If you love wearing bracelets, then perhaps a hemp bracelet with shells might interest you. Read this story to find step-by-step instructions on making these gorgeous accessory.
Hemp bracelets are inexpensive to make, and look really amazing once ready. With colorful strings available in craft stores, and tons of different knots to choose from, you can make various types of bracelets.
Cowrie Shell Bracelet
Before we begin, you need to purchase cowrie shells and hemp string (colored or jute, your choice). Also gather a newspaper, drill, drill needle, and clear gloss.
Place the newspaper on your workstation, and lay out the materials.
Use the drill and drill needle to punch holes in cowrie shells, and thread them with hemp.
Spray clear gloss on the shells to make them shine. Once it's dry, thread as many shells as you like through the string. Depending on the size of the wearer's wrist, you can select the approximate number of shells.
Keep a few inches of space at either end, and cut the string. Make knots at both ends to secure the shells.
Braided Shell Bracelet
Before we begin, get a newspaper, jute or colored hemp string, 6 small shells, and scissors.
Cut 2 pieces of the string (a creative idea, cut 1 string in jute and the other colored), keeping the length of the first string 12 times longer, and the second string 2½ times longer than the original length of the actual bracelet.
Fold both strings in half which will give you a loop on top, and loose ends at the bottom.
Place 1 small shell in this loop, and tie a secured knot around it. This shell will keep the bracelet tied properly around the wrist.
Now keep the shell loop, which means the top of the bracelet, in front of you and let the loose ends come towards you.
Bring the shorter strings in the middle, and keep the longer ones on the outside (both sides). The pattern of the string will look like long, short, short, long.
Now we will make a square knot by taking 2 strings. But since we have 4 strings, 2 small and 2 big, divide them in two sections―group 1 and group 2.
Take group 1 in your left hand, and keep group 2 in your right hand. Cross group 1 over group 2 to make an "X". Wrap group 1 towards right side and around group 2 (like a shoelace).
Now you can see that group 1 is on the right and group 2 is on the left. Cross group 1 over group 2 once again and form another "X". Wrap group 1 towards left side and around group 2.
Pull on both ends to secure the knot. As you keep making these square knots down the strings, place shells at about every 1½ inches.
You will thread the shell in all four strings and then continue making the knots. At the end of the string, place the final shell or knot (your call) and make a loop.
Tie a knot around the loop so that you can secure the bracelet over the wrist.
Once you have the basics down, you can easily make different patterns and designs for the bracelets.