It’s time you learn how to make Friendship Bracelets, if only so you can wear them and then sing the Golden Girls theme for hours.

“Thank you for being a frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend. Travel down the road and back agaiiiiiiiiiiiiin.”

With some basic knot tying and string, you can quickly make these colorful hemp bracelets for all your friends. It’s a simple gesture to show your loved ones how much they mean to you. Macrame friendship bracelets are easy to make for an afternoon activity with kids, or a simple craft that can be done while bonding over a TV marathon.

I will be walking you through 3 different bracelet tying tutorials: The Square Knot, The Diagonal Knot, and the Diagonal Weave Friendship Bracelet! Keep reading for the full tutorials with detailed photos and instructions. I have got to admit, all the knot tying can be so fun! Once you start it’s hard to stop, so go buy lots of colorful thread or hemp, and get started!

How to Make Friendship Bracelets | DIY Hemp Macrame Bracelets

The Square Knot

Supplies Needed for Square Knot Macrame Friendship Bracelet

• Hemp: 40″
• String: 20″
• Scissors
• Tape

I used this hot pink yarn because I loved the color. I think neon juxtaposed against the natural hemp fiber makes a really cool color pop. You can use any type of thick string you like.

Step 1: Fold friendship bracelet string in half

Fold both the 40″ of hemp and the 20″ of string in half, find the center of both hold them in the middle. Form a loop.

Step 2: Tie loop off to begin friendship bracelet

Form a basic overhand knot at the center of the two strings with your loop. This will be your starting point for the rest of the bracelet.

Step 3: Tape down friendship bracelet

Tape down the loop and knot you just formed to hold the friendship bracelet in place as you make it. You can also tie it around a nail or something stable.

Step 4: Separate friendship bracelet strings

You are now prepared to start you bracelet, the last thing you will do before you begin knotting is organizing your different pieces of string. Keep the two short and colorful pieces of string in the middle, and pull the hemp string out to the left and right.

Step 5: Bring the left side over the front

Now you get to begin knotting. For this bracelet we are doing the basic square knot technique. First, take the left side, we will call it (A), pull it over the center strings (C), so it forms a “4”.

Step 6: Bring right side down

Now you will bring your right side, let’s call it (B), down. Place it over (A).

Step 7: Bring right side under middle

Take your right side thread (B) and pull it under the center strings (C).

Step 8: Bring right thread under and up through left thread

Your right thread (B) has now passed under the center thread (C), but before it makes its way to the other side it must go underneath the left thread (A). Pull it up from underneath as pictured.

Step 9: Pull knot together and up

As you can see, you just formed a knot around the center thread (C). You caught it inside of the right knot hole. Perfect. Now gently pull the hemp strings together and up to the top of the bracelet.

Step 10: Pull knot tight

Pull the knot tight. Your (B) string will now be on the left side, and your (A) string will now be on the right side.

Step 11: Take right string across the front

For your next knot, you will mirror what you just did; meaning you perform the same steps but on the other side. Take the hemp string on your right (A) and place it across the front of your center strings (C) to form a “P”.

Step 12: Bring left string down

Take your left string (B) and pull it down over string (A).

Step 13: Bring left string under center string

Take the string on your left (B) and pull it underneath the center strings (C).

Step 14: Bring left string up through right string

Tale your left string (A) and poke it through the hole in the P so it goes under the bottom and out through the top of string (B).

Step 15: Pull knot up

As before, you just formed a knot around the center thread (C), but this time you caught it inside of the left knot hole instead of the right. Well done. Now gently pull the hemp strings together and up to the top of the bracelet.

Step 16: Tighten Knot

Tighten your knot and you will see a pattern is now forming. Now your left string is (A) again, and the string on our right is (B) again.

Step 17: Continue down length of friendship bracelet

Repeat the square knot down the length of your friendship bracelet, alternating sides as you go. It helps me by thinking, “4 P 4 P 4 P 4 P…” so I remember which side goes when. Or maybe I just watched too much Sesame Street as a kid.

Step 18: Finish with an overhand knot

Once you have knotted all the way down your friendship bracelet, you can tie the hemp in place by forming a basic overhand knot. You don’t need to go over or under anything special, this knot is just with the hemp. Pull it tight.

Nicely done. Your friends will love it!

The DNA Knot

The DNA Knot is very similar to the square knot, the difference is it twists because you always knot the same side of your string instead of alternating sides. It starts to twist and ends up looking like a double helix, hence the DNA title I have given it. This might be a good bracelet to make for your science-loving friends. 😉

Supplies for the DNA Knot Friendship Bracelet

• String: 20″
• Hemp: 40″
• Scissors
• Tape
• Bead (optional)

As I said earlier, I like using a bright color for the inside of my bracelet because it makes an awesome color pop. Choose whatever color you like! Any thick thread will do.

Step 1: Form loop to start friendship bracelet

Fold your short string in half, and tie a knot to form a loop. This will be the beginning of your bracelet.

Step 2: Tape down friendship bracelet

Tape down your bracelet on the top and bottom of your short thread to hold it in place. This will save you a lot of trouble as you weave around it with your other string.

Step 3: Place hemp under center string

The short string you have taped down will be your center string, we will call it string (C). Now take your hemp and place it underneath (C), and find the halfway point of your long hemp thread.

Step 4: Tie hemp in a knot

Star your bracelet by tying the hemp in a knot. Make sure this knot is in the middle of your hemp so you have equal lengths of string on each side to work with. Pull it tight.

Step 5: Bring the left side over the front

Now you get to begin knotting, for this bracelet we are doing the DNA knot. As I said before, it is just like the square knot, but we only perform the knot on one side instead of alternating. To do this you will first take the left side, we will call it (A), pull it over the center strings (C), so it forms a “4”.

Step 6: Bring right side down

Now you will bring your right side, let’s call it (B), down. Place it over (A).

Step 7: Bring right side under middle

Take your right side thread (B) and pull it under the center strings (C).

Step 8: Bring right thread under and up through left thread

Your right thread (B) has now passed under the center thread (C), but before it makes it’s way to the other side it must go underneath the left thread (A). Pull it up from underneath as pictured.

Step 9: Pull knot together and up

As you can see, you just formed a knot around the center thread (C). You caught it inside of the right knot hole. Great job. Now gently pull the hemp strings together and up to the top of the bracelet.

Step 10: Pull knot tight

Pull the knot tight. That’s it! That’s as hard as it gets…

Step 11: Repeat

Repeat all the way down the length of your friendship bracelet. Continue always catching the center string on the right side of your knot, and gently bring the knot in. Aim for evenness between knots as this will make the best end result.

Step 12: Knot the end

Once you have knotted all the way down your friendship bracelet, you can tie the hemp in place by forming a basic overhand knot. You don’t need to go over or under anything special, this knot is just with the hemp. Pull it tight.

Nice job, that sums up the DNA knot! Give it to your science-loving friend and tell them it’s for their radiocarpal (they’ll know what you mean).

The Diagonal Weave Friendship Bracelet

Here is another variation of friendship bracelets called the Diagonal Weave. This one involves a little more knot tying but makes a beautiful end product. In this tutorial I show you how to do it with just 4 pieces of string, but you can use as many as you like. The more string you use, the wider it will be, but you will always get the same woven result.

Supplies for the Diagonal Weave Friendship Bracelet

• 4 kinds of string, 36″ each.
• scissors
• tape

I chose to use my hot pink yarn, my red yarn, some white string, and my hemp.  You can use any 4 strings you want, just try to keep the widths similar. A common type of string for this technique is embroidery floss, which can be purchased at any fabric or craft store.

Step 1: Hold all ends together

Hold all 4 ends together between your thumb and forefinger, makimng sure they all meet and are the same length. You want about 1 yard of each color to work with.

Step 2: Knot string

Tie the ends of your string together in a basic overhand knot.

Step 3: Tape down friendship bracelet

Once you have knotted your string you should tape it down so it stays in place as you form your weave.

Step 4: Take the first string and pull it across the second

For this example I will refer to the strings by their color. Take the red string, the one on the very outside, and pull it across the string adjacent to it.

Step 5: Pull first string around and up

Pull the outside string (red) around the adjacent string (hemp) and back to the outside, coming out the top.

Step 6: Pull first string up to top of knot

You circled the 2nd string (hemp) with your first string (red), now pull the first (red) string up to the top of the bracelet by the big knot and set it down. Your first string (red) now looks like your second string.

Step 7: Repeat across all strings

You will repeat what you just did to the hemp string to all the other strings across your bracelet. The first string that you were working with (red) will always form a knot around the one that is newly adjacent to it. In this case the next string is our pink one. Pull the ininitial string (red) around it and back out the top. Pull the knot up and set your thread down, this time between the 3rd (pink) and 4th (white) pieces of string.

Step 8: Repeat on the last string

As you’ve been doing, take your initial string (red) and pull it over the last string (white).

Step 9: Form loop and pull up

Form the loop by pulling the thread (red) around and back out the top of the last thread (white), pull it up to the top of the big knot and lay it down.

Step 10: Notice how your threads have changed order

Notice how your first thread (red) is now your last thread. It worked its way all the way across the bracelet. You will continue to do this with each different color down the length of your bracelet. The whole process takes about an hour, but the end result is well worth it!

Step 11: Repeat

Now that you have made one row, you will be repeating with the next color. Always start with the thread on the far left (hemp in my case) and work your way across to the right.

Step 12: Threads have changed place again

Notice how the hemp thread is now on the far left. You formed the knots across the top with it, and set it down. You are now ready to pick up the 3rd string of the bracelet and work your way across.

Step 13: Change threads and keep going.

Now you have worked your way across the bracelet with your pink thread, notice how it is now on the far left, and how it has left behind a row of pink knots along the top of the bracelet.

Step 14: Repeat

I have now walked you through every single color. Continue the weaving process all the way down the length of your bracelet! In our case, that means starting once again with the red string.

Step 15: Finish with a square knot.

Once you have worked down the entire length of your bracelet, you can tie off the strings with a knot. I took two strings in one hand, two in the other, and tied them in a basic square knot so they would stay in place. 

You might have noticed the bracelet began to twist as you worked your way down, this sometimes happens, and is nothing to worry about because it will lie flat once it is on your wrist.

Wasn’t that fun? The beauty of a friendship bracelets is there are so many varieties, and they are each unique. Just like your friends. 😉

Make these friendship bracelets as gifts or make them together and exchange them. Sometimes I like to make super long friendship bracelets, then when I am finished I cut them in half, and my friend and I each keep one half. This project is a fun bonding experience and will mean so much to whoever is on the receiving end. Who will you be making yours for?

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