Hello and welcome to another jewelry making video brought to you by KeepsakeCrafts.net.
Today we'll be making this bracelet. It's done with a ladder weave but the interesting
difference from other bracelets we have made is that this one is woven through the links
of chain which give it its support. It's a rather interesting technique and I hope
you give it a try. So to make this bracelet you will need first
of all a three strand bracelet clasp. It has a lobster clasp on one side and a length of
chain on the other which makes it adjustable and then three loops to separate your strands.
You will need three lengths of chain six and a half inches long and make sure when you cut these that
first of all you have some kind of chunky chain, these links are about a quarter of
an inch long and make sure that you have the exact same number of links in each length,
so that they really are exactly the same length. You will also need some beads, you can just
use one color; I opted to use these two different colors, these are 8mm beads, some seed
beads, spacer beads and some elastic which is what we will be doing our stringing with.
This is 0.5mm and it goes just fine through the smallest of the beads. You also might
want a sharpie and some scissors and also a couple pairs of chain nose pliers.
So the first step is to make our bracelet base, which is simply a matter of opening
up the end link of each of our pieces of chain and we open it just the way you would a jump
ring by twisting sideways and then sliding it on to the bracelet clasp and then close
it and make it secure and then repeat those steps to add the chain to each of the loops
on your clasp making sure that you don't twist them. So here you can see that this is the
base we are going to build our bracelet on and you can see why it was important to have
all three chains exactly the same length. The next step is to cut a 2 yard piece of
our clear elastic and what I like to do because although it's nice that it's clear so it doesn't
show in your project, it can be tricky when you're working because you can't see it so
well. So what I like to do is take a sharpie and I will color the ends of my elastic with
a black sharpie so I can see them. The first thing you will do is slide on a spacer, slide
through one of your links of chain one end, slide on a bead, slide through another link
of chain, slide on another bead; the remaining link of chain in that row and another spacer
and now you want to center your elastic on the bracelet. So I can't, it's too long to
show this on camera, but I am going to bring the two ends together and then center the
elastic. The next thing you are going to do is on one
end of the elastic, string five seed beads. These seed beads make like a scallop that goes
along the outside edge of your bracelet and repeat to put five seed beads on the other
end. Next thread a spacer onto one end; so now you have added five seed beads and a spacer
to each side and the next step is to go back through our chains; we are going to skip one
link of chain between each set of beads and depending on the size of your chain links
and the size of your beads, you may have to skip more or less. So I am going to skip one,
go through one chain pick up one of my beads, skip one and go through a middle chain, then
pick up another bead and skip one chain link and go through one on the other side and I'm
also going to go through this last spacer I strung going opposite direction of the cord
that's already in there, so going towards the seed beads and next take the other elastic
cord and go back through everything you just went through, the chain, the beads and then
also back through that spacer; so where the elastic should be coming out is right between
the spacer and the five seed beads and then it's just a matter of repeating. Add five
seed beads, another spacer and then send the elastics through the chains and your larger
beads and keep repeating down the line. So here I have done my beading all the way
down to the end, now for the very last row only put the beads through one of the strands
just for the very last row and then we will tie off our elastic in what is called a surgeon's
square knot and it simply means you go right over left and then you wrap it around twice.
This is a great technique for any time you need to tie a knot and you want it to stay
in place because that extra wrap will hold it and then you go left over right and then
one more time through, wrap it around twice and that's a surgeon's square knot. Quilters
use it for tying quilts and it's great for this kind of jewelry as well and then just
trim off the excess and I'll zoom out so you can get a look at it; and there it is,
your bracelet is all done. So here is another look at the bracelet we
made today. It's a bit of a time consuming design but it's a nice meditative simple process
and the fun part is choosing the beads in the styles and the shapes and colors that
you like. You could simply use crystals, you could use gem stones, pearls, try chain in
different colors and different finishes and make the project your own.
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have a good one, bye-bye.