How long should each string be for a friendship bracelet?

It depends on how many knots that string ties. This page uses a published rule: ties + 5 cm + 1.41 x the bracelet length + (knots the string ties per 100 rows) x length / 14. A string that ties a knot in half the rows of a 14 cm bracelet needs about 95 cm; one that never ties needs about 45 cm.

How do I make a chevron friendship bracelet pattern?

Choose the Chevron starter. It mirrors the colours from both edges in, ties the left half forward, the right half backward and the middle knot forward, so every colour meets in the middle as a V. Change any knot to vary it.

Friendship bracelet pattern maker

Pick your strings, tap any knot to change it, and the whole bracelet recolours below it. Print the rows step by step.

Strings

Colour Colour name

Pattern tap a knot to change its type

Step by step tap a row when it is done

Start from

A starter keeps your number of strings and replaces the knots and colours. Then edit anything.

Rows in the pattern (even, 2–60)

Set every knot:

String lengths

Bracelet length (cm) Ties, both ends (cm)

Print, save and share

Paper

The PDF holds the pattern, the knot key, each string's colour and length, and every row written out with a box to tick.

Your design and row ticks are saved in this browser only.

How to design a friendship bracelet pattern

Choose a starter: candy stripe, chevron, diamond or zigzag. It is laid out with real knots for the strings you have.
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.
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.
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).
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.

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

Normal (diagonal) patterns only. No alpha patterns (the grid of letters and pictures tied on a base string).
No photo to pattern. In a normal pattern each knot's colour is fixed by the strings that reach it, so a picture cannot simply be painted in; you shape the design by choosing knots.
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 design and the row ticks sit in this browser's local storage; “Clear saved work” deletes them. A share link carries the design inside the link after the #, which browsers do not send to any server.

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 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.