Free Project Friday: Jazzy Herringbone Bracelet

Welcome to Free Project Fridays! I'll be posting a new free beading project every Friday here on Beading Daily, so stay tuned for some great new beading projects!

I  love herringbone stitch, and the textures in twisted tubular herringbone stitch make some pretty fantastic beaded necklaces and bracelets. I love using this beadweaving stitch to make beaded ropes and straps for my bead-embroidered cabochon pendants, and lately I've been experimenting with adding a little bit of texture and color to my beaded herringbone ropes. Jazzing up your next tubular twisted herringbone rope is easier than you might think, and you can probably do it with the beads you already have in your stash!

(Before you start this project, make sure that you are familiar and comfortable with twisted tubular herringbone stitch. You'll be adding lots of embellishments to this beaded bracelet project, so it will be necessary that you are familiar with the basic mechanics of the stitch.)

For this beading project, you'll need:

• 5 g of size 11° Japanese seed beads in color A
• 5 g of size 11° Japanese cylinder beads in color B
• 1 g of size 15° Japanese seed bead in color C
• 15 g of 3.4mm Japanese drop bead in color D

Here's how to do it:

Start working tubular twisted herringbone stitch, alternating pairs of A and B. After you've worked about 1/3" of twisted tubular herringbone, add embellishments between each set of beads. Add a set of B beads and pass down through the next bead in the previous round. Before passing up through the next 3 beads, pick up 1 C, 1 D and 1 C. Pass up through the next 3 beads. Add a set of A beads and pass down through the next bead in the previous round. Add another set of CDC and pass up through the next 3 beads.

Alternate adding a set of embellishment beads between each set of A or B beads in every other round. Alternating rounds for embellishment beads will give your tubular twisted herringbone rope a fun texture while keeping it soft and flexible. Make sure that you pull snugly on your stitches when stitching the rows with no embellishments between bead sets to keep the stitching tight.

Because you're adding embellishments to your tubular twisted herringbone rope, you might have to make it slightly longer than usual for a bracelet. Once you're happy with the length of your herringbone rope, you can add a clasp. For my bracelet, I decided to make my own peyote-stitch toggle and embellish the ring with more of the Japanese drop beads.

Experiment with adding different types and sizes of embellishment beads between your bead sets! Try adding tiny freshwater pearls, 2mm or 3mm crystals, size 8^o seed beads or 1.3mm cube beads. Mix up your colors and most of all, have fun!

After you make up your own version of this bracelet, why not take a minute and share a photo of your beaded creation with us in the Reader Photo Gallery?

Happy Beading!

Jennifer