Friendship Bracelet Pattern Weaving

Embroidery floss in 3-4 colors (available at any craft store)

Scissors

Tape or a clipboard to anchor the bracelet while working

A ruler for measuring strand length

Cut 3-4 strands, each about 60 inches long. Tie them together 2 inches from the top. Tape or clip the knot to a work surface.

Arrange strands in color order from left to right.

Take the leftmost strand. Make a forward knot: loop it over the next strand, pull through, tighten. Repeat twice on the same pair.

Continue knotting that same strand over every strand to the right. When it reaches the far right, row one is done.

Take the new leftmost strand and repeat. Each row builds the diagonal stripe.

Once Candy Stripe feels easy, split your strands into two mirror-image halves.

Work from outside in on both sides, meeting in the middle, and join the center strands with a knot.

This creates a V-shaped chevron pattern. Repeat for each row.

Continue until the bracelet wraps the wrist with an inch of overlap.

Tie all strands in a firm knot, braid the tail, and trim ends.

Always knot twice on each pair. A single knot looks sloppy and slides. This is the rule that separates neat bracelets from messy ones.

If the bracelet twists or curls, knots are too tight. Loosen slightly — firm and flat, not pulled and puckered. It takes a few rows to find the right tension.

Start with only 3 strands for the first bracelet. Fewer strands means fewer knots per row, letting kids master technique before scaling up.

Use high-contrast colors (red, white, blue) so the pattern is easy to see. Save subtle combos for after technique is solid.

This is a perfect travel activity. Clipped to a clipboard, kids can work on it in the car or during downtime. Portable and screen-free.