Project Idea -- Jingle Chain Stretch Bracelet

These bracelets look more complicated than they are -- the base is made from stretch cord strung through links of chain.

Supply List -
12-18" Stretchy Cord or Elastic (such as 03-DA1960-91)
3-6' Footage Chain, depending on chain style
1 Easy Eye Beading Needle, optional (03-DA1144-26)
Your choice of beaded dangles and/or charms

Needed Tools: scissors or wire cutter, tape measure, optional bead stopper

The amount of chain you will need varies by chain style & link sizes. For the silver plate large curb chain bracelet shown upper left in above photo, need 5-6' of chain is needed. The antique brass rollo chain bracelet on above right requires about 3' of chain. Loosely measure your wrist before beginning to know the length needed. Cut a generous length of Stretchy Cord and add your Bead Stopper (or folded tape) to the end. With the large curb chain bracelet, I chose to fold the cord in half to have a double -- stronger -- strand. A needle is not needed, but I found it much easier to thread back and forth when I used an Easy Eye beading needle.

With the large curb chain, you're stringing through each link. Because the links are curved, string by going in the middle, coming out the side & back through the middle of next link (see image A left). As you go, drape the chain over one hand to access the links and let the strung links pool at the end in a loose, jangled manner, straightening the cord as you go (similar to image B).

Once you have about 8" of loosely piled chain (you'll want bracelet a little larger than measured wrist due to the chunkier nature of the bracelet), create a surgeon's knot as shown above right. If you opted to double your stretch cord, catch the folded end of the stretch cord with an open end before creating the knot. Add a dab of optional jeweler's glue to knot, let dry, make sure knot is secure, then trim extra cord. You may want to connect the end links of the chain together with another link or jump ring.

To create the Rollo Chain bracelet shown on top right, follow steps to begin, using a single strand of stretch cord & about 3' of chain. For the look shown, I weaved the cord back and forth through every other link of the rollo chain (see graphic at right). Once 7.5-8" of chain has accumulated, finish with surgeon's knot and connected chain, as indicated above. Decorate bracelet as desired. For Large Curb bracelet, leaves, grape clusters and other charms in both gold and silvertone were used.. For Rollo Chain bracelet, tigereye dangles & decorative rings have been added.

Experiment with other chain to see what looks you can get -- Bead Jam has many styles of footage chain available in gold & silver plate, antique copper, antique brass and gunmetal.

All the supplies on the list above can be purchased in-store at Bead Jam, and many available on our On-line store. Follo to search for the

Design and instructions copyright of Bead Jam LLC; creation of projects is for personal or gift use only. Feel free to print and distribute projects as long as credit is given to www.beadjam.com