When I was growing up, there was a trunk in our attic. In the trunk, were two ancient pillows. My dad had salvaged the trunk and its contents from a house across the street from the house he grew up in when the owner was moved into a nursing home. Several years later, I decided to dismantle the two pillows, which served as a country estate for dust mites. I had to have the fabric that covered the pillows — of course.
In disassembling the pillows, I found, in addition to feathers from long extinct birds, several layers of once stunning linen. Apparently, Mrs. Armacost had covered — and recovered — and re-recovered — the pillows many times. Being the textile pack rat that I am, I couldn’t bring myself to throw away this stained and faded fabric. So, I washed it — and rewashed it — and re-rewashed it — folded it, and put it in a big bin with it’s younger colleagues.
Add several more years and lots of web-creativity voyeurism, and I have found a use for some of my linen.
These bracelets can be made with all kinds of base materials: thin bangles, leather cord, wire, waxed cotton, etc.; all kinds of beads; and various fabrics (cotton, jersey knit, etc). For this tutorial, I used:
- Memory wire (bracelet size)
- Old plastic beads from a broken vintage necklace (you’ll need enough to fit the length of memory wire you choose)
- Half-dead linen (or the fabric of your choice — it shouldn’t be too stiff)
Also needed:
- round-nosed pliers (if using memory wire)
- wire cutters
- a needle and small amount of thread (you may or may not need this)
- fabric glue (also optional)
- Fray Check (optional)
1- Cut the desired length of memory wire. I have comically small wrists (just over 6 inches), so I used 1-3/4 rings. You may want to use more if your wrist is larger or if you want the bracelet to wrap around more than one and a half times.
2- Cut a strip of fabric 4 times the length of the memory wire and 3/4″ wide. If your fabric is at all stiff, you may want to go with a narrower width.
3- Curl one end of the memory wire around the pliers into a closed ring.
4- Thread all of the beads onto the memory wire, leaving enough wire at the end to form another ring.
5- Curl the end of the of the memory wire around the pliers into a closed ring.
6- Tie one end of your fabric strip between the first two beads (starting from either end).
7- Holding the fabric knot firmly in place, wrap long tail of fabric around the space between each bead.
8- Carefully knot the fabric between the last two beads.
9- If you used woven fabric, you will likely have a lot of threads sticking out. Keep them or trim them. It’s up to you. I trimmed mine mainly because the fabric is very delicate and I didn’t want to risk further fraying.
10- As you can see above, I left a little tail of fabric. I put a bit of Fray Check across the bottom edge. You can cut yours shorter, add beads, embroider it — anything you can think of. I also put a couple of small stitches in each knot to secure it. I couldn’t pull too hard on my linen without ripping it.
11- That’s it.
It's antique linen and makes your bracelet aesthetic. I like it. :)
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it, Anggrek 💐
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