Friday, November 21, 2014

How to Tie a Sliding Knot

With leather jewellery being so popular at the moment, there is now a plethora of cord ends on the market to neatly finish off your jewellery. But sometimes, the best way to finish leather jewellery is not with a cord end at all. Sometimes, the best way is with a sliding knot. The beauty of this knot is that it's adjustable to fit the wearer and there is no clasp required. So let's take a look at how to make it.
Just pull the ends of this adjustable sliding knot leather bracelet to tighten it.

I've already made my bracelet and knotted off the cord ends to keep them in a neat bundle. Form the bracelet into a circle with the ends overlapping. Take a length of cord about 20cm (8") long and hold it about 4cm (1 1/2") from one end. Place this along the bundle of cords.
Begin tying the sliding knot by crossing cords from each side over each other.

Hold it under the thumb of your non-dominant hand and with your other hand, begin to wrap it around the bundle of cords including the cord you laid down in the previous step.
Hold the bracelet in your hand place a wrapping cord under the thumb of your non-dominant hand.

Continue wrapping the cord around the bundle loosely, working back towards the cut end of the wrapping cord. Make about 4 or 5 wraps.
Wrap the cord around the bundle of leather cords loosely

Thread the tail back through the coil you've just created....
Thread the tail of the cord back through the coil you just created.

and pull it back out at the first coil.

Pull the cord back out at the first coil.

Next, adjust the coil so it sits neatly and pull both ends of the cord in opposite directions so that the knot is secure.
Tighten the sliding knot by pulling the two cord ends in opposite directions.

Trim away the excess cord close to the coil.
Trim away the excess cord close to the coil.

To tighten the bracelet, just pull the two knotted bracelet ends in opposite directions.
To tighten the bracelet, just pull the two knotted bracelet ends in opposite directions.

To loosen the bracelet, grip the bracelet cords (not the knotted ends, but the bracelet itself) next to the coil and pull them - they will slide through the knot making the bracelet larger.

And there you have it! A really neat way to finish a bracelet with no cord ends and no clasp!

See this related post:
Beaded Kumhimo Bracelet with Sliding Knot

Pin it for later!
Mastering the Sliding Knot project sheet.

How to Tie and Adjustable Sliding Knot project sheet with close up detail of the sliding leather knot.

Tying Basic Knots in leather jewellery - the adjustable sliding knot project sheet

How to tie an adjustable sliding knot on a leather bracelet inspiration sheet
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'Til next time.....








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Would you like to comment?

  1. Thank you! It seems like I may be able to do this. Could I also do this same knot using other types of cord?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you can. It works on cords that are smooth as well as cords that are textured but you may need to experiment with how tightly you pull up the coil to the get the right tension, e.g. shiny cords like satin rat tail may slip a little and textured cords may slide a little less easily. You can mix and match your cords, too. You don't have to use the same type of cord for the sliding knot that was used for the bracelet. I hope that helps! Myléne

      Delete
  2. Thank you! It seems like I may be able to do this. Could I also do this same knot using other types of cord?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, you can. It works on cords that are smooth as well as cords that are textured but you may need to experiment with how tightly you pull up the coil to the get the right tension, e.g. shiny cords like satin rat tail may slip a little and textured cords may slide a little less easily. You can mix and match your cords, too. You don't have to use the same type of cord for the sliding knot that was used for the bracelet. I hope that helps! Myléne

    ReplyDelete
  4. Best instruction yet. Very clearly explained.

    ReplyDelete
  5. By cutting off the excess cord at the end of the knot, will it not fairly easily come apart?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There should be enough tension in the coil to stop the cut end from undoing, especially if you've used leather cord. But you could always glue the cut end to the last coil of the wrap with G-S Hypo Cement if you feel it won't be secure enough.

      Delete
  6. Unfortunately I'm a visual - I need videos but the only ones I've seen so far are not showing which cord is which - someone should use different color cords to demonstrate...I made the knots but apparently used the wrong one via video and I can't tighten or loosen anything. You don't have a video do you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're in luck! Here's a quick video I did showing you how to tie a sliding knot.
      https://youtu.be/tZBEeLxcLwk

      Delete
  7. So far so good with the sliding knot. What knot did you make at the ends of the bracelet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well done! I just bundled all the cords together and tied an overhand knot.

      Delete
  8. Hi,
    I don't know how old these posts are. I just tried to access your video (HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/TZBEELXCLWK) and I received: Video Unavailable on the screen. My 6-year-old granddaughter is learning to make her own jewelry and at her age videos work best.
    Thank you for the step-by-step tutorial above,
    Dan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dan, Try this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4lvpA-lQtc

      Delete

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