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Wrap Ankle Bracelet with Briolettes (Tutorial)

by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved

This ankle bracelet wraps around several times, and is accented with repeating wire wrapping.

The style is easy to wear, and easy make for any ankle size.

And depending on the length of your cord and the style of your beads, this wrap ankle bracelet can be worn by both guys and gals.

Supplies:

• Cord, 45″ (114.3cm) long.
  I used a soft faux-suede cord, 3mm (0.12″) wide, in a light green color.
• 2 sturdy jump rings – I used 9mm (0.35″) size in a heavy gauge, antiqued copper color.
• 2 briolette or teardrop beads.
  My briolettes are turquoise-colored glass beads, about 14mm x 12mm, but any size would work.
• Soft round wire, 20 gauge.
  (You might use Artistic wire; or craft wire; or regular copper, brass, silver, etc. wire – just make sure the wire will fit through the holes in your briolette beads.)
  • Cut 2 pieces of the wire, each 10″ (25.5 cm) long – for wire-wrapping your briolette beads.
  • Also cut 2 pieces of the wire, each 5″ (127mm) long – for binding the ends of your cord.
• Wire cutter.
• Flat nose pliers.
• Chain nose pliers.
• Round nose pliers.

How to Make a
Wrap Ankle Bracelet with Briolettes

We’ll start by cutting the wire for wrapping your briolettes:

Cut 2 pieces of the wire, each 10″ (25.5 cm) long:

Now, for instructions on wire wrapping your briolettes, pop over to my free tutorial, Briolette Wire Wrapping Techniques.

Then, as soon as you finish wrapping your briolettes, pop back over here to continue making your wrap ankle bracelet. 🙂

Your wire-wrapped briolette beads may look something like this:

Now it’s time to make the wire-wrapped loop ends on the cord.

Cut your cord to 45″ (114.3cm) long:

Cut 2 pieces of the wire, each 5″ (127mm) long:

Fold over 19mm (0.75″) of one end of your cord, and use your flat nose pliers to pinch the fold in the cord:

Now we’ll get ready to wrap the folded cord end, making a loop at this end of the cord.

Lay one of your 5″ (127mm) wires across your folded cord, about 0.25″ (6.4mm) below the fold.

Use your flat nose pliers to hold the wire firmly on top of the folded cord end:

Keeping your flat nose pliers tightly in place, start wrapping the long end of the wire around the two layers of cord, binding them together.

You’ll get the best wraps by keeping tension on the wire, and pulling and winding the wire firmly around the cord (NOT pushing the wire around the cord):

Keep wrapping your wire firmly around the 2 layers of cord:

. . . until you’ve wrapped almost down to the end of the short cord tail.

Your cord end should look something like this:

Now we’ll use a wire cutter to trim off the excess wire ends.

Place the flat side of your wire cutter against the wire wraps you made, and trim off one wire end, and then the other:

Then use your chain nose pliers to squash the trimmed wire ends firmly down against the cord, so there are no sharp wire edges to poke anyone:

Now you’ve finished the first loop cord end.

Do the same to the other cord end, so you’ll have a wire-wrapped loop at each end of the cord:

Now it’s time to attach a wire-wrapped briolette to each end of the cord.

Get out your 2 jump rings.

I use jump rings in a heavy gauge here, since foot and ankle jewelry can take a beating while being worn:

Use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist open your jump rings.

If you’re new to using jump rings, see my quick tip, How to Open and Close a Jump Ring.

Use one of your opened jump rings to attach a wire-wrapped briolette to one looped cord end:

Then use your flat nose and chain nose pliers to twist the jump ring shut again:

Do the same with the other cord end, so that the two ends of your cord look something like this:

The wire-wrapped briolettes should have some nice swingy motion:

How to Wear this Wrap Ankle Bracelet:

Fold the cord in half, and wrap the cord around the ankle a few times.

Then slide the briolettes through the fold you made in the cord, like this:

Or, you can wrap the cord around the ankle several times, and tie the cord ends in a simple knot, like this:

You can position the briolette dangles on the front, side, or back of your ankle – experiment and have fun with it! 🙂

Your finished Wrap Ankle Bracelet with Briolettes may look something like this: