Floral Spiral Rope Bracelet Tutorial

Some of the most enjoyable aspects of beading are the simple pleasures, like combining a handful of choice colors, or adding a sweet motif to a classic stitch. One of my favorite ways to dress up the plain but pretty spiral rope is with flowers. By adding a simple pattern to the spiral rows, you can create tiny flowers that look just like daisy chains.

To make this spring spiral bracelet you will need:

3 yards of Fireline or Nymo
Czech seed beads in 3 colors (5 grams base color, 4 grams petal color, 2 grams pollen color)
Japanese seed beads in 1 color (about 2 grams)
1 clasp or button of your choice

For the spiral rope, I’ve layered Czech seed beads over Japanese round seed beads, both to get a nice rounded shape for the spirals, and ensure that there is plenty of room for thread in the spiral core. Whatever palette you choose, you want to make sure that your base colors contrast with your flower colors, so that the motif stands out nicely.

How to weave floral spiral rope stitch:

Pick up 4 Japanese (core) seed beads, and 5 Czech seed beads in your base color. Pass up through the core beads again and pull snug.

Pick up 1 core bead, 1 base, 2 petal, and 2 base color beads. Stitch up through the top 3 core beads from the previous stitch and pull snug. Pass up through the core bead just added, and roll the new beads to the side.

Pick up 1 core, 1 base, 1 petal, 1 pollen, 1 petal, and 1 base color bead. Stitch up through the top 3 core beads and pull snug. Pass up through the core bead just added.

Pick up 1 core, 2 base, 2 petal, and 1 base color bead. Stitch up through the top 3 beads and the new core bead as before.

Repeat the entire pattern, including a row of 5 base color beads between each flower, until you have a rope that is about 2 cm short of your desired length. Remember to start with just 1 core bead at the beginning of each flower motif.

After the final stitch, pick up 7 core beads, one half of your clasp, and 6 core beads. Pass back through the first core bead picked up, and the top 3 core beads in the beadwork.

Pick up 4 base color beads, stitch down through the top 2 core beads in the rope, and pull snug. Add 3 base color beads, and pass through the top 4 beads in the core.

Stitch up through the nearest spiral row and weave around the new loop twice to add strength. Weave in any remaining thread and trim.

Repeat on the other end of the rope to add the second half of the clasp (or a bead loop for your button) and taper the rope.

This pretty flower pattern is perfect for spring bracelets and necklaces, and a great way to use up small amounts of seed beads leftover in your stash. You can also combine 2 or more ropes in a single bracelet for a beautiful wrist-garden!

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