muskaan's T*I*P*S: interwoven beaded bracelet

Thursday, 31 July 2025

interwoven beaded bracelet

As promised, here is another pattern and technique reveal from my bead tatting post back in May. All relevant links are listed at the end of this post.

A simple name - Muskaan's Interwoven Beaded Bracelet, made using four shuttles with pre-strung beads on each and Barbara Arango's variation of the Interlocking split rings technique.

Above is a practice pattern I am sharing. As you can see in the inset, traditionally 4 shuttles are used and the split rings are tatted simultaneously, lying close to each other. The idle pair of shuttles is passed through the open SR and then the ring is closed so that the next SR will is encapsulated and overlap with the previous. video link at end

Barbara used the flexibility of 4 shuttles to distance the SRs with a chain between two SRs. She used it to create the desired effect in a round doily!

Practice Pattern:

To keep track, I used 4 different thread colours in each shuttle....

Sh1: yellow; Sh2: cream; Sh3: pink; Sh4: blue.

I started with two normal rings.

Sh1) R1: 18. dnrw, SS

Sh2) Ch1: 6.

Sh3) R2: 18. dnrw, SS [insert R1 through R2]

Sh4) Ch2: 6.

Sh1) SR3: 9 / 9. dnrw, SS [pass shuttles 3 & 4 back to front through SR3 before closing it]

Sh2) Ch3: 6.

Sh3) SR4: 9 / 9. dnrw, SS [pass shuttles 1 & 2 back to front through SR4 before closing it]

Sh4) Ch4: 6.

Continue the SR steps for desired length.

Posting the shuttles front to back will give the opposite overlap.

Having 4 shuttles meant I could have beaded strings instead of Barbara's chains between the SRs! Which led to the bracelet above.

Muskaan's Interwoven Beaded Bracelet ©May2025

String all 4 shuttles with seed beads. In my model worked with Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 ---

Sh1 & Sh2 with teal thread, CTM, and purple seed beads

Sh3 & Sh4 with dark purple thread, CTM, and yellow seed beads

Follow the process and instructions as explained in the practice pattern. However, instead of chain, slide beads from both shuttles before starting the next ring or SR.

Sharing only the repeated portion of the pattern ---

Sh1) R1: 3 [- 3]x7. Slide 5 beads from Sh1 & 2. dnrw, SS

Sh3) R2: 3 [- 3]x7. Slide 5 beads from Sh3 & 4. dnrw, SS [insert R1 through R2]

Sh1) SR3: 3 [- 3]x3 / 3 [- 3]x3. Slide 5 beads from Sh1 & 2. dnrw, SS [pass shuttles 3 & 4 back to front through SR3 before closing it]

Sh3) SR4: 3 [- 3]x3 / 3 [- 3]x3. Slide 5 beads from Sh3 & 4. dnrw, SS [pass shuttles 1 & 2 back to front through SR4 before closing it]

Repeat SR3 and SR4 for desired length.

Posting the shuttles front to back will give the opposite overlap.

I ended with a curled ring (see inset) that works as a toggle for a quick & lazy finish.

Note: The beads are a slightly different size. Unfortunately I can't find my notes but I remember there was a little TIP I wanted to share. Oh well, perhaps I will find it some day and make a proper PDF presentation.

Future Ideas - Add more beads in place of the picots. Throw off rings or decorative picots on one or either side. Attach more braids with same or additional colour for a broader version. The alternate SRs can differ in size or different sized threads can be used.

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INTERWOVEN versus INTERLOCKING

Often the two are used interchangeably in tatting terminology. Confining myself to the split ring braids, there are several techniques and effects that tatters have created over the years. These may range from a single row of split rings (called a SR braid or cord), or a double row where the SRs are interlaced and lie adjacent to each other.

Or the braids may lie 'stacked' with overlapping SRs. These are the SR braids that are interwoven where the SRs from two braids lie intertwined through each other. These are also called interlocking SR braids and can be made with either 2 or 4 shuttles - two independent braids woven through each other; a foundational braid encapsulated within the second on-going braid; simultaneously tatting the SRs using 4 shuttles.

Then there is the 3D chain maille effect where each subsequent SR lies at right angles to the previous one just like in interlocking chains and links in jewellery. I prefer to call these 3D SR braids Interlocked and the 'flat' ones Interwoven. This gives a more exacting visual especially since there are several ways to interweave and interlock the braids, whether 2D or 3D.