Hemp jewellery is macramé: the art of weaving and knotting cords – in this case hemp – into wearable pieces. It needs very few supplies and no special tools, which is a large part of its appeal.
What you need
Hemp cord. Sold by thickness, usually as a number in pounds – 20lb is a common medium weight and a good place to start. Thinner cord makes finer jewellery and is fiddlier; thicker cord works up fast and suits chunkier pieces.
Scissors.
Something to anchor the work. A clipboard, a safety pin fastened to a cushion, or tape on the edge of a table. This is not optional – without tension at the top, the knots come out uneven, and that is the single reason most first attempts disappoint.
Beads, if you want them. Check the hole is large enough for the cord before you buy.
That is genuinely the whole list.
How a piece is built
Every hemp bracelet has the same structure: two long working cords knotted around two shorter centre cords that run straight down the middle.
The centre cords do nothing but sit there. All the knotting happens around them, which is why they need to be long enough for the finished length plus the ties, while the working cords need to be considerably longer – roughly four times the finished length, because knotting eats cord fast.
Cut more than you think you need. Running out halfway is far more annoying than wasting a little.
The knots
Two knots make almost everything.
The half knot. Take the left working cord over the centre cords and under the right one; take the right cord under the centre and up through the loop on the left. Pull both snug.
Repeat that same knot over and over and the piece spirals naturally – this is the classic twisted hemp bracelet, and the spiral is a consequence of always knotting in the same direction rather than anything you have to do deliberately.
The square knot. The same movement, but alternating direction each time – left over right, then right over left. Because the direction alternates, the piece stays flat instead of spiralling.
That is the whole technique. Everything else is a variation.
Starting and finishing
Fold the cords in half and tie an overhand knot near the fold, leaving a small loop. That loop becomes one half of the fastening.
At the other end, tie all the cords together and add a bead large enough not to slip through the loop. Loop and bead is the simplest reliable closure and needs no findings.
Keeping it even
Pull every knot to the same tension. Uneven tension is what separates a bracelet that looks made from one that looks like a first attempt, and it comes entirely from having the work anchored properly.
Add beads onto the centre cords as you go, then continue knotting around them.
