Bead Loom Bracelet Without a Loom!

I have been a fan of beaded jewelry for as long as I can remember. Ever since I started DIYing, beaded jewelry is something i had wanted to give a go. But the problem was i did not own a loom (or could get on where i live), and was never successfully could do a single line of peyote.

So when i saw instructables was holding a jewelry contest, I really put my mind to make a loom on my own. The most common way to construct a makeshift loom is to either use a comb, making vertical in a cardboard box. But neither of these methods worked for me, the end result turned out extremely flimsy, and the entire apparatus fell apart 10 minutes into use. I hence created a loom, with inspiration from the internet that worked for me, it is stable and very easy to use.

So lets get into it!

You Will Need

For the loom

A ply board (or a wooden plank)
Some loopy hooks (i don't know what they are really called)
2 screws
2 nuts
2 nails
Basic tools

For the bracelet

Lots and lots of beads (I bought some necklaces for cheap and cut them open)
Nylon thread
Polyester thread
Scraps of leather
Any sort of closing mechanism (I cut mine out from a bracelet I no longer wore)
Strong glue (I used E 6000)
Basic stationery

Construct You Loom

Take your loop things and screw them on one side of your plank, making sure the distance between them is lesser than the length of the screw you'll be using. Another thing to make sure of is that your screw fits snug into the loop. once the screw is in, close with a loop.

Nail a needle along the middle an inch behind the screw.

Do the same on the other side.

Keep the distance between the 2 screws as large as your board allows.

I apologize for how rubbish my board looks, but this what I had at hand. And also ignore the rusted hardware, I live in the tropics and things rust QUICK.

Cast on Your Thread

Here we will be casting on the vertical threads that will hold the bracelet in place. For this I used a thick nylon thread so that the end product is sturdy.
Start by tying your thread to one of the nail with a double knot. Then take your thread over one notch of the screw, take it under the screw and then back up through the same notch. So that you end up looping one notch of the screw.
Then take the thread over to the other screw, over one notch, under and then over the same. Then loop your thread around the nail. This is one thread done. Make sure the thread is taught and does not sag.
And then loop it around a notch next to the last one, and take it over.
Continue this until you have casted as many threads as you want.
The number of thread you will need will be one great that the number of coulmn of beads. I used nine beads so cast on ten threads.

String on Your Beads

This is the fun part. The first thing you'll want to do is to search a bead loom pattern of your liking. I went with a simple diamond shaped one. But you go as complex or simple as you want.
There are a number of patterns available for free online. That is what you will follow to arrange your beads in order.
String a jewellers needle with 3 feet of polyester thread (I used polyester because it is much thinner and could ho through the tine holes of the beads). You will be using only a single thread, and there is no need to tie a knot at the end.

Since i went with a nine bead wide bracelet, I took nine beads in accordance to the pattern on my needle. Then i placed the needle UNDER the vertical strings and adjusted the beads so that there exist only one bead in between two vertical strings.
I put my finger underneath the beads so that they stay in place and pulled the needle out. I stopped when i had about half a feet of tail left.

Then put your needle back through the beads, but this time take your needle OVER the vertical threads.

So you start with you needle under the thread, you pull, and then you go back through the beads but now over the threads. So quintessentially you are sandwiching the vertical threads between the horizontal ones.

The first row of beads is the most difficult part of this process, but once it is done the following rows get easier and easier.
Dont worry about the tail for now, it will be dealt with later.

Progress and String on a New Thread

This is me showing off my work mid way. It is quite gratifying to see you work take shape.

String on the next row of beads, so on and so forth until you have about half a feet of thread left, ideally that is when you should stop.

To string on a new thread all you have to do is take a new one as you did before, string on the beads as done in the first row, leaving a tail of half a feet. Then slide these new beads as close to the last row as possible, and continue on beading.

The Complete Bracelet

Continue on looming until you have a little less than what you need to wrap around your wrist.

Finish Off He Loose Ends

Start off by taking the end of the last string you used. Put it through a needle and take it across three rows of beads (above or below does not matter).

Then in the fourth row, take your needle through only 3 beads, and tie a knot on the horizontal thread. Then take it through another three beads and knot. Knot about 5 to 6 times, then take the remaining threads through the beads (without knotting) until you have only a little thread left. Tie a knot right at the end and snip off the excess.

The same process will be repeated for all the loose ends.

Rectify Any Mistakes

It is common to leave a few beads while beading.

If like this you have any beads that have not been strung on, this is a good time to make sure a thread goes over them.

After rectifying any mistake, do make sure to tie a knot to secure it.

Remove Your Bracelet From the Loom

When all your loose ends have been dealt with, and no beads are left out, it is time to take the bracelet off of the loom.

Do this simply by snipping off the vertical threads an inch away from the beginning and end of the beads.

Attach a Mechanism

Take small scraps of leather (About an inch and a half in length and wide as the width of the bracelet) and poke a hole right through the middle.

For the closure, I snipped off a pulling mechanism from a bracelet i no longer wore but can obviously make a slip knot. Pierce one end of that through the leather and stuck it on using some super glue. Then folding it in half stick it onto the bracelet making sure the threads poking through the bracelet are all properly stuck on.

Do the same for the other end.

Let all this dry for a good amount of time.

You Are Done!

And viola! you now have a lovely loom bracelet without a loom!

This is how it looks on. I love how creative you can get with this, there a million patterns you can try!

Thanks for checking out my work :)

If you liked this, do visit my blog.