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Author: ruthlane

When I discovered felting in 2007, I finally found the creative outlet for which I had been searching. I love that the versatility of fiber allows me to “play” with a wide variety of materials including wool, silk, fabrics, yarns and threads. Creating one of a kind fiber art pieces to share with the world fulfills my creative passion.
Painted Christas Tree
Painting Christmas Cards and a Bit of NYC

Painting Christmas Cards and a Bit of NYC

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Last year around this time, my group and I painted some triangular tree cards to be used for Christmas cards. I didn’t use them but found them recently and decided I would make a few to sell. The tree is easy to create. We used watercolors. Have your card size determined and make a tall triangle out of low stick tape. Then paint the center with green paints. You can stamp or brush or whatever you decide.

Painted Christas Tree

Then you can add details with stamping or black pens or paint pens or gel pens or whatever. I looked at some examples online to give me inspiration.

Painted Christas Tree

These are mostly decorated with acrylic paint and black ink pens.

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The centers can be made however you want them and the decorations can be simple or ornate. Whichever you prefer. I made a variety of styles.

Painted Christas Tree

This one is a combination of acrylic paint and ink.

Painted Christas Tree

I kept this one simple just adding gold acrylic details.

Painted Christas Tree

And the last one. Again, black pen and acrylic stamped on in circles. I haven’t added in wording. Would you add holiday wording or just leave them as is?

I haven’t gotten much fiber art completed (that I can share right now) as we have been traveling and I am working on pieces for a spring exhibition. I will share the exhibition with you after it’s hung, hopefully in March 2027. We did go to New York City again and we found some new (to us) public art. That is one of my favorite things about NYC is the free public art around every corner.

Public art in NYC

A relatively new set of sculptures just outside of Central park on the southeast corner is Dogs by Camille Henrot.

Public art in NYC

It was a circle of dog sculptures and such fun interpretations of various breeds.

Public art in NYC

So now there’s a “dog park” just outside of Central Park!

NYC Subway Mosaic

I also found a few new subway mosaics that I hadn’t seen before.

NYC Subway Mosaic

Such fun to find new ones in our travels through the city.

NYC Subway Mosaic

The details in some of these mosaics is fantastic. I hope you enjoyed seeing a few photos of art in NYC.

Felted blue background with birch trees in foreground, details added with black wool and needlefelting.
Small Landscapes

Small Landscapes

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I’m working on more pieces to take to the galleries. I sold a few more of the smaller landscapes I had made that fit into 5″ x 7″ frames.

Four 4" x 6" wool landscapes with needle felted and stitched embellishments.

I use whatever bits I have of wool in my stash and I usually hand card the skies to get a mixture that looks natural. I have stitched the details before and I did do this on a couple of the pieces adding grasses and flowers. The other two I decided to add some trees with needle felting. I then stitched the small felt pieces on to a 5″ x 7″ matte board. I forgot to take any photos after framing but I put them in simple black frames.

Four 4" x 6" wool landscapes with needle felted and stitched embellishments.

On this set, I used a light blue-grey matte board and all the details are needle felted.

Two felted blue backgrounds with white trunks of birch trees in foreground.

Here’s what the birch trees looked like after being wet felted. I used cut strips of white prefelt for the trunks.

Then here they are after adding the needle felted details. It’s fun working in this smaller size as the process isn’t too time consuming and it gives a less expensive alternative for customers who can’t afford my bigger pieces.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with appliqued flower showing close up of stitched texture on center.
Summer Symphony

Summer Symphony

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I finished another nunofelted landscape in preparation for selling that last set I sent to the gallery (one can always hope). I looked through the remainder of the nunofelt pieces I have left from Paula and decided to make another piece with the autumnul colored one. I had planned on making more trees but decided I wanted to create echinacea flowers instead.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with photos of echinacea placed on top.

I found some photos online and printed a bunch off, then cut the flowers out so I could figure out the sizes needed and a good arrangement. It also helps to make the petals and centers more lifelike otherwise the flowers end up looking too much alike.

I had found yellow hand dyed cotton fabric and a bit browner fabric for the centers. I also got out several shades of green for leaves and stems.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with cut fabric in yellow and yellow brown representing echinacea flowers.

Once the pieces of applique fabric were cut out, I tried some stems with fabric but they were a bit too thick. So I tried out green yarn and decided to use it instead. I could couch the yarn down and make the stems with more curves much more easily than out of fabric.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with flowers and stems stitched in place , leaves pinned, ready to stitch.

On to stitching, here the flowers are all appliqued down with matching cotton machine thread. I have also couched the stems down with matching thread. The leaves are cut and pinned in place.

Nunofelted background (multicolor) with appliqued flowers, leaves and stems stitched in place.

Yay, all stitched down. A bit of texture on the centers is needed with a graduation of color and a bit of darkness to add depth.

I used four different colors of hand dyed wool thread so it would look a bit more “furry”. The centers were stitched with a random cross stitch and straight stitches.

Next up, I wanted to see if stitching lines in the petals would be a good addition. So I cut another sample petal or two and tried some different thread with stem stitch to see what it looked like. It just didn’t seem to add enough to the petals for the amount of work it would take.

Nunofelted landscape featuring echinacea flowers on multicolored background stitched to green "matte" fabric and laced to matte board.

I decided it was finished. So I bought a piece of background fabric and stitched the nunofelt in place. The piece was finished as usual by lacing the green fabric around two pieces of matte board. It’s all ready to go to the framers when I have a few more pieces finished. I think my next project is to  make some smaller (5×7″) landscapes as I have sold a few of those from the gallery in Kalispell.

What have you been working on? We would love to see your projects, please upload them to our community page.

View from Kiwanis Lodge to Little Bitterroot Lake
Cyanotypes at Annual Art Retreat

Cyanotypes at Annual Art Retreat

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My art group had our annual art retreat at Kiwanis Lodge on Little Bitterroot Lake in Marion, MT. This year we had decided to experiment with cyanotypes. We had actually done a bit of this a few years ago but hadn’t experimented with all the “extra” chemicals that you can add to change the colors and the way the prints developed. Luckily, the weather had cooled down, we got a bit of rain at the start of the weekend and the smoke cleared. Perfect weather to stay at the lodge.

We set up the tables with all our equipment and supplies. We were printing on paper and fabric. Cotton paper and natural fiber fabric seemed to work the best. Everyone brought different botanicals, some dried and flattened and others fresh. The first night we mixed up the cyanotype chemicals and painted our paper and fabric. These were dried in a room that didn’t have outdoor light which ended up being the bathroom. Once dry, the papers were stacked and kept under black paper to prevent sun exposure.

I used some transparencies I had printed in hopes of creating more tree spirit faces. However, I forgot that I needed these to be like a photo negative. I didn’t reverse the black and white so I ended up with some pretty spooky faces which you will see later. We used both the dry and wet methods. The dry method means that the cyanotype painted paper is covered with either botanicals or a printed transparency, covered with glass, clipped on the edges and placed in the sun. The top left photo shows the dry method getting it’s sunshine.

The wet method adds water and other “chemicals” to the mix. The painted fabric or paper is laid down. Here, Paula used feathers and placed them over the cyanotype paper. She then spritzed with water, watered down vinegar and watered down baking soda. With the pipette, she added some yellow pigment to the mix. Then she covered with glass, clamped the glass in place and put it out in the sun. You could also add bubbles or coarse salt to the wet surface.

Once it’s “cooked” in the sun, the piece is rinsed in water or water and hydrogen peroxide and the result is the typical blue cyanotype.

Here’s a video of rinsing the paper and seeing the change to blue.

Then, if you want a bit different look, you can “bleach” the paper in soda ash water. The picture on the left shows the paper from the video as it is put into the bleach bath and the one on the right is after bleaching it for a minute or two.

Cyanotype of face soaking in water rinse.

Here’s one of my creepy faces. Unfortunately, after I rinsed this one, I decided to bleach it. The cyanotype disappeared all together. I’m not sure if it was the previously screen printed surface that caused that or the type of fabric. Experimentation often lends itself to failures but you always learn new things.

Here’s some pieces drying. Some of the ones that have lots of brown were either previously eco printed or rusted.

 

Once the pieces were dry, then they could be bleached or toned. For toning we soaked in baths of pigment, tea, or coffee. That can add some background color. After the weekend was over, I kept getting all kinds of videos about using different substances to rinse or tone. Apparently, you can use nettles, madder root, citric acid and who knows what else. I am sure there are more options available. If you’re interested, there are loads of videos on Instagram and YouTube on cyanotype printing.

Cyanotype of face

Here’s one more creepy face for you. I have a few printed faces on paper and some on different types of fabric. I even printed on some lightweight, sheer silk so I will be trying a few cyanotypes with nuno felting.

The other interesting thing that happened was printing on these tea bags. The end result had a purple color that we couldn’t figure out where it came from. We used several different kinds of tea bag paper and this was the only brand that gave a purple print. I don’t remember the brand though so who knows if it’s repeatable.

Cyanotypes drying

I think it’s really interesting seeing these other colors develop with this type of printing. Cyanotype printing is so recognizable that I find it difficult to use in my work. I prefer methods that are more layered and difficult to recognize immediately.

Sunset on Little Bitterroot Lake

We had a great time as usual and it’s so wonderful to spend uninteruppted time creating with friends.

Purple and Gold Nuno Felted Scarf
New Online Class!

New Online Class!

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Do you want to learn about nuno felting, adding fabric to your wool to create a wonderful piece of textured cloth? My new online class is an affordable and easy way to learn about nuno felting. Registration begins tomorrow (August 10, 2026) and the first session will begin August 21, 2026. Click here to find more information.

Nuno Felted Scarf with Prefelt Leaves

You will learn the basics of nuno felting, creating samples first and then working into scarves and a nuno felted “painting”. The course has four weeks of PDF and video instruction and two weeks of further instructor interaction. You don’t need to be present at any specific time over the six week course.

Manipulated silk roses nuno felted to background

You will also learn other ways to use fabric and paper in your wet felting. There is even a bonus PDF with dyeing information and resources so that you can dye your own fabric to create beautiful nuno felted pieces. Click on the link below to register and read all about the class.

Nuno Felting – Fiber + Fabric

Other online classes available:

3D Multi-Part Resist

Hanging Felted Spiral

The finished pod

Wet Felting a 3D Pod

Wet Felting for Beginners

Multi colored nuno felt background with trees and autumn foliage
Transitions

Transitions

Comments 16 comments

I had a wonderful sales month at the 4 Ravens Gallery in Missoula and sold four pieces in the space of 30 days! Yay, happy dance and then… I suddenly realized that the gallery only had 2 small pieces left. I needed more work and it’s summertime and I don’t want to miss the tourist season.

Multi colored nuno felt background with tree shapes placed.

I found I had a multicolored piece of nuno felt big enough to split into two pieces. You can see the edge of the second piece on the right. My trees always seem to sell quickly so of course, more trees it is. I found a piece of handdyed fabric that I had used as “matte” fabric and it was perfect for making tree trunks. I worked out a configuration of trunks that I liked.

Multi colored nuno felt background with tree shapes stitched and auditioning different leaf types with cheesecloth.

Then I hand stitched the trunks in place and tried out some cheesecloth as foliage. I had created a piece before with cheesecloth and tried that idea on the left. It looked too Dr. Seuss in these colors. So I chopped up smaller pieces and thought that would work better.

Multi colored nuno felt background with trees and beginning of placement of leaves and undergrowth.

So I added more, spread the pieces out a bit and added some cheesecloth to the foreground for undergrowth.

Multi colored nuno felt background with trees and foliage.

Here it is before I stitched it all down. The cheesecloth moves around easily so it changes as I stitch but hopefully, that makes it more organic and less regular.

Multi colored nuno felt background with trees and autumn foliage

Here is the piece after all the stitching is complete. The funny thing I noticed is that there are several areas that look like shadows in the foreground from the tree trunks. They weren’t planned but I guess I must have noticed them subconsciously, as they seem to work perfectly. I’m calling this one Transitions.

I dyed a piece of muslin in dark burnt orange for the “matte” fabric, laced it to a backing and took it to the framers.

Framed nuno felted landscape with autumn forest

Here’s the piece framed. I have worked on two other pieces and traded around some pieces that I had at a gallery in Kalispell, so I will have 5 pieces to take to Missoula in a week or so.

Cover Page for Nuno Felting Online Class

In other exciting news, I have a new online class that will be starting on August 21st. Click here to learn more about the class.

Registration Opens for Surface Design on Felt Online Classes

Registration Opens for Surface Design on Felt Online Classes

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Registration is now open for the four online classes Embellishing Felt with Surface Design Techniques – A Mixed Media Approach. These are all a fun, experimental approach to adding different types of surface design to felt. Any of these approaches will encourage you to create unique felt in your own style. I hope you will join me this summer in learning something new! This is the last time that this set of classes will be offered. If you have been on the fence about taking one of these classes, now is the time to sign up. After this session, these classes will be removed from our list of available online classes.

All classes are online and last a total of 6 weeks with 4 weeks of instruction and 2 more extra weeks of tutor/instructor support. All classes are taught with PDF’s and videos. PDF’s are available for download for future use and videos are available for the 6 week time period. Classes will begin July 17th and cost $45 US each.

 

Nuno Felting with Paper Fabric Lamination

Paper fabric lamination is a technique of essentially gluing paper to sheer fabric in a specific design. It is not a new technique and has been used by fiber artists for a long time. When  I first learned the technique, I wondered how I would use the result. Many artists use paper fabric lamination and layer the results together with stitching and other methods. When I looked at my samples, I saw sheer fabric with a design and thought “Why not try nuno felting with it?” I tried it, it worked, and I loved the results. It was a way to use my own designs and create a piece of nuno felt that was completely different and in my own style. Click on the link above to register, scroll down the page and fill out the contact form.

Experimental Screen Printing on Felt

Screen printing has long been one of my favorite techniques and I love its quirky look on felt. This class shows you the basics of many different screen printing techniques and you will learn an experimental approach that will allow you to take these ideas and expand them into your own unique style. Click on the link above to register, scroll down the page and fill out the contact form.

Printing, Stenciling, and Playing with Thickened Dye on Felt

What you will learn:

How to make a print board
How to make thickened dye
How to transfer your designs
Choosing what designs are appropriate for stencils and stamps
Creating stencils from a variety of supplies
Cutting and burning stencils
Creating stamps from a variety of supplies
Cutting a linoleum type stamp
Burning a stamp from insulation foam
Looking at items around the house with a new eye for use in creating patterned felt
How to play with thickened dye
How to stamp and stencil with thickened dye on to felt

Click on the link above to register, scroll down the page and fill out the contact form.

Free Motion Machine Stitching on Felt

You will learn the basics of free motion stitching. I will show you the basic techniques and equipment needed as well as give you lots of practice ideas to improve your skills. Next you will learn about machine lace techniques and how to incorporate them into felt making. You will learn to use a hoop in the machine with water soluble fabric. Then learn about thread sketching. We’ll start out with easy designs and then progress to how to use water soluble fabric to transfer a design and free hand thread sketching. Lastly, you will learn about experimentation and moving forward with your newly found free motion machine skills. I will show you how to add stitch to a felt painting as well as other ideas in how to use your sewing machine to enhance felt. Click on the link above to register, scroll down the page and fill out the contact form.

Don’t miss your chance to take one of these online classes about surface design!

Wet Felting For Beginners

Are you a beginner and have just found this site? If so, learn how to wet felt and get started on your felting journey. Our Wet Felting for Beginners Course is always available. Click on the link above to register, scroll down the page and fill out the contact form.

Group of campers with "flower" inspired felt pictures
Felting at Camp Judy Layne

Felting at Camp Judy Layne

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I recently told you about preparing for volunteering at Girl Scout camp. I have returned from Camp Judy Layne in Kentucky where I taught eco printing and four sessions of wet felting. It was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed myself and introduced wet felting to camp.

Welcome Sign at the cabin on Lake Cumberland, KY USA

Before we went to camp, Debbie (right) invited us to her cabin on Lake Cumberland. When Susan (left), Dennis and I arrived there was a big sign on the cabin. This is an old joke having to do with plaques at camp where I signed my name really large (even on plaques I wasn’t supposed to be on).

Detail of welcome sign with "and Dennis, Susan & John"

Debbie who is not at all “arts and crafty” made this sign to make me laugh.

At Lake Cumberland in the boat with Debbie and Susan

We went on Curt’s (Debbie’s husband) boat and had a great time on a gorgeous day.

Dennis caught a fish on Lake Cumberland

Dennis (my husband) went fishing with Curt and John (Susan’s husband) and he was the only one who caught a fish. The stay at the cabin was very relaxing in preparation for the craziness of camp the following week.

Camp counselors and volunteers first session of Camp Judy Layne 2026

We all got camp shirts when we arrived and here is the staff and volunteers for the first session of camp on Sunday afternoon.

Montana, Snooz and Mac on Muu Muu Monday. No muu muus for us!

On Monday morning, staff and volunteers are encouraged to wear muu muus. Here we are on Moo Moo Monday!

Eco printed book covers laid out to dry.

After breakfast on Monday, I helped Poecat (the arts and crafts director) and we eco printed some book covers for small books that the campers were creating. I was concerned the eco printing wouldn’t be successful but I was happy with the prints. The campers learned how to make a folded 8 page book (from an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper) and then used waxed linen thread and the pamphlet stitch to attach their covers to the books.

Snooz, Mac and Montana at Crazy Hat dinner in the dining hall at Camp Judy Layne in Kentucky

Monday night is crazy hat dinner so here we are in the dining hall with our hats. Look closely to see my hat 😉 At camp we have camp names, mine was Montana, and then we had Mac and Snooz. Mac and Snooz were teaching a unit of girls to play guitar which was called Treble in the Trees.

The next day was crazy sock day. Mac got us matching  “friend” socks that hold hands. Ramblr is to the right of me. She stayed with us at the Air BNB cabin just outside of camp.

Then on to my four felting sessions, two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday. The first three groups were smaller but then the last group was 18-20 campers (10-11 years old).

 

I started them out with batts that I had made at home (packed into a large suitcase and brought on the plane) and then had them add the design on top.

I wanted them all to create different designs. The first group listened to music and created a piece inspired by the music. The next was inspired by “fauvist” landscapes as I had a bunch of crazy colors. The third group made portraits and the last group their favorite flower.

We had two hours for each session and the girls did a great job. Everyone ended up with a piece of felt that was holding together. Yay!

Group of campers with finished "inspired by music" felt pictures

Here’s the Treble in the Trees group with their creations.

Group of campers displaying "fauvist landscapes" felted pictures.

These are the CIT’s (counselors in training) with their landscapes.

 

Group of campers with "portrait" wet felted picture

This group was the theatre group who gave a show at the end about llamas.

Group of campers with "flower" inspired felt pictures

And here is the final group that created their favorite flower. Didn’t they all do a great job?

For Wednesday night, it was crazy hair dinner. I made these wool dreads for us to wear and we sang a ukulele rendition of Three Little Birds. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a video of our performance 🙁

Curt and Dennis at the lake house wearing wool dreads

And don’t the men rock the dreads? Curt and Dennis at the Lake Cumberland cabin.

Snooz and Mac presenting guitar plaque for first ever Treble in the Trees session.

Snooz and Mac presenting the signed guitar to hang on the dining hall with the first session of Treble in the Trees. Here’s a link to their performance:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1234964726359457

And a link to the drama performance:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1002727975461627

If you want to see more photos of what’s happening at camp, you can view them here. You’ll have to scroll down to the first week photos (June 7-12) to see our session.

https://www.facebook.com/CampJudyLayne

Kat, the wonderful camp cook, holding her Cinnamon Roll of Excellence award.

Here is an award that we made for Kat, the camp cook. She works so hard to provide meals for all the campers, volunteers and staff. Billie was the cook for many years during the time I was a camper and staff member.

Moth on concrete floor at Camp Judy Layne

And to show that I was still paying attention to the beauty of nature, here’s a moth I photographed while we were setting up the music performance.

SCAMP tshirts for the OG's at Camp Judy Layne

A good time was had by all but we were a bit worn out. Here’s our new shirts for this year. Hopefully, I will be able to go back next summer!

 

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.
Painting Fabric

Painting Fabric

Comments 17 comments

My local group met recently and we tried a new painting technique for fabric. It’s very simple and creates an organic look to the fabric. I didn’t manage to take any photos during the process. We watered down instant coffee and acrylic paint, really watered down. A tiny bit of paint and lots of water. Then the fabric is scrunched up and dipped into the watered down paint. After the fabric is completely soaked with paint, scrunch the fabric up again and darker paint can be added in dabs to the outside edges and over the ball of scrunched up fabric if desired. Then let the fabric dry and iron it afterwards.

Painted and scrunched up pieces of cloth on cookie sheet drying in the sun.

Here’s all the fabric I painted scrunched and drying in the sun. It took more than two days to dry. I used fabric that had already been dyed, many of which were really bright orange and I was finding difficult to use in projects. So a bit more neutralizing was needed.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

This is a piece of cotton that was already dyed gray and then paint added on top.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

Here’s another piece of cotton that was orange. I added diluted blue paint and then some darker paint after it was scrunched.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

I think this piece was white to start and the paint made the pattern and color.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

This was medical gauze that Paula gave us. I think it will work for nuno felting, so you will probably see it again in the future.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

These two were previously dyed cheesecloth (again orange) and then diluted paint added over the top.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

I’m fairly certain this is silk gauze with dye and paint added. Again, another candidate for nuno felting.

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

The fossil print on this piece of fabric was done years ago. I designed the silk screen and printed a variety of fossils. Now this trilobite has a bit moodier background. More layers?

Cloth painted with diluted acrylic paint and coffee.

This piece of silk gauze started white and then had diluted paint and coffee added. I will be interested to see if the coffee holds its color with felting. I thought this might be an interesting start to a landscape.

We’re supposed to be using these fabrics for our fabric book (our year long project) but I’m not making much progress in that direction. I have three pages complete but I’m not really happy with the result. One of those projects where I’m in the middle, discouraged and can’t imagine that it’s going to end well. Hopefully, I will be inspired by these new fabric choices to use.

Counselor in Training Backpacking Trip from Camp Judy Layne
Making Jellyfish Bracelets – Kumihimo

Making Jellyfish Bracelets – Kumihimo

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This summer I am volunteering at Camp Judy Layne in Kentucky for a week. I grew up in Kentucky and went to CJL Girl Scout camp every summer for years. Girl Scouts and this camp made me who I am and I have many fond memories and friends from more than 45 years ago. I will be helping with arts and crafts and also teaching wet felting to the campers. In preparation, I decided I needed to make some friendship bracelets to give away. Here is the tutorial that I found on Instagram for “Jellyfish” bracelets (Kumihimo).

Kumihimo means gathered threads and was historically used for samurai armor ties. The round ones that are made with this technique are kakugumi. The seven color bracelets are considered lucky and ward off misfortune. Mainly, I wanted something simple and easy to make.

Variety of #3 perle cotton threads in different colors.

I started with some wool yarn that I had in my stash and made a few bracelets. But I thought they were a bit too “hairy” and might be itchy for some people to wear. Suddenly, I remembered the embroidery threads that I got from my mom. There were a bunch of #3 perle cotton threads that I rarely use in my stitching/embroidery. She had already cut most of them into lengths and I found that I could make two bracelets from the cut lengths.

Cardboard circle used to create "jellyfish" Kumihimo bracelets.

The nice thing about the Instagram tutorial was that the disc used was made from cardboard and was simple to create. There are Kumihimo discs that you can purchase with more slits and you can create more intricate patterns, but this was something that can be reproduced to teach the girls at camp.

Cardboard circle with #3 perle cotton threads separated into slots on edge of circle.

Here’s the top of the circle once the threads are “loaded”. If you put similar colors together as shown above when you start, the pattern is different than if you randomly place the colors.

And here’s why it’s called a jellyfish bracelet. It definitely looks like a jellyfish when you’re making it. The directions are quite easy and it is a simple pattern. The bracelet slowly developing is quite satisfying to see.

Finished jellyfish/kumihimo friendship bracelets

Here are my finished bracelets so far. You can see the “fatter” ones on the right are the wool yarn bracelets. I think I will use small rubber bands to connect them although I will also look into a sliding square knot closure. But I was supposed to leave long ends for that type of closure which I didn’t do.

Closeup of different patterns of bracelets

Here’s the difference in the patterns using this method. The bracelet on the left is loaded with the orange threads together and the blue threads together. The one on the right is random blue and orange mixed when loading.  I have been making these at night while watching television. Not sure how many I will get finished but it’s been a relaxing activity.

Here’s the square knot closure for the bracelets. The bracelet needs to be long enough to easily slide over the hand for this to work correctly. The video I viewed used long lengths of extra thread for the closure but I had already cut off those ends. I will use this type of sliding closure for the longer bracelets and use a small rubber band for the shorter ones.