Stones and Leather

I have seen these pop up in a few places this season, but what finally sparked my interest was that a coworker of mine was wearing one the other day.  I admired it, and since I like making jewelry, I took note of how it was put together, and it looked really simple!
What you’ll need:

24 inches of leather cord for a single-wrap bracelet
Round beads.  Mine are 8mm leopard jasper, and I used one strand of beads (18 of them).
Contrasting (or coordinating) thread and a beading needle
Button or large bead for the closure.  You could also opt for crimp ends, I just wanted a more organic look.
This bracelet took me an hour, but that was for two reasons: 1) I had to play with it a little to figure out how to make it, and 2) I had a little mishap with my thread.  I was worried I would run out and I had no idea how much I would need… not this much, it turn

Doh.  So I spent a considerable amount of time untangling that knot.  I later discovered that the holes in these beads can handle a knot, so while you want to be cautious of getting too tangled, it’s not that big a deal to add more thread as long as you knot it very securely.  I started with 10 feet, but you could just use 6 or 7 feet, because I had about 3 1/2 feet leftover.   Double it up for security.  Now, get your beads ready, because here we go.

First, tie a knot in the end.  Make sure before you continue that your button will fit through the loop.  I knotted my thread in too, but I decided afterward it probably wasn’t necessary.  I’ll tie it on underneath next time.

Now, secure your end somewhere – you can tie it to a pillow and work on your lap, or I just taped mine to the table since that’s where I work.  Weave your thread in to get started.  Not only will this put your leather cord into place for a nice flat lie, but it will also make sure it doesn’t un-knot.  You’ll want to wrap it around alternating sides, like a figure 8.

Now, snug it up nice and tight to your knot.  Do a few rows like this.

Now, it doesn’t matter which side you do this from, but string a bead.  Continue with the over-under weaving.  You’ll see on the left the thread came over the left cord, and it’s going under the right cord.

When you bring your thread back over the right cord, thread it back through the bead.  Go under the left cord.  I realized I didn’t photograph this because I was making sure that would actually work (don’t worry, it does!)  But you’ll continue the same over-under weave, only every time you cross to the opposite cord, you’ll be threading through your bead.  Here’s a photo of threading back through the bead.

Got the hang of it?  Then just keep doing it!

Because you’re going around both cords, you should find that your beads fit right in the middle.  Keep your thread taut, and they will form a nice uniform line.  Bead down around 7 inches.  You may want to check it against your wrist, but that’s the length that I went with.

Once you get there, do some weaving like you did in the beginning.  Same thing, like a figure eight, for a few rows.  Then, knot it off.
Now, just tie your button on!

Leather can be tough, so I really tightened it down… to the point where I actually broke one of the cords!  I’m a bit nervous about it, so I added some glue to help secure my knot.  Even if you don’t break yours, you may want to glue it to be safe anyway.

Then, I just let it dry.  I think I’d really like to try a double-wrapped bracelet after this one, maybe with a smaller bead.  I just love how it turned out!