{"title":"How to Make a Rainbow Loom Bracelet","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/jewelry-making/how-to-make-a-rainbow-loom-bracelet","category":{"slug":"jewelry-making","name":"Jewelry Making"},"creator":{"name":"Djamila","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtyqy6OSBEo7TcmtCOYD-gg","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rIQ77bpNEo"},"tldr":"Make a Rainbow Loom bracelet in the easy fishtail pattern. Ten close-up steps, colour ideas, sizing for a child's wrist and fixes for snapped bands.","totalDurationSeconds":377,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["Rainbow Loom","loom hook"],"materials":["loom rubber bands (4 black, 6 of each rainbow colour)","C-clip or S-clip"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Gather the Rainbow Loom, Hook and Rubber Bands","text":"Lay everything out before you start. You need the Rainbow Loom, the hook, one clip, four black bands and six bands in each rainbow colour. Sort the colours into little piles in the order you will use them. That way you are not hunting for the next orange with a half-made bracelet on the pins. The finished sample next to the loom shows where you are headed."},{"number":2,"title":"Twist the First Black Band Into a Figure-8 on Two Loom Pins","text":"Pick two pins side by side on the loom. Stretch a black band over one pin, give it one twist so it crosses in the middle, and loop the other end over the second pin. You now have a figure-8. This twist is what locks the start of the bracelet. Skip it and the whole fishtail slides apart when you take it off."},{"number":3,"title":"Stack Two More Rubber Bands Flat Over the Figure-8","text":"Take your first colour, red in the video, and stretch it straight across the same two pins with no twist. Add a second red the same way. Now there are three bands on the pins: the black figure-8 at the bottom and two flat reds on top. Three bands on the pins at all times is the whole rule of the fishtail."},{"number":4,"title":"Hook the Bottom Rubber Band Up and Over the Loom Pin","text":"Slide the hook down the outside of one pin and catch the bottom band, the black one. Pull it up over the top of the pin and let it drop into the middle. Do the same on the other pin. The black band now wraps around the reds instead of the pins. Push the bands down gently afterwards."},{"number":5,"title":"Add One New Rubber Band at a Time to the Fishtail","text":"With two bands left on the pins, stretch on one new band so you are back to three. In the video that is the first orange. Then repeat the hook move: bottom band up and over, both pins. Add the second orange, hook the bottom band over, and move on to two yellows. One on, one over. That is the rhythm."},{"number":6,"title":"Keep Hooking Bands Over as the Rainbow Fishtail Grows","text":"Work through the colours in order, two of each, then start back at red. The fishtail grows down from the pins in a neat V pattern. Each time you hook the bottom band over, check that three bands sit on the pins before the next pass. The pattern runs three times through the rainbow in the video."},{"number":7,"title":"Finish the Rainbow Fishtail With Black End Bands","text":"After the last pink, add the black bands. Two or three blacks make the bracelet a little longer and looser on the wrist, and they match the black start. Keep hooking the bottom band over as before. When you get to the end, lift the two bottom bands over the top so only one black band is left on the pins."},{"number":8,"title":"Lift the Finished Loom Bracelet Off the Pins","text":"Hold the bracelet so it does not spring loose. Carefully ease the last black band off one pin and slip it onto your hook. Take it off the second pin and put that loop on the hook too. Both ends of the final band are now on the hook, and the bracelet is free of the loom."},{"number":9,"title":"Attach a Clip to the End Loops of the Loom Bracelet","text":"With the black loops still on the hook, stretch them slightly so they open up. Push the clip onto both loops at once. Once it is on, slide the hook out. The clip now holds the end band and stops the bracelet from coming apart. Djamila uses a clear C-clip from the kit; an S-clip goes on the same way."},{"number":10,"title":"Clip the Two Ends Together to Close the Rainbow Loom Bracelet","text":"Find the black figure-8 at the other end of the bracelet. Hook the free side of the clip through it. The bracelet is now a closed loop. Give it a gentle stretch to check that it fits over your hand. If it feels tight, take the clip off, add more bands next time, and keep this one for a smaller wrist."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-10-07T18:45:49.408Z","published":"2026-10-07T18:45:45.204Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}