Friendship bracelet pattern maker

How to design a friendship bracelet pattern

1. Choose a starter: candy stripe, chevron, diamond or zigzag. It is laid out with real knots for the strings you have.
2. Set the strings: 4 to 24. Tap a string at the top to pick its colour from the swatches or the colour picker, give it a name, or move it left or right.
3. Tap a knot to cycle it: forward, backward, forward-backward, backward-forward. The colour of every knot below it is worked out again at once, because the strings now arrive in a different order.
4. Cut the strings to the lengths listed for your bracelet length, and line them up in the order shown at the top (A on the left).
5. Knot from the steps. Tap each row as you finish it; the ticks stay in this browser. Print the PDF if you would rather work from paper.

How to make an alpha pattern from a name or a picture

1. Choose Alpha at the top of the tool, then A name or word or A picture.
2. For a name, type it and pick a pixel alphabet: Micro 5 and Silkscreen have 5-knot capitals, Press Start 2P 7, Jersey 10 10. The letters are turned to run down the bracelet, so the grid shows them on their side; the strip under the grid shows the bracelet as worn.
3. For a picture, open it, set the width in knots (4–40) and the colours (2–8). A wider grid keeps more detail but needs more base strings and a wider bracelet.
4. Fix any knot: pick a colour above the grid and tap knots to paint them. Change a colour or its name at any time; “+ Colour” adds up to 8.
5. Cut and tie: the lengths card lists the base strings and one knotting string per colour. Tie row by row from the steps (forward knots left to right in odd rows, backward knots right to left in even rows) and tap each row when it is done.

The alpha rules this page uses

An alpha bracelet is knotted onto a set of base strings that never show; every visible knot is tied by a knotting (leading) string, so each knot can be any colour. The rules here are from published tutorials, fetched 2026-10-21 (the full quotes are in this folder's alpha.SOURCE.txt):

• Base strings = the width in knots. “Take as many base-strings as there are squares in your pattern” across (friendship-bracelets.net, Multi-Colored Alpha Bracelets, fetched 2026-10-21). A grid 12 knots wide takes 12 base strings, plus one knotting string per colour.
• Tying order. “Always all forward knots in uneven rows, and all backward knots in even rows”, row 1 left to right and row 2 back from the right (same tutorial, fetched 2026-10-21); the steps list each row’s colour runs in that order.
• A colour change swaps the knotting string: the old one goes behind the bracelet (to the right in a forward row, to the left in a backward row) and the new colour’s string ties the next knot (BraceletBook tutorial 106 by arf820, fetched 2026-10-21).
• Lengths. A base string is “the length of the bracelet + the length of the ties + some extra to be safe” (halokiwi on the BraceletBook forum, fetched 2026-10-21); this page adds 5 cm. A knotting string uses “about 1cm of string per knot” plus 10–15 cm for the ends (loonybin on the BraceletBook forum, fetched 2026-10-21); this page adds 15 cm. Worked example: “EMMA” in Micro 5 is 7 × 21 = 147 knots, 50 of them letters. For a 16 cm bracelet with 20 cm of ties that is 7 base strings of 41 cm (16 + 20 + 5), a letter string of 50 + 15 = 65 cm and a background string of 97 + 15 = 112 cm.

The four knots, and why one change recolours the rest

Every knot in a normal pattern is tied by one string (the working string) around its neighbour, and only the working string's colour shows. The rules this page follows are from BraceletBook's “Bracelet Knots” tutorial (fetched 2026-10-21) and its guide to reading normal patterns (fetched 2026-10-21):

• Forward (arrow down to the right): the left string ties, shows, and ends on the right. The two strings swap.
• Backward (arrow down to the left): the right string ties, shows, and ends on the left. They swap.
• Forward-backward (arrow right, then back left): the left string ties one forward and one backward half-knot, shows, and stays on the left. No swap.
• Backward-forward (arrow left, then back right): the right string ties, shows, and stays on the right. No swap.

So a knot decides two things: its own colour and which string goes where next. Worked example with 4 strings red, yellow, yellow, red: row 1 ties 1–2 forward (red shows, red moves to place 2) and 3–4 backward (red shows, red moves to place 3); so row 2's middle knot (forward) ties red onto red. Turn the first knot into forward-backward and red stays in place 1, so the same middle knot now has yellow on its left and comes out yellow.

How the string lengths are worked out

From halokiwi's BraceletBook tutorial “How to calculate string length in a normal pattern” (fetched 2026-10-21): a string that ties more knots gets used up faster. For each string the page counts the knots it ties (the knots in its colour) over the rows it takes to come back to its starting place, as a percentage of those rows: P = 100 × knots ÷ rows. Then

length = ties + 5 cm + √(2 × L²) + P × L ÷ 14

where L is the bracelet length. The √2 × L is the diagonal path a string takes even when it never ties; the 5 cm is the tutorial's “added security”. For a 14 cm bracelet with 20 cm of ties, a string tying 4 knots in 8 rows (50 %) needs 20 + 5 + 19.8 + 50 = 94.8 cm, the tutorial's 95 cm. Add more for a braided or knotted loop start.

What it cannot do

• A name or a picture becomes an alpha pattern, not a normal one. In a normal (diagonal) pattern each knot's colour is fixed by the strings that reach it, so a name or picture cannot be painted in there; in Alpha mode every knot is painted directly.
• Pictures lose detail. At 20 knots across a face becomes a few blocks of colour; logos, hearts and emoji with flat colours work best, photos of people rarely do. Fix stray knots by tapping them.
• Names use four pixel alphabets with Latin letters; a character a face lacks is left out and named, not drawn in another face. One line, up to 20 characters, at most 40 knots across and 300 rows.
• Alpha grids are flat, one knot per square: no shaped ends, no flat-alpha technique and no knot-by-knot preview of the back.
• No beads, braids, spiral or square knots, and no shaped edges or loops drawn.
• Screen colours are not thread colours. Name each string after the floss you own.
• Lengths are an estimate from one published rule; tight knotters use less, loose knotters more.
• Saved on this device only. The designs and the row ticks sit in this browser's local storage; “Clear saved work” deletes them. An opened picture is never saved or sent: only the knot grid made from it is kept. A share link carries the design inside the link after the #, which browsers do not send to any server; an alpha link holds the grid and its colours, never the picture or the typed name.

Questions

How do I make my own friendship bracelet pattern online for free?

Pick a starter, set the strings and colours, and tap knots to change them. There is no account; the design is saved in this browser only, and you can print it or send it as a link.

How do I read a friendship bracelet pattern step by step?

From the top, row by row. Row 1 ties strings 1–2, 3–4 and on; row 2 ties 2–3, 4–5 and on, and the rows alternate. With 8 strings that is 4 knots, then 3. The written steps spell each row out, such as Row 2: strings 2–3 forward (B), 4–5 backward (E); the letter is the string whose colour the knot shows.

How long should each string be?

About 45 cm for a string that never ties in a 14 cm bracelet, and about 95 cm for one that ties in half the rows; the list beside the pattern gives each of yours for your bracelet length.

How do I make an alpha bracelet pattern with a name?

Choose Alpha, then A name or word, and type it. Each letter comes from a pixel alphabet, one knot per pixel, turned to run down the bracelet with one plain knot round it. In Micro 5 “EMMA” is 7 knots across and 21 rows: 7 base strings and one knotting string per colour. Tap any knot to repaint it.

Can I make a bracelet pattern from a picture?

Yes, as an alpha pattern: choose Alpha, then A picture, and set the width (4–40 knots) and the colours (2–8). Each knot takes the average colour of the pixels under it, and the colours are cut to your number (kept exactly if the picture already has that few). The picture never leaves your device.

How many strings does an alpha bracelet need?

One base string per knot across, plus one knotting string for each colour. The lengths card counts them for your grid and works out each length.

How do I make a chevron pattern?

Choose the Chevron starter: colours mirror from both edges, the left half ties forward, the right half backward and the middle knot forward, so each colour meets in the middle as a V.