Morse code bracelet designer

1. 1

   Type a name, word or initials, or tap one of the examples.

2. 2

   Pick a bead style and size: round and tube beads, or seed beads where color does the work.

3. 3

   Set your wrist size. Measure snugly with a tape or a strip of paper.

4. 4

   Choose a color for dots, dashes, spacers, filler beads and the cord.

5. 5

   Check the fit line. If the pattern is too long, switch to seed beads or a smaller size, or shorten the word.

6. 6

   Press Print pattern for the strand, the bead counts and the threading order on one page. Print chart gives the whole alphabet in your beads.

7. 7

   Tape one end of the cord, string the beads in the order shown, tie a firm knot and dab it with glue.

• Two bead styles. Round beads with tube beads for dashes, or seed beads of one size: one bead for a dot, two or three for a dash, told apart by color.

• A strand you can check. Every bead in your colors, each letter labeled, the Morse code underneath: a Morse code bracelet translator you can see.

• Bead counts and order. The dot, dash, spacer and filler beads to buy, and the order to thread them.

• Sized to the wrist. Filler beads at both ends, or the word repeated around the wrist, with a warning when it will not fit, and the length of cord to cut.

• A bead chart. A to Z and 0 to 9 in the beads you picked, to tap or to print one or four to a page.

• Any color. Twelve bead colors, five cord colors, and a custom color.

The code on the beads

The designer uses International Morse code as the ITU-R M.1677-1 standard sets it. In sound, a dash lasts three dots, letters are three dots apart and words seven. Beads cannot show time, so a bracelet needs three things:

• A dot that looks unlike a dash.
• A break between letters.
• A bigger one between words.

Beads for dots, dashes and gaps

• Round and tube. A round bead is a dot and a tube or bugle bead about two and a half times as long is a dash. A small spacer bead sits between letters.
• Seed beads. One bead is a dot and two beads of another color are a dash, as in common bead-craft tutorials; some use three for a dash. A spacer bead in a third color sits between letters.
• Word gaps. Three spacers in a row, in both styles. A gap of bare cord would close up once the bracelet is worn.

Fitting the wrist

The pattern adds 1 cm of ease to your wrist size and keeps 2 cm for the clasp or knot; filler beads make up the rest, split between the ends. A 3 mm seed bead takes about 2 mm of cord (about 13 to the inch), an 11/0 Delica about 1.3 mm (about 20 to the inch), and a 6 mm round bead 6 mm.

What you need

The beads from the counts, 0.5 to 0.7 mm stretch cord, scissors, tape, and clear nail polish or jewelry glue for the knot. Lay the beads on a cloth so they do not roll.

LOVE, counted by hand. L is .-.., O ---, V ...- and E .: 7 dots, 5 dashes and 3 spacers between the letters, 15 beads.

With 6 mm round and tube beads that is 7 × 6 + 5 × 15 + 3 × 3 = 126 mm. A 16 cm wrist plus 1 cm of ease, less 2 cm for the clasp, leaves 150 mm: 24 mm spare, so 4 filler beads, 2 at each end.

With seed beads, LOVE fits three times around a 16 cm wrist: choose Repeat the word.