Morse Code Bracelet Maker

How to use the bracelet maker

1. Type your text. A word, a name or initials. Short texts fit best: most bracelets hold one word.
2. Choose what to make. A beaded bracelet is filled out with extra beads to your wrist size. A bar on a chain is just the message, for a necklace or a chain bracelet.
3. Pick the bead size and colors. The pattern, the lengths and the bead list update as you go.
4. Get your beads. Copy the bead list, or download the pattern as a PNG or SVG to take shopping or keep next to you while you string.

What you need

• Round beads for the dots, 4, 6 or 8 mm.
• Tube or bugle beads for the dashes, about twice as long as the round beads.
• Small spacer beads, about half the size of the round beads: one marks the end of each letter, three in a row mark the end of a word.
• Filler beads in a different color from the dots, for the rest of the bracelet.
• Stretch cord, scissors, and jewelry glue for the knot if you like.

How to make a Morse code bracelet

1. Measure your wrist with a tape or a strip of paper, and add about 1 to 2 cm (roughly 1/2 to 3/4 in) so the bracelet sits comfortably. Pick the closest length in the maker, and try the bracelet on before you tie it off.
2. Cut the cord about 10 cm longer than the bracelet, so there is room to tie the knot. Stretch it a few times first so the finished bracelet does not sag.
3. String the filler beads that go before the message. The bead list shows how many go before it and how many after.
4. String the message letter by letter, following the stringing order: round beads for dots, tubes for dashes, one spacer before the next letter and three spacers before the next word.
5. String the remaining filler beads and check the order against the pattern once more.
6. Tie and finish. Tie the ends with a surgeon's knot and pull it tight. If you use glue, add a small drop and let it dry as long as its instructions say. Then trim the ends and slide the knot inside a bead.

Making several? Lay the beads out on a towel or a bead board in pattern order before you string them. It is much easier to fix a mistake there than on the cord.

Other ways to close it

Stretch cord is the easiest, but not the only option. Waxed cord with a sliding knot makes an adjustable bracelet, memory wire keeps its own round shape, and beading wire with crimp beads and a clasp gives a classic finish. The bead pattern stays the same in each case; only the ends change.

Morse code bracelet ideas and sayings

Short words and initials make the clearest bracelets. Press Use this to load an idea into the maker above. Sayings of two or three words usually need 4 mm beads, a longer bracelet or a bar on a chain, and the maker tells you when a message is too long.

You can check any other text in the Morse code translator, and I love you in Morse code has the most popular phrase and its variations.

How to read a Morse code bracelet

Find the first letter, then read toward the last. Each round bead is a dot, each tube is a dash, one small spacer ends a letter and three spacers end a word. On a Hope bracelet you would see four round beads (H), three tubes (O), a round bead, two tubes and a round bead (P), and a single round bead (E). Look up each group on the Morse code alphabet chart, which you can also print.

Read from the other end and the letters come out reversed, so Hope would read EPOH. If you give the bracelet as a gift, mark the start, for example with a different bead before the first letter or a charm, or tuck a note with the message into the box.

Making a Morse code necklace

Choose Bar on a chain to get just the message and its length.

• You need: the message beads, beading wire or strong beading thread, 2 crimp beads, 2 jump rings, a chain of the length you like (16 or 18 in is common) and a clasp if the chain has none. Crimping pliers help.
• String the message on the wire in the stringing order, with a crimp bead and a jump ring at each end.
• Close each end: pass the wire through the jump ring and back through the crimp bead, squeeze the crimp flat and trim the spare wire.
• Attach the chain: open each jump ring sideways, hook it onto the chain so the word sits centered at the front, and close it again.

Smaller beads keep a necklace bar delicate. If you would rather wear the code as a tattoo or print it, the Morse code tattoo generator draws it as a design you can download.