Rakhi / Bracelet Making Tutorials – Rakshabandhan

This article includes five different tutorials for Rakhi making. These Rakhis can also be used as bracelets for yourself or your loved ones. Learn how to make Thread Rakhis, Beads Rakhi, Pompom Rakhi, Kids Rakhi, and different decorative Rakhis through these tutorials. These Rakhis are easy to make and can be made from all the materials available at home. Make these Rakhis at home with lot of love for your siblings / kids and celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan. These tutorials will help your kids be creative and help them enjoy as well as learn about ancient Indian tradition of Raksha Bandhan. Enjoy the creative amalgamation of Fun and Tradition!

What is Raksha Bandhan?

Raksha Bandhan is an Indian festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. People observe this festival with great devotion and zeal. Raksha Bandhan (also known as Rakhi festival) is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Shravan (Shravan is a Hindu calendar month that comes in August – September). On this day, sisters tie Rakhi ( a sacred thread) on their brothers’ hand and pray for their long life. In exchange brother promises her to protect her for lifetime. Days before Raksha Bandhan, people either make Rakhi on their own or buy Rakhi from the market. Sisters tie Rakhi on their brothers’ hand and pray for their well being, brothers give their sisters nice gifts as a symbol of their love, and they feed each other delicious sweets.

History of Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan is an ancient traditional festival of India. There are many legends about this festival. There are famous historical stories associated with this festival. There are incidents when ladies sent Rakhis and sought protection from such kings and princes whom they did not know at all. One such incident relates to the time of Mughal Emperor Humayun. Queen Karnavati of Chittor once sent Rakhi to Humayun and sought protection against the Sultan of Gujarat. Keeping the honor of his Rakhi sister, the emperor Humayun left all his priorities aside, rushed to help his sister and carried out his sacred brother duty towards the queen. If you look into Indian history, there are many such incidents where people have honored the Rakhi bond and helped each other at the time of need.

How is Raksha Bandhan celebrated?

People make Rakhis at home using thread, laces, beads, and other decorative materials. People either make Rakhis on their own or they buy the ready made Rakhis from the store. Similarly they either make delicious sweets at home or buy them from stores to enjoy them on this festive day. Sisters prepare the decorative dish for this festival. They put pious vermillion powder, turmeric powder, a pinch of raw rice grains, Rakhis (sacred thread), and sweets in this decorative dish (thali). On the day of Raksha Bandhan, people wear beautiful traditional clothes, sisters apply vermillion and turmeric tika on their brothers’ forehead and tie the auspicious Rakhi as symbol of love and best wishes on their brothers’ hand. Brothers give their sisters gifts as a gesture of love. They feed each other delicious Indian sweets or chocolates and enjoy this day with each other. This festival strengthens the bond of love between brothers and sisters. 

Modern Day take on Raksha Bandhan

Although even today Raksha Bandhan is celebrated traditionally, but some changes have been made in the ancient tradition to accommodate different situations. For example families where people have daughters and no sons, the daughters tie Rakhis to their father or their cousins to celebrate this festival and in case where families have sons and no daughters, their mothers or aunts or grand mothers or cousins tie Rakhi on their hand. In some homes where there are more than one daughters and no sons, sisters tie Rakhi to each other because sisters can protect each other too! This festival strengthens the bond of love between the siblings and family for life.

Please follow the 5 different Videos and Tutorials below to learn how to make different kinds of Rakhis / Bracelet.

Tutorial No. 1 – How to make a Simple Thread and Bead Rakhi?

• To make a simple thread and beads Rakhi, you need yarn or thread of the color of your choice, a big needle that will let your bead pour in the thread/yarn, and the beads of your choice (I have taken two white beads and one big green bead.
• Take about 20 – 30 inches of the thread depending on the size of the hand of a person you are making Rakhi for. I like to take a big size thread and make Rakhi so it does not fall short at the end.
• Once you have cut about 30 inches long thread / yarn, pour in the first white bead. Bring the bead in the middle of the thread. Tie a big knot, one on each side of the bead so that it doesn’t come off the thread. At this point if you want a very simple and elegant Rakhi, your thread Rakhi with One bead is Ready!
• Next step is to pour in the big green bead like shown in the video below and tie a knot next to the green bead.
• Next add another white bead and tie the knot next to it, so it doesn’t come off. Our beautiful beaded thread Rakhi is ready!
• Please go through the video below to see how to make beaded thread Rakhi.

Beaded -Thread / Yarn Rakhi making Tutorial – Tutorial No.1 

Tutorial No. 2 – How to make a Beaded – Thread / Yarn Rakhi – Bracelet?

• To make a simple thread and beads Bracelet Rakhi, you need yarn or thread of the color of your choice, a big needle that will let your bead pour in the thread/yarn, and the beads of your choice (I have taken two white beads and one big green bead).
• Take about 30 inches or more of the thread / yarn depending on the size of the hand of a person you are making Rakhi for. I like to take a big size thread and make Rakhi so it does not fall short at the end.
• Once you have cut about 30 inches long thread / yarn, pour in the first white bead. Bring the bead in the middle of the thread. Tie a big knot, one on each side of the bead so that it doesn’t come off the thread. At this point if you want a very simple and elegant Rakhi, your thread Rakhi with One bead is Ready!
• Next step is to pour in the big green bead like shown in the video below and tie a knot next to the green bead.
• Next add another white bead and tie the knot next to it, so it doesn’t come off. Our beautiful beaded thread Rakhi is ready!
• To make bracelet Rakhi, on one end of the yarn / thread leave about one inch of the thread, make a looped braid and repeat it on the other end of the Rakhi. Please follow the video to visually learn how to make this looped braid to make a beautiful Rakhi bracelet.
• Please go through the video below to see how to make beaded thread / yarn Bracelet Rakhi.

Beaded -Thread / Yarn Bracelet Rakhi making Tutorial – Tutorial No.2

Tutorial No.3 – How to make a Pompom on your own and How to make a Pompom Rakhi?

• To make Pompom and Pompom Rakhi, you need thread-cotton or silk (your choice), needle, scissors, yarn, and fabric glue.
• I have taken about 30 inches of green cotton thread (it is has multiple strands in it). Pour this thread into the needle.
• To make Pompom at home –
  • You can either take multiple colored yarns / thread. I have used multi colored yarn. Size of the yarn / thread depends on how fluffy pompom you want. To make a medium size (1/2 an inch diameter) pompom as shown in the picture, you will need at least 40 inches of yarn.
  • Now hold first two fingers together of one of your hand, with the other hand wrap around the yarn tight. Once you are done wrapping the yarn around the fingers, take it out of the finger very gently without disturbing the form of the yarn.
  • Then take a strand of a thread or a yarn and tie it around the wrapped yarn exactly in the middle.
  • Now take the scissors and cut the yarn as shown in the video to make the shape of the pompom.
  • Once you are done cutting, pompom is ready. You can use it for different art and craft purposes.
• Now that your pompom is ready, pass the green thread and needle exactly through the middle of the pompom. Now you can tie a knot around the pompom with the green thread to make the Rakhi stronger. Or instead of tying a knot we can put a drop of fabric glue on both sides of the pompom on the thread and let it dry.
• If you do not want to make pompom on your own, you can use ready made pompoms from store or from your art /craft kit and follow the rest of the above steps and your beautiful pompom Rakhi is ready.
• Please go through the video below to see step by step method of how to make the above described pompom Rakhi.

Pompom Rakhi making and Pompom making Tutorial – Tutorial No.3

Tutorial No.4 – How to make beautiful Pompom & Beaded – Decorative Rakhi?

• To make this beautiful decorative Rakhi you need – yarn /thread, pompom (homemade or store bought), beads, needle, scissors, and fabric glue.
• Take about 20 – 30 inches of orange yarn. Pour it through the needle.
• To make Pompom at home –
  • You can either take multiple colored yarns / thread. I have used multi colored yarn. Size of the yarn / thread depends on how fluffy pompom you want. To make a medium size (1/2 an inch diameter) pompom as shown in the picture, you will need at least 40 inches of yarn.
  • Now hold first two fingers together of one of your hand, with the other hand wrap around the yarn tight. Once you are done wrapping the yarn around the fingers, take it out of the finger very gently without disturbing the form of the yarn.
  • Then take a strand of a thread or a yarn and tie it around the wrapped yarn exactly in the middle.
  • Now take the scissors and cut the yarn as shown in the video to make the shape of the pompom.
  • Once you are done cutting, pompom is ready. You can use it for different art and craft purposes.
• I have taken two small beads and two big beads both are yellow colored.
• Now first pass the small yellow bead through the orange yarn with the help of needle. This bead should be about 1/2 inch left from the center of the yarn. Then tie a big knot on both side or on the left side of the small yellow bead. So it does not come off the yarn / thread.
• Next, pour in a big yellow bead and place it next to the small yellow bead and tie the knot next to it.
• Then either sew in the pompom or stick the pompom with the strong fabric glue exactly in the middle of the yarn / thread.
• Pompom can be home made or store bought.
• Then pour in another big yellow bead and tie the knot next to it. Lastly pour in the small yellow bead and tie the knot next to it. The decorative part of the Rakhi should be in the center of the yarn and should be adhering next to each other. Beautiful decorative Rakhi is Ready.
• Please go through the video below to see step by step method of how to make the above described pompom and beaded-decorative Rakhi.

Pompom & Beaded – Decorative Rakhi making Tutorial – Tutorial No.4

Tutorial No.5 – How to make attractive and safe Kids Rakhi with Big Sequence or Sticker?

• To make this Kids Rakhi, you will need thread / yarn/ lace, soft felt material / velvet material/ thick cotton cloth, a big decorative sequence of any size you like/decorative sticker, fabric glue, needle, and scissors.
• If you are using lace instead of thread all you need to use is a strong fabric glue, you can opt out of using needle and thread if you want.
• I have used about 20 – 30 inches of green cotton thread (that has multiple strands within), red color felt material, and an elephant shaped sequence that came with a bracelet making kit (you can use any decorative material or bead or sticker instead of sequence).
• Now take felt or any soft material you have and cut it in the shape of the sequence or a sticker you are using, with the help of the scissors.
• Once the felt cutout is ready, stick the sequence or sticker or any decorative material you are using in the center of the felt. If you think it is lose or not sticking, use needle and thread and just sew both the things together. 
• Take your lace / yarn / thread and stick the decorative sequence felt combo or the sticker felt combo that you made in the middle of the yarn / thread / lace. You can also use needle and thread to attach the decoration in the middle instead of glue. Beautiful kids Rakhi is ready.
• Please go through the video below to see step by step method of how to make the above described attractive and safe kids Rakhi.

Attractive and Safe Kids’ Rakhi (with Sequence or Sticker in the center) making Tutorial – Tutorial No.5

All these 5 Rakhi / Bracelet making tutorials are easy and can be done in minimum amount of time with all the material that is easily available at home or nearby store.

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