Crochet Wristband for Watch

We had this old watch where the wristband broke so suddenly it came to me that I could crochet a new wristband onto it!

I must say this works surprisingly well. The stitches have regular holes that the locking pin can go through so you can close it anywhere you like and so far it seems pretty sturdy! If you don't tug on it too much it should last.

It's quite cool because through crochet you can make it fit to probably most watches.

It can be as wide and long as you want .

Skill level

For this you only need to do the simple single crochet which is the most basic one

However, the yarn is tiny so it can be quite fiddly, so I would say practice a little with normal sized yarn (at least size 3/4 ) if this is the first time you are crocheting.

There are plenty of crocheting tutorials online and on youtube.

Time

One lazy afternoon was enough for me to have the idea, start and finish it.

Sooooooooooooooo

What you need

# yarn

In this case I didn't even use yarn but thread for sewing. It is thin and sturdy enough to make a wristband

# crochet needle

The needle obviously needs to match the yarn. You want to be knitting relatively tight on this to make it sturdy enough to last on your wrist.

# watch with broken wristband

It is quite important that you have a broken wristband so that you can use the buckle bit.
Otherwise you will have to crochet some other clever closing mechanism

I used

# crochet needle : 1.1mm (it says 11)

# Thread : 100% Cotton , 30/3

I had to google it : 30/3 is the ratio of how much wool is used to make how long a yarn. So it is like the density.

If you have a 20/2 yarn that should be the same as this. Basically anything with 10x / 1x

Ok Go

The crocheting is actually pretty simply.

1. Crochet to the bar of the watch.

I left the bar in the watch and just crocheted onto it using slip stitches. Here's a tutorial for a magnified version.

You just have to try out how many stitches you want to put on. This is the critical part that needs to be sturdy so you want to put on just the right amount of stitches.

I just tried it out and began crocheting. After a few rows you should notice if it is too many or too little.

Ideally you have the old wristband to compare to, I aimed to be just as wide as this was.

2. Next just crochet in a a straight line

This must be the simplest crocheting stitch.

Remember to add one when you turn around so it does not start getting thinner.
Best to know how many stitches you want when you start doing the rows.

I tried to do the stitches as tight as I could comfortably make them.

You will start getting hand cramps. At the size of this yarn you are basically crocheting a scarf.

3. Crocheting to the Buckles

I just made it roughly as long as the original wristband

But again, the cool thing is you can now make it the perfect size for yourself. Just put it round your wrist until it is halfway.

Then I simply used slipstitches to fasten to the buckle, 1 SlipSt. through each stitch in your last row.

This one again you want nice and straight, constant and tight.
(But not overly)

With my buckle, the bolt/ peg / whatever bit was actually loose so I had to make sure to put it in between my middle two stitches so that it is in place.

4. Same thing for the other side

The side that usually has the holes in it is even easier. Repeat steps 1. and 2. and make it as long as you like.

I started getting smaller when I reached the area that would be going through the buckle so that it would fit through. Check yours.

For me, the pole thing was small enough to fit through my single crochets. I considered doing double crochets or so in the middle for bigger holes but decided that this would just make it stretchy and less durable so I stuck with single stitches.

If you try something else out, let me know! I'd love to see it.

Then just give it some extra length so that you can get fatter wrists in the future or so the watch will fit anyone else who might wear it. I started decreasing in the last few rows too to make it look nice and round.

Yarn off

Over and Out.

Show off your watch.

"Hey cool watch." -

- "Yeah, I made it."