Hi everyone and welcome back to this series of basic macrame bracelet tutorials. This week we are tackling spiral macrame and how to add beads to your bracelets…

Green satin cord spiral macrame bracelet with gold beads

The Set Up

The set up is pretty much the same as described in the first post except this time you will need some beads if you want to add them. For the centre (lazy) strands I have only used one strand this time as I couldn’t get two strands through my beads! So set up as before and if you are using beads then thread them onto the centre strand so you have something that looks like this…

IMG_1407

Spiral Macrame Knots

Doing a spiral macrame knot is even easier than the pattern I showed you before! Instead of doing one knot and then mirroring it you just do the first knot over and over again…

  1.  Place the left hand cord over the middle strands and under the right hand strand, this should look like a (probably misshapen!) number 4
  2.  The right hand cord now goes under the middle strands
  3. The same cord is now bought through the hole formed by the left hand strand

Pull each cord to the sides to tighten and repeat! As the bracelet grows you may find you need to swap the cords over as the bracelet twists round. To do this just take the left strand over the top so it is now the right hand strand and the right strand underneath so it is now the left hand strand. I tend do this every 7 knots to keep the sprials nice and even but this might vary depending on what you are using to make your bracelet.

Adding Beads

Adding beads is really easy and you can do this for this bracelet and the previous one in the series. If you have already threaded yours onto the centre strand…

  1. Once you get to the point where you want to add beads push one up to the bottom of your work
  2. Then you just need to bring your strands around it and do the next knot underneath
  3. And carry on!

I would recommend doing an inch or so without beads before you start adding them in (and the same at the end). This makes a more comfy bracelet as the beads don’t poke into your wrist when you lean on it and also saves you beads as this bit isn’t seen much anyway! Once you have a long enough bracelet you can tie the end and finish off the bracelet. I have also added beads to the dangly bits (technical term!) on this one.

I hope you liked this tutorial! Please let me know if anything isn’t clear or you have any questions! Next time I will show you some more ways of finishing off the bracelet and include some hints and tips!

Turquoise Macrame Bracelet with Grey Cord