Back on September 2nd I was reading Pearl Blays blog 'The Beading Gem'. The post was all about how to make thread wrapped thick cord or rope jewellery at the time I wasn't making jewellery but when I saw these cute tasseled bangles I was hit with some inspiration to make some sari silk ones.
I even did a blog post about it http://earth-shinedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/my-poor-neglected-blog.html
The furthest I got was to buy some cheap bangles from a charity shop, these were a bargain at 25p each
I've got a load of hand-dyed sari silk, chiffon ribbon and yarn that I've bought. Some were a job lot from Ebay and then rest is from Smitten Beads, they have a lovely selection of colours and I use this a lot in my work.
Aren't the colours just yummy scrummy!
I took one of the wooden bangles and attached some hand dyed chiffon and attached one end with my glue gun
Then I wound it round and round until the ribbon was overlapped.
and then I glued that end down with the glue gun too.
The glue from the glue gun does show a bit but I don't think it matters that much because it will be covered with beads. I might in future sew on the end instead of gluing it.
Next I selected some small beads in shades of pink and lilac from my box. I like to buy jewellery from charity shops and break it up so I have lots of strands of small beads.
I keep my beads in these boxes, similar colours in each box. |
I wrapped the wire around a couple of times to fix it and then threading 5 beads so that they laid onto the front of the bangle wrapped them on. Then I did a plain wire wrap and so on.....
As I said I ran out of wire, so I re-joined some more and then continued. I actually found it easier to thread the beads on as I went. Without taking it apart I have no idea how much wire it took but it was quite a lot.
To fix the wire, I threaded it though the existing wire several times on the inside of the bracelet so it wouldn't show.
Then I made some disc headpins like these
and then wrapped them around the bangle. I bent the wire flat, wrapped it around the bangle once and then around the head of the pin.
For my next bangle I chose some more chiffon ribbon and a necklace from a charity shop.
I wrapped the ribbon round as before and then took some strands of the necklace and wrapped them around the bangle. This time I sewed everything in place. I had some bellflower headpins left from another project and used them in the same way as the disc headpins. This is the finished piece.
For the 3rd one I repeated the steps but added a wrap of coloured yarn and then made a tassel with the ends. I used some more bellflowers and made some dangles.
Here are the finished bangles together.
I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Thanks for looking.
Linda x
Oh I love these! Thanks so much for putting together a great tutorial!
ReplyDeleteThankyou Kathleen, glad you like it.
DeleteLinda x
They are beautiful. Thanks for a great tutorial.
ReplyDeleteThanks Judy, I'm glad you like it.
DeleteLinda x
These are very pretty, and inspirational. Thanks for taking the time to do a tutorial to share. I do have one question, and that is how much does the inside diameter of the bangle change when you wrap it with the sari ribbon and wire?
ReplyDeleteThankyou Donna, I am glad you like the tutorial. It doesn't change very much as the ribbon isn't very thick. I suppose it would depend on how big the bangle is in the first place and how big a wrist you have as to whether they would fit or not.
DeleteLinda
I'm a plus size so I make them for myself using the rim from a powdered drink can or Pringles can.
DeleteThose bangles are really pretty Linda, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJackie
My pleasure Jackie x
DeleteLove them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this tutorial. I Love the fact that you have written it out, instead of a video. I can look at it anywhere and not worry about the sound! These are beautiful. How did you make the head pins? They are a perfect addition
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it, I did this a long time ago. I'm a lampworker and made the headpins from glass. I have an Etsy store but I think the link is broken on the blog which is a old one. Here is the link: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Earthshinebeads Linda x
DeleteIf you were to sell a bracelet like this, what would you price it for?
ReplyDelete