handmade all glass beaded cuff bracelet with buttons 3680

The third in the series of beaded cuffs this one made entirely from glass beads and handmade rope. The three toggle buttons are a dark maroon polymer clay.

The button and loop system follows the progression of the zig-zag rope layout with one of the buttons located on the opposite side as the other two.

The extra cord is braided and stitched to the edge.

 The all glass bead composition adds some mass to this at 3.1 oz/ 90 g so it feels substantial.

Size is 7 1/2" (191 mm) inside circumference

Available here on ArtiFact Site


design and photographs © copyright 2015

three button beaded cuff 3679

This three button cuff is a larger version of the small child's beaded bracelet in the previous post. This one is made larger and with three buttons and loops to allow for easy application and removal.

The design similar to the smaller bracelet with a mix of glass and paper beads strung between rows of handmade cotton rope.

The difference is that the rope is laid out to form the loops instead of a continuous spiral pattern.
Size is 7" (178 mm) internal circumference
2 3/4" (70 mm) wide
Some other designs using handmade paper beads:

One button bracelet with paper beads
Black leather bracelet with paper beads
Rope bracelet with paper beads
One button cuff with paper beads 

Available here







design and photographs © copyright 2015

child's beaded bracelet 3678

A small but highly detailed bracelet made from handmade rope , handmade paper beads, and glass beads. Recalls folk-art fashion made up materials appropriated from the recycle bin. The paper beads are made out of glossy magazine paper  and glue, the handmade rope is made from lightweight cotton twine.

There is no clasp or buttons this is a bangle style slip on design made with a spiral pattern layout.

 The three-ply rope is laid up around a mold and the beads are placed in the gap between the cords. High strength nylon thread is passed through the cord and beads securing the beads in position.

The cord ends are bound to the perimeter

A combination of handmade paper beads and small glass beads are used which creates a textured and colorful pattern.

Made for very small hands...
6" (153 mm) circumference
2" (51 mm) wide

1.1 oz / 32g

75 beads

Available here on ArtFactSite



design and photographs © copyright 2015

beaded soft bangle 3540

 Thin cotton rope molded and edge stitched with a row of glass seed beads

 The geometry:
17 beads
10 rows of cord
7" (178 mm)
2 1/4" (57mm)
1" (24 mm)

available here

These and other unique bracelets can be found online WhatKnotShop on ETSY




design and photographs © copyright 2015 WhatKnotShop

beaded grey fabric bangle 3278

 9 selected glass beads
12 layers cord
1 cuff bracelet

Astronomical design

edge stitched with four ply nylon thread
8" (203 mm) circumference
all new materials no animal products

A contemporary ancient modern artifact made from imaginary sources.

Available here


design and photographs © copyright 2015 WhatKnotShop

beaded rope bracelet 3452

 Off white braided cord bound together with rows of glass beads made into a slip on bangle style bracelet. The two large beads look like a toggle closure but are actually sewn in place.

High strength nylon thread is used to compress the cord and secure the beads.

 size large 8 1/4" (209 mm) inside circumference
2 5/8" (67 mm) diameter

available soon


similar designs available here

custom work available




design and photographs © copyright 2014 WhatKnotShop

2 button anklet 3093

Found fibers, glass beads, random bits of paracord, hand dyed cord, plastic buttons. Edge bound with 4-ply nylon thread.

Size "large" to fit an adult size foot.

 Two buttons and loops are secure but easy to manage.

Industrial primitive.


                  available here


design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

blue and green beaded turks head bracelet 2943

 An ordinary 12 x 5 x 3 turks head knot turns into something sparkly when the center strand is composed of 3 mm glass seed beads.

A two strand knot was tied using 3 mm teal blue cotton cord. The knot was left a little slack as the glass beads are non compressible and need plenty of space to pass through the weave.

 A 48" length of four ply nylon thread strung with the beads was threaded through the center and drawn up to a firm tension so there were no gaps in the bead string.

Here you can see the placement.

The bead string was secured at one end and the cotton cord was worked around to remove slack and even the tension. Then the other end of the bead string was used to stitch the loose ends together.

The results are pleasing with the blue green mix of beads and the blue cord.

These bracelets are heavier due to the glass beads

This is a size "small" to show the concept.

               available here

design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

1 button leather wrapped bracelet with black glass beads 2933

 This is the fourth in a series of small one button leather cord bracelets. Each has a unique detail that makes it special.

The basic design is four ply leather cord wrapped with a black waxed cotton thread. A 6 mm round wood bead and button connect with a pair of loops to form a secure easy to manage toggle.

This design features a pair of black glass crow beads placed opposite the button and loop.

 Size "small" about 7" (178 mm)

This design can be made both larger and smaller to fit children, women, and men.

All the components in this design are black: the button, the waxed cotton wrapping, and the beads.

Here are more designs you might like:
1 button bracelet with a pair of wooden beads
1 button bracelet with a polymer clay bead
1 button bracelet (plain - no beads)




           Available here.

design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

hardware cloth bracelet with beads 1478

 Conceptual bracelet made with green vinyl coated hardware cloth and red glass beads.


Slip-on bangle style design.

Garden chic, garage fashion, farady cage grunge.

 Glass beads have very small holes enabling the wire to be crimped over to hold them in place.

Could be made to size with 1/2" increments.

Size "medium" 7 5/8" (194 mm) no stretch to this one, it's made of coated steel.






design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

blue beaded two button bracelet 2630

 This one has nothing to do whatever with knotting per-se but appears here anyway as an exercise in beadwork. The glass beads are a random collection predominantly reds and oranges but with a few blue and green and a couple of black opaque beads too.

In the correct lighting the beads glow with color as you can see in this photo. It's a nice effect.

The cord structure is very similar to the one button fabric bracelets. The framing cords are a 1/4" braided nylon hand dyed blue with two buttons and loops. Instead of edge binding the cords as infill the beads are placed between the framing cords and threaded on the four ply nylon. You can see the exposed stitching on the outside edges.

Size is medium-small measuring 7 1/4" (183 mm) inside circumference when closed.



                 Available here


design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

beaded spiral bracelet 2536

 Another experiment using a heavier braided cotton line to make a simple two pass helix that is held together with cotton floss. The spacers are irregular glass beads culled from one of those "mass-o-glass" pots of beads found at Michael's.

These bead collections are about 30% unusable due to cracking, rough edges, and other defects but the variety of color, shape and sizes makes them perfect for use in these projects.

 As with many other of these cuffs the layout is done on a tube using thin needles to position the beads. The cotton floss is threaded through the cores of the beads and wrapped around the framing cords.

The loose ends are secured with green cotton floss using a traditional whipping or binding. This work was often done on the ends of hemp ropes to prevent the fraying of twisted cordage. Now a days synthetic lines are melted or burned to fuse the fibers.

This is a pretty flexible shape measuring about 8 5/8" (219 mm) inside circumference. The beads are all glass (no plastic)

Design variations: add more parts to the helix to increase width; Adjust spacing of beads; use single color beads; add whipping to the spaces between the beads; oversize the cord and use larger beads; infill the spaces with contrasting color beads.

design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

Spool bracelet two button cuff beaded tribal style bracelet 2535

 Continuing the series of tribal inspired cuffs this design is all whites, off whites, and grey. The beads are all clear glass some with a hint of purple color. The edges are a heavier hand dyed braided cord and the center area is made from the twisted cotton cable cord.

 There is an extra braided center cord that is bound into the thinner shell between the edges. Overall this one came out about 2" (51 mm) wide.

The off white buttons and loops come apart to make this 7 1/2" (191 mm) inside circumference wearable for people with bigger hands.


                Available here


More like this in the fiber art design section of WhatKnotShop on Etsy.

design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

beaded cable tie concept bracelet challenge 2546

 Would you rather an Arachnid? Looks something like a spider but more symmetrical and without the head thorax or abdomen...

This is a whimsical construction of black plastic cable ties, the kind you find at the hardware store, and tiny doughnut shaped green glass beads, the kind you find at the bead shop.

There is a cultural distance between these two shopping venues. I'll leave it to another post to discuss this or you may comment if you like...

 This example is only about 2" diameter which is small but the design can be expanded in two ways:

Add more beads to each tie increasing the segment length: -|||||||- to  -|||||||||||||||||||||-

Add additional ties to form a nine or ten or even eleven part polygon.

Design variation: Place an uneven numbers of beads on each tie, and color of beads and ties.

In this closeup you can see the beads are placed on the ties then the tail of one tie is placed in the ratchet of the next tie.

For the people who do numbers theory the ratio of beads to chords might be interesting. Post your suggestions.

Lastly if you have an idea on how to gracefully terminate the ties please post a comment.

design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

beaded cuff tribal statement bracelet grey, blue, green 2516

Another fabric cord cuff based on the Kuchi cuff form with the massive outer ribs and the thinner infill panel in the center. This one is grey with slate blue, light chocolate, and pale green cords offset by glass seed beads in cream, pearl grey, and brick red.

It is not as wide as a traditional Kuci cuff. the design measures only 2" (51 mm) wide instead of the 4" to 6" in some of the traditional cuffs.

The beads are placed in the cord matrix as the bracelet is assembled. Here you can see the beads in the infill cord which are a #30 cotton twine (about 1.5 mm diameter).  The bead color is more subtle than the photograph suggests.

When the nylon thread is tensioned the cords compress and the beads are held tightly together with the cord.

The ribs get a row of seed beads after the tensioning of the fabric is complete

The loops and buttons make this design open for people who might have hands that wont fit through a 7 1/2" (191 mm) internal circumference.   The weave and compression process left an open loop which was filled with a clear glass bead.

                         Available here

More like this in the fiber art design section of WhatKnotShop on Etsy.

design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

red beaded rope bracelet 2481

 This beaded cuff bracelet is made with bleached clothesline cord a couple of plastic buttons and a handful of glass beads. The outer two rows are a mix of red and clear beads with a few mixed colors that look like cat's eye marbles. The center is a collection of orange, amber, and purple. All these are real glass so they catch the light.

 The design has this offset loop and button closure system which you can see in the photo. This makes it easy to take on and off. When closed the size is a "medium" measuring 7 1/2" (191 mm) inside circumference. The large number of glass beads makes this a nice hefty weight which you will notice when you are wearing this cuff.

Construction is with four ply waxed nylon thread so everything is secure but flexible to wear comfortably.

This piece will be offered in an upcoming boutique sale. Check Finch's Holiday Time Boutique for details, place and time or visit the fiber art section of my Etsy shop to see some other designs similar to this one.


design and photographs © copyright 2012 WhatKnotShop

anticlastic cuff bracelet with glass beads modern relic artifact 1679

A button and loop toggle cuff bracelet made with layers of hand dyed cord and dozens of mixed glass beads. The heavier grey cord frames the dark green and teal center cords.

Clear glass beads are stitched into the outside edges creating light catching movement. Pale blue glass beads are worked into the seams of the clothesline cord on the inside edges.

 Two loops and a pair of black plastic buttons form a secure toggle closure.

the geometry:
7" (179 mm) inside circumference
1 1/2" (38 mm) wide.

This is one of the design )strata( series of clothesline cuffs available in the WhatKnotShop on Zibbet

                     available here 

design and photographs © copyright 2011 WhatKnotShop