DIY Friendship Bracelets: 5 Strand Braid.

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Last summer I was on a DIY friendship bracelets kick.  We made these chain bracelets, these triple ball bracelets, these fishtail bracelets, and these diamond friendship bracelets… I’ve been jonesing to make another one ever since!  These bracelets are supremely easy to make… they only look complicated.  Regular old friendship bracelets can take hours, but you can whip up a few of these in just twenty minutes.  And once you master the 5 strand braid, the options are endless!  (I can’t wait to try it with a thicker rope.)

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Materials:  5 shades of embroidery floss, sharp scissors.

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Begin by cutting your embroidery floss into ten pieces (2 per color, each about 32″ long) and grouping them together by color.  Tie them at the top (leave 2-3″ of floss at the top so that you can tie it on later.)  You can safety pin it or tape it, or if you are at a table I find that putting a full glass of water over the ends holds it down nicely.

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Take your outermost left strand (the blue one, here) and bring it under the next strand (pink in this case) and over the next strand  (peach, here.)

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Then do the same on the other side… taking the outermost strand and bringing it under the next color (the white in this case) and over the next color (the coral here.)

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Continue along, weaving under-over, under-over, and a pretty pattern will develop.  I find that keeping the strands of floss as flat as possible results in a nice fat stitch.

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DIY-5-Strand-Braid-Friendship-Bracelet-Final

Leave a Comment

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26 Comments

  1. FripperyVintage:

    Love these, looks pretty easy! I think I can do it!

    7.23.13 Reply
  2. emilylunstroth:

    Friendship bracelets are my therapy in the summer, I get so into them its just so relaxing!!

    7.23.13 Reply
  3. Why Buy It? DIY It!:

    Making friendship bracelets always takes me back to my girl scout days lol!
    Why Buy it? DIY it!

    7.23.13 Reply
  4. Shipwreck Beads:

    Love this color combo and a great tutorial too. Its super easy to follow. I have never been able to figure out the 5-strand braid.
    ~Kelsy
    http://looseendscraftblog.com

    7.23.13 Reply
  5. Leah Yablong:

    Is that a real Cartier Love bracelet? I found a good knockoff on Amazon but I haven’t bought it yet..

    7.23.13 Reply
    • Grace Atwood:

      Haha, yes it is real! It was a gift from my boyfriend. 🙂

      7.23.13 Reply
      • Leah Yablong:

        Very awesome! I think I’ll get the knock-off and hint to my BF that its no replacement for the real thing! 😉

        7.25.13 Reply
  6. Chelsea:

    This is so much fun! I love the colors you picked and the friendship style bracelet totally reminds me of the movie Now & Then. Would it be lame to have matching bracelets with my two year old?! Doing it!

    xoxo,
    Chelsea & The City

    7.23.13 Reply
  7. Rachel:

    I’m 24 and still enjoy making friendship bracelets- now I know I’m not alone 🙂

    7.23.13 Reply
  8. Cathleen:

    I made one of these. Thank you for posting!

    7.31.13 Reply
  9. Cash:

    I used to make these as a kid…

    8.7.13 Reply
  10. Cheryl Brocher:

    Cute look, but how do you get it off and on? Do you just tie the strands and let them hang? And then untie them to get it off??? I’ve neve made one of these.

    7.9.14 Reply
    • Grace Atwood:

      Hi! Yup – I just tie it and let the strings hang!

      7.9.14 Reply
      • Cheryl Brocher:

        Thanks for your quick response! Bu when you want to get the bracelet off, is it difficult to untie it????

        7.9.14 Reply
  11. Hapiness, Everywhere:

    I’ve never really mastered braiding more than 3 threads :p will have 2 try again 🙂

    9.28.14 Reply
  12. Monica:

    Bello me encanta

    1.3.15 Reply
  13. BFF:

    These friendship bracelets look so cute!
    I tried doing it with 5 pieces instead of 10 and it still looked amazing but just a bit thinner!

    10.3.16 Reply
    • graceatwood:

      How fun! Great idea – thanks for commenting! xx

      10.3.16 Reply
  14. Brianna:

    Hey I love that and I want to make it and u are amazing at it thanks for showing me it

    11.3.16 Reply
  15. Addie:

    That was very good instructions but I couldn’t figure out how to get it to be tight. So if you wouldn’t mind adding that in the instructions because I thought it will not only be helpful for me but others as well. I LUV UR WEBSITE!

    1.5.19 Reply
    • Ruby:

      I agree. I don’t understand how to make the strings tight and make it look like a pattern at the same time.

      6.11.20 Reply
  16. Lexi Remmingtons:

    So beautiful! About a year a go I made these for my cousins and I saw them, they haven’t taken them off since! Thank you!

    1.4.20 Reply
    • grace at the stripe:

      Oh I love that! Thanks for telling me!

      1.6.20 Reply
  17. Maddy b.:

    This gave me the ideas I needed to make my gfs christmas present. I definitely think that you can do wonders with this!

    11.28.20 Reply