How to Make a Braided Bracelet from Zippers
I love making jewelry from unconventional materials. So when I got the opportunity to make some jewelry out of zippers, I jumped on the chance.The zippers for this tutorial are from K and C Supplies. You can find all sorts of colors and varieties of zippers in the online shop here. (Plus buttons! Oh, yes, there will be a button jewelry tutorial soon, too!)Let's get started!
Materials and Tools:
- 3 - 7 inch YKK Zippers. Pick them up at K and C Supplies.
- 12 Fold over crimp ends. Available at any craft store.
- 7 mm jump rings
- Lobster clasp
- Scissors
- Chain nose pliers and another pair of pliers
Optional materials for customizing your bracelet:
- Beads
- Head pins
- Lucite flowers
Step #1
We're going to separate each zipper into 2 parts. So flip over the zipper and find the little metal throngs on the back. Just bend them up with chain nose pliers and pull it off.Then just slide the pull down and off the zipper. (Definitely save this for other projects!)
ALTERNATIVELY (and this is easier, but you lose a little of the length of the zipper.)
Alternatively you can just cut across the zipper right above that little metal thing at the end. Like I mentioned, you will lose a some of the length of the zipper and ultimately your bracelet by doing that.Repeat this for all 3 zippers. Whichever way you chose, do it the same for all of the zippers.Step #2
Use scissors to cut along the side of the zipper teeth. You'll end up with a thin strand of just the teeth. (Save the excess for a project I will share later.)Repeat for each zipper. You'll end up with 6 of these.Step #3
Add a crimp end to each end of each zipper. Just place the end in the crimp end and fold over each side. Then push it closed.HINT: I like to pull on the crimp end to make sure it's secure before moving on.Step #4
Open 2 - 7mm jump rings.
Opening a jump ring may be different than you think. Line up 2 pairs of pliers so that the opening of the jump ring is in the middle.(I usually use a pair of bent nose pliers and a pair of chain nose pliers. Use whatever pliers you feel comfortable with.)Maintaining the integrity of the circle, pull one pair the the pliers toward you and the other away from you. Do not pull the circle apart and do not pull to the sides.This is what you end up with.To close a jump ring, just do the same, but the opposite.I also made a video tutorial about how to properly open and close jump rings:Step #5
Add the end of all 6 zippers to one jump ring. Then close the jump ring.Step #6
Secure the end to something. (I used some wire and hooked it to a basket.)Braid the zippers. I made 3 groups of 2 zippers each and just did a regular braid.Step #7
Gather the other end and hook them all in another 7 mm jump ring.Step #8
Open another 7 mm jump ring and connect the lobster clasp to one end of the bracelet. Then add a few 7 mm jump rings to the other end of the bracelet.
That's the basic zipper bracelet.Here are some ways to customize it:(Feel free to get creative here!)
Make a couple of bead dangles. I used flower beads.For a video tutorial on how to make a bead dangle, here's a video I made:
Then add the dangles to the end of the bracelet using a jump ring.Want to take it a step further?
Make some more bead dangles. Click here to learn how to make these dangles with Lucite flowers.
Add them to the bracelet in various places using jump rings. I used 4mm jump rings so the dangles would stay in place, but if you would like them to have some movement, use 7mm jump rings.Another Version:
Instead of making a braided bracelet, you could make a single bracelet. These would look awesome stacked. Imagine a bunch of different colors down your arm. You can add a dangle like I did here, or just keep them plain.Have fun making zipper bracelets! Let me know how they turn out!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Want more free tutorials? Sign up for my email newsletter: