Bracelet of the Day - Half Tila Herringbone - Matte Bronze & Gunmetal

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• Half Tila beads "Metallic Matte Dark Bronze" (HT-2006)
• Half Tila beads "Matte Gunmetal" (HT-2001)

I didn't post anything yesterday because I had run out of things to post due to not being able take photos for several days. I spent the past two days taking almost 200 beadwork photos, picking out the best ones, editing them then typing nine blog articles. I also had the grocery shopping, cooking and other chores to do in between.

I decided to try a few more design variations with this narrow bracelet and this time I used a basket weave pattern. Because the bracelet is so narrow, the pattern isn't all that obvious and you would see it more with a wider bracelet. The odd thing that I discovered about the basket weave is that you always end up with the outside rows being different colors. I think it would look better with the outer rows being the same color but it's just not possible. I do love this colorway though.

Read my original post HERE for links to a free pattern and YouTube video tutorials for making this design.

I made some samples to show you some of the color patterns that you can create on these bracelets by changing the arrangement of the beads. I'm also posting information about the order in which order each color is added when making these variations. I refer to the colors as "A" and "B" in the formulas below. I'm not going to explain how to do the Herringbone stitch, I'm only describing the order that you need to pick up each color for the first few rows of the stitch to achieve the patterns below. When doing the Herringbone stitch the "rows" go vertically and they correspond to the width of the bracelet rather than the length. After adding a row, you flip the work then add the next row and so on.

BORDER

For this formula, color A is the inside color and B is the border color:

Row 1: A + B
Row 2: A + B
Row 3: A + B
Row 4: A + B

Repeat this sequence for the length of the bracelet. If you're making a wider bracelet, pick up all A beads in each row except for the last bead picked up which should be a B bead. For example, for a bracelet that is four Half Tila beads wide, you would pick up A + A + A + B.

BASKET WEAVE

Row 1: A + A
Row 2: B + B
Row 3: A + A
Row 4: B + B

Repeat this sequence for the length of the bracelet. For a wider bracelet, simply use more of the same color beads in each row. Note that you will always end up with color A along one edge and color B along the other.

NARROW STRIPES

Row 1: A + A
Row 2: A + A
Row 3: B + B
Row 4: B + B

Repeat this sequence for the length of the bracelet. This is the narrowest stripe possible. If you'd like to use more than two colors then rows 5 and 6 would be your third "C" color.

WIDE STRIPES

This formula will give you stripes that are twice as wide as the narrow stripes. If you'd like them even wider  make five or six rows in your "A" color then make the same number of rows in your "B" color. Of course you can also use more than two colors if you like.

Row 1: A + A
Row 2: A + A
Row 3: A + A
Row 4: A + A
Row 5: B + B
Row 6: B + B
Row 7: B + B
Row 8: B + B

Repeat this sequence for the length of the bracelet. For a three-color bracelet, rows 9-12 would be your "C" color.

ALTERNATING WIDE AND NARROW STRIPES

For this pattern, I alternated narrow and wide stripes using the formulas above.

I've created a PDF file with these formulas that you can print out. 

Click HERE to download the PDF.