Today’s fishtail braid friendship bracelet project is inspired by one of my favorite things to do to my hair in the summer – the fishtail braid. (A Cup of Jo has a fun twist on it – check it out.) The end result is snazzier than a classic braid, but considerably easier to make than a classic knotted friendship bracelet, with the same chevron pattern. My personal favorite is to use a bunch of similar shades for an ombre effect rather than the classic candy stripe, but you can really do anything… get creative to switch up your friendship bracelet patterns!
Also: a few fun friendship bracelets I love mixing in with these:
DIY Friendship Bracelets:
Fishtail Braid
{All you need for this project is some embroidery floss. Also, the tiny delicate bracelet is a new fave from gorjana.}
1. Organize your thread. You’ll need three forty inch strands of floss, in 5 colors (15 total strands.) // 2. Fold bundle of floss in half, and carefully knot at the top, forming a loop. You’ll want your loop to be large enough later to wrap the ends through to tie it on to your wrist. // 3. Sort your thread. On both the left side and right side, there should be three strands of each of your five colors. Keep each color together. // 4. Begin the bracelet by criss-crossing the first color (bundle of three strands, I find it easier to start with the strand on the left) over to the opposite side.
5. Continue the bracelet by crossing the same color over from the opposite side. // 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with your next color. Note – it won’t look very pretty at first. // 7. Continue to repeat steps 4 and 5 with every color, keeping the floss tight and organized. // 8. A really beautiful chevron pattern will emerge!
9. Continue to braid until you reach your desired length. // 10. Stop braiding. (Is this even really a step?) // 11. Tie an overhand knot. // 12. Leaving about 3 inches of floss, trim the ends. You’re all done!
Simple and easy to do, but makes a big impact! A great DIY as usual!
thank you!!
Yeah thanx sooo much!
Thanks sooooo much it helped a lot I raised £103.56 selling these and the shambalas for 50p
I think telling people to stop braiding is a step. You can never underestimate the intelligence of the public.
my thoughts exactly 😉
Totally simple and realistic to do. Must buy embroidery floss. PS: you would have been so proud of me yesterday. Went to Michael’s and I walked out with THREE DIY projects I want to accomplish. YAY!
I am so, so proud! Can’t wait to see what you whip up!
This looks much easier than attempting a fish tail braid on my head. The perfect splash of color!
it’s so easy! But I know you could do it on your head, too!! Just read TBD’s tutorial – they make it really simple.
Friendship bracelets scream summer to me! I love the fishtail, too!
tortoiseinthesun.blogspot.com
thanks, kelsey! sooo fun + summery!!
Same
Ill practice making these, so I can finally fishbraid my own hair!
http://www.KatharsisKulture.com
great idea! you can do it!! 🙂
I just love this so much 🙂 I have always been so uncoordinated with any kind of braid…especially the fishtail. But these are just too cute…I may have to give it a shot! XO brynn
thanks, Brynn! I really hope you try it – seriously, very easy… you can do it!!
love love LOVE this! =)
xo,
nancy
thank you, Nancy!! xo
Love this, Grace! It was so wonderful meeting you this weekend- your DIYs and blog in general is so impressive. I’m definitely going to make the rope necklace!
Thank you, Clara! I am loving your blog, too! It was so great to meet you on Saturday!!
LOVE THESE!!!!
thank you so much!
These are so cute! I remember making ones similar to them at camp when I was younger 🙂
katiesbliss.com
Thanks, Katie! I hope you make some this summer!!
Super cute and bright! Love love!
Thanks Alex! 🙂
I can’t get enough friendship bracelets this summer. Oh, and thank you times a million for sharing where your tiny bracelet is from…it’s adorable!! xx
Me either! And you are welcome. Gorjana has so many pretty little bracelets – love them!
you are too clever! Love these. xoxo
aw, thanks lady! xox
I really love this becuase all the other interesting bracelets like the chevron take forever because you have to loop around each individual strand but with this you can get a pretty thick braclet with a cool design with multiple colors easily and quickly! 🙂
Thanks Greta, I feel exactly the same way!!
Ooh these are so cute! Love this DIY! (:
noragsformags.blogspot.com
thank you!!
Just made this and it came out perfectly!! So incredibly easy. You don’t even have to know how to do the fishtail to hair to be able to do this. I make chevrons all the time but they take soooo long to make, this a great and quick alternative.
I am so happy to hear that! Would love to see a pic!
Love this trendy twist on a summer classic!
I’m so happy you like it, Tara! Hope you give the project a try. 🙂
Made this today and it came out great 🙂
Yay! Would love for you to email me a pic… (stripesandsequins@gmail.com,) I will post it to the S+S Facebook page! xx
ok this may sound like a silly question but at the end to put it on your wrist – are you just putting the end knot inside the loop to secure it closed?
Hi Kim! I put half of the strands through the loop and then left half outside of the loop. From there, I just tie a knot! Hope that helps. 🙂
how do you tie at the end?
For these, I just knotted them. But you could finish by tying ’em in two braids. 🙂
This is so perfect! I love the pattern and the simplicity; no complicated pattern. Just wish I could do this with my hair, but that’s a whole other story..
gizmoandyoshi.blogspot.com
love it so much
Oh my Gosh! This is so beautiful friendship BRACELET! And this is easy to do I think… Gotta make this one and give it to my friends!.. nice job… LOVE It! …. do more diy bracelets, necklaces, and etc.
Beautiful! SImple and very nicely made!
Check my blog here!
I just found this DIY bracelet tutorial and it looks awesome! Some of the pictures aren’t loading though and I’m not managing well with the written instructions alone, unfortunately 🙁 I’ll keep trying but hopefully the pictures will come back someday?
omg! I just became a fan of your DIY website. ahaha, I know that this was posted almost a year ago, but I just wanted to thank you! I can say I’m obsessed x
Pictures 2-3-4 are “broken” … all the ones that show the steps 🙁
Hi Lora, So sorry about that! I just fixed the post.
i just want to use black and white, is there any way i can do that? if there is, please tell me!
Yes, definitely! Just alternate pulling black + white strands from the back to the front. I think this will look really pretty!
Amazing!!!! I thought it would be so difficult but it wasnt. It was easy peasy!!!!
How many strings do i need to make the thin pink one you have there
Hi Cynthia,
You need 15 strands (3 strands of each color.) Good luck!
this was a really good tutorial and very well explained! thankyou 🙂
too complicated and didn’t turn out to be at all as i wanted it to be. can you provide more detail?
sorry!
nice…………………..
Would this work with only three colors?
Yeah, it can because you can make almost any bracelet as many colors as you want.
Thanks I was looking for a new and easy braclet to make and this is just what I was looking for
Thanks
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My sister fishtails hair, now I fishtail bracelets. Maybe I should try it on her hair! 🙂
Nice and very easy to follow your instruktions. Thank you. Love from Denmark
gracias por compartir tus creaciones. faciles y muy bonitas.Dios te bendiga.
I’m so excited to be making some bracelets for my mom!❤️
I love this style of bracelet since I was a kid. I have been surfing for years and would love to know if there are more than this kind of surfing bracelets if anyone could let me know that would be great.
i’ll be making these for my next
craft show
thank you very helpful 🙂
Do we need embroidery floss or we can use something else?
the bracelets are really cool can i have one
nice
I loooove this! Thank you so much!
what a great design. I didn’t think I was doing right in the beginning. It worked out in the end.
Thank you,
F.E