hemp around inside the tape so that the curls become tighter.
3) Keep twisting and twist off the piece of tape.
4) Then use your finger tips to twist the hemp end into a  finer tighter tip at the end.
I found that the little bit of glue from the tape really helped hold the hemp tips together and kept it from fraying while trying to put the thread through the beads.

After discovering the little bit of glue helped, of course I went to experiment and tried using super glue (Why?  Because its the most gung-ho of all glues).  DO NOT DO THAT!  Not only does the super glue get all over your finger tips making them rough like a construction man's, it also gets all over your nails, and everything else if you are clumsy like myself.  If the super glue gets on your beads it makes your beads look less shiny - and gracious forbids that that happens!  And lastly, don't do it because it doesn't work.  It makes the end of your hemp really rough and hard and poofy - so its actually even more difficult to get it through the bead hole especially if you have natural beads that sometimes have corners inside that tiny bead channel.

Lastly, I read somewhere that you can use bees wax to decrease fraying and to keep your hemp looking pretty.  I personally will never tried that because I will break out in hives from bees wax but please leave comments on whether bees wax works for you, or what other methods you have to keep your hemp from fraying.