stitch up tutorial part 3

Place a double overhand knot in the thread and cinch it up tight. This secures the cords so they don't come undone later.

 Trim off the excess thread using a heavy shear or wire cutter. Leave a 1/16" tail on the knot.

When you are finished the cords should be tightly bound together by the thread.

Trim off the cords using a wire cutter or scissor. Trim as close the weave as possible without damaging the other cords.

Here you can see the trimmed cord ends. The stitching is on the inside of the bracelet hidden from view. The cord ends will fray slightly causing them to be less noticeable.


After trimming the cords you may re-shape the bracelet by placing it over a bottle or other cylindrical object and evening the alignment of the cords.

Here's the finished product after having been shaped and stretched.




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design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

stitch up tutorial part 2

  Make another pass with the needle and thread across the cords as shown. Space the stitching out so the cross threads cover the whole area of the parallel cords.

 Now there are three passes of thread securing the cords in place. Draw the thread through the cords and pull firmly to bind the cords together.

 Reverse the needle and place a fourth pass diagonally through the cords so the needle emerges near the origin point.

Pull firmly to tighten the thread.

This shows the stitching complete with the two pieces of thread drawn through the cords ready to tie off.






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design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop

stitch up tutorial part 1

 In this tutorial the process of securing the loose ends of a multi-strand turks head knot will be demonstrated.

You will need a #6 needle with 18" of high strength thread. Carpet thread or other heavy duty material will work best.

This photo shows the completed knot turned partially inside out to expose the overlapping cords. Make sure the cords are arranged even and parallel as in the example.

 Using the sewing needle and high strength thread push the needle through the parallel strands of the knot cord at a 90 degree angle as shown.

You may find it helpful to use a pliers to handle the needle as the cord may be rather dense and resist the passage of the needle.

 Draw the thread through the cords leaving about 1" or so. This loose end will be used later to tie off the thread.

 Push the needle back through the strands  parallel to the first pass.

This photo shows the first two passes of the needle with the thread loop left slack for clarity.






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design and photographs © copyright 2013 WhatKnotShop