By CraftingStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Kellie's Bead Boutique.
A clasp is the part of a handmade bracelet most likely to go wrong. It costs money, it needs findings you may not have, and it means fumbling one-handed to do up your own wrist. The sliding knot removes all of that. Two matching wrapped knots sit on the cord, the piece opens wide enough to slip over your hand, and you pull it down to fit.
Kellie of Kellie's Bead Boutique works with 2mm leather cord here, though the knot behaves the same on 1mm or 1.5mm, and on waxed cotton or hemp. The whole closure takes a couple of minutes once you have done it twice.
It is the same technique whether you are finishing a bracelet or a necklace. She demonstrates on a necklace with a geode pendant, but the knots are identical. If you are working with thread rather than cord, the site also covers friendship bracelets, string bracelets and the chevron pattern.
8 steps · about 5 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
A metre of cord gives you room to work and enough length for a necklace. Kellie uses 2mm leather, but 1mm and 1.5mm both knot the same way.
Lay it against a ruler and measure roughly four to four and a half inches in from one end. That mark is where the first knot goes, and it does not need to be exact.
Tip
Round leather holds a knot better than flat cord. Flat cord twists as you wrap it and the coils sit unevenly. Watch this step
Bend the cord at your mark to make a small loop, then bring the other end underneath and lay it alongside, running the opposite way.
You should now be looking at what appears to be three lengths of cord side by side. The one nearest you is the working end, and it is the only piece that moves from here on.
Tip
Pinch the overlap between finger and thumb and keep it pinched. If the cords shift while you wrap, the knot will not close evenly. Watch this step
Take the working end and wind it around both cords, working back towards the loop. Three or four wraps is plenty.
Keep the coils tight against each other rather than spread out. Neat wraps are what make the finished knot look like a deliberate feature instead of a tangle.
Tip
More wraps means more friction, so the knot grips harder and slides less easily. Three is usually the sweet spot. Watch this step
Push the working end back through the tunnel formed by the coils, going the same direction you started. It helps to keep a fingertip in the loop so it does not collapse.
This is the step that turns a pile of wraps into a knot. Until the tail goes through, nothing holds.
Tip
If the tunnel has closed up, chain nose pliers will grip the tail and pull it through where fingers cannot. Watch this step
Pull the tail steadily until the coils draw together into a tight barrel. Hold the other cords still while you do it.
Snug it down, but stop before it bites into the cord underneath. The knot has to grip enough to hold position and still slide when you push it.
Tip
Test it now. Push the knot along the cord with a thumbnail. If it will not budge it is too tight, so ease it off and re-tighten. Watch this step
Turn the piece around and repeat the whole sequence on the other end, wrapping in the same direction as the first.
The two knots have to be mirror images. Wrap the second one the opposite way and they will fight each other rather than sliding cleanly.
Tip
Use the same number of wraps as the first knot. Uneven counts give you one knot that slips and one that sticks. Watch this step
Cut each tail down to about half an inch. Leaving a stub means the knot has something to grip if it ever works loose.
Now pull the two knots apart and the loop opens out long. Push them towards each other and it draws up short. That is the whole point of the closure.
Tip
Cut too flush and the tail can retreat into the coils and the knot unravels. Half an inch is the insurance. Watch this step
Slide a pendant or a large-hole bead onto the cord before you close the loop, then adjust the knots until the piece hangs where you want it.
For a bracelet, open it wide enough to pass over the widest part of your hand, slip it on, then pull the knots down to the wrist.
Tip
A pendant with an open bail threads on more easily than a closed one. Kellie uses a geode slice with a gap in the wire wrap. Watch this step
Keep going
How to Make a Letter Bead Friendship Bracelet
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OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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