BIRTHDAY BRACELET

(©2007 Deborah Roberti)

For the exact beads used in the photo above, click HERE to go to the RedPandaBeads.com Gallery of Color Suggestions and scroll down.

MATERIALS (for a 7-inch bracelet, not including clasp)
• 3 yards Waxed Nymo or C-Lon thread, size D, or 6 lb. FireLine
• Approximately 200 size 11/0 seed beads
• Approximately 57 size 4mm Color1 beads (can be any bead type: fire-polished, bicone crystal, round bead, glass pearl etc. as long as it is 4mm in size)
• Approximately 55 size 4mm Color2 beads (can be any bead type: fire-polished, bicone crystal, round bead, glass pearl etc. as long as it is 4mm in size)
• clasp

Step 1: Thread your needle with 3 yards of Nymo, C-Lon or Fireline (or start with a length that you feel comfortable with and add more later).

String a Color2 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead and a seed bead.

Leaving about a 12-inch tail for attaching the clasp, tie the beads in a circle with a double knot:

Step 2: Go back around through the Color2 bead, the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead and the Color1 bead that you strung in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 3: String a seed bead, a Color2 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead and a seed bead. Go around and up through the Color1 bead that you exited at the end of the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 4: Continue back through the seed bead and the Color2 bead you strung in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 5: String a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead and a seed bead. Go around and back through the Color2 bead you exited at the end of the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 6: Go back around through the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead and the Color2 bead that you added in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 7: String a seed bead. Go across through the Color2 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 8: String a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead and a seed bead. Go around and back through the Color2 bead, the seed bead and the Color2 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 9: Go back around through the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead and the Color1 bead that you added in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 10: String a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead and a seed bead. Go around and back through the Color1 bead that you exited at the end of the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 11: Continue back up through the seed bead and Color1 bead that you added in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 12: String a seed bead, a Color2 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead and a seed bead. Go around and back across through the Color1 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 13: String a seed bead. Go up through the top middle Color1 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 14: Continue on through the seed bead and top Color2 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 15: String a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color2 bead and a seed bead. Go around and back across through the Color2 bead that you exited at the end of the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 16: Go back around through the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead and Color2 bead that you added in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 17: String a seed bead. Go across through the Color2 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 18: String a seed bead, a Color1 bead, a seed bead, a Color1 bead and a seed bead. Go around and back down through the top-middle Color2 bead, the seed bead and the left-most Color2 bead highlighted in RED:

Step 19: Go back around through the seed bead, the Color1 bead, the seed bead and the Color1 bead that you added in the last step (highlighted in RED):

Step 20: To finish the rest of the bracelet, repeat Steps 10-19 until the bracelet is the desired length, minus about a quarter-inch and the length of your clasp:

Step 21: To attach one end of the clasp, go across through the two seed beads highlighted in RED:

Step 22: String two seeds beads. Go through the clasp and then back through the last seed bead that you just strung:

Step 23: String a seed bead. Go across through the two seed beads highlighted in RED:

Step 24: Go back around through the clasp and seed beads highlighted in RED several times to reinforce the attachment to the clasp:

Weave your way back into the bracelet, knot in several places and then cut your thread.

Step 25: To attach the other end of the clasp, thread your needle with the tail from Step 1. Go around through the beads highlighted in RED:

Repeat Steps 22 to 24.