Silk ribbon bracelet tutorial

It feels like summer is soon over so maybe I should translate my silk ribbon bracelet tutorial while there's still warm and sunny days left? This is a very simple little summer project, perfect for vacations and summer breaks as it suits all ages and skills -- and you don't (depending on the choice of button) need any tools at all to make it.

For these bracelet I've used silk ribbons with overlocked edges (= doesn't fray easily), which are sold i somewhat varying lengths. These two ribbons were about 91-94 cm. Some ribbons are shorter, maybe around 80 cm, which can be too short for a wrap bracelet. If you only find really short ribbons, you can make a normal bracelet instead.

For choice of button, se the tips at the end of the tutorial.

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Supplies:

1 silk ribbon with sewn edges (at least 90 cm long)
1 two-hole or shank button
optional: buttonhole thread, embroidery floss or similar

Tool (optional): sharp embroidery needle

1. For a shank button bracelet, start by pushing the ribbon end through the shank of the button. Slide it carefully to the middle of the ribbon.

2. Fold the ribbon double and tie an overhand knot. Push the knot towards the button shank while tightening it. It is important to push the knot where you want it before starting to tighten it.

3. Mark where on the ribbon you will place the next knot, which will create a loop for the button. I did this my simply wrapping the ribbon around the wrist and drawing a dot with a pencil at the edge of the button. If you find it hard to do it this way, you can instead use a tape measure wrapped around the wrist -- not too tight -- to note the desired length and then use it to mark the ribbon. 

4. Knot the ribbon, making sure it ends up more or less at the place of the mark. Make this knot as pretty as you can -- prettier than in my photo -- as this knot will be visible.

5. Measure how big a loop you need to be able to thread the button through it and mark the length on the ribbon end. Make a knot.

6. Finish by trimming any loose thread end on the ribbon edges.

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Variation 1: 2-hole button bracelet

Many jewellery projects using buttons demand shank buttons, but for this bracelet, a two-hole button works just as well.

1. The easiest way to use two-hole buttons is to choose a button with big holes so you can just thread the ribbon ends through it like in the photo above.

2. Pull the ribbon tight and keep it from twisting while you do it as a twisted ribbon will look heavy and clumsy.

Are the holes too small? The easiest solution is to simple stitch the button to the ribbon. Knot the thread and start by sewing from the front of the ribbon so the knot will be hidden between the ribbon and button. Finish the same way to avoid visible knots. Tip: For the last stitch, add beads to the thread if it fits the button motif (here, it would give the kokeshi doll a bead necklace).


Variation 2: Instead of knots

If the ribbon is just barely too short for knotting or you don't want to knot the ribbon, one option is to stitch and wrap the ribbon together instead. 

1. Mark where you want to place the wrap. Choose a heavy, strong thread in a colour matching the ribbon. Thread your needle and knot the thread. Start by stitching from the edge -- from the wrong side in order to sandwich the knot between the ribbons.

2. Make small running stitches through both ribbon ends from one side to the other.

3. Gather the ribbon by pulling the thread while holding onto the ribbon.

4. Wrap the thread around the ribbon three times. Keep the wraps as tight as you can. Push the needle through the wrapped section and pull very tight.

5. Finish by fastening the thread between the ribbons by making a knot as close to the wrap as possible...

6. ...and make a couple of invisible tacking stitches in an inconspicious location and cut the thread.

7. Measure where to place the next wrap and repeat the above steps.

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Tips

• The choice of button is important: a heavy button will make a loose-fitting bracelet turn so the button sits on the inside of the wrist. A light-weight button and/or a tight-fitting bracelet will keep the button on the top of the bracelet where it will be more visible.

• A large button demands a larger ribbon loop, which will give the bracelet a loose fit. Remember that when choosing buttons.

• If you just wrap the bracelet around your wrist like in step 3 above, you will only see one half of the ribbon. If you want a somewhat wider bracelet or want to show you the whole ribbon , you can instead wrap the ribbon as in the photo below: when you've completed one wrap, split the ribbons so the will sit on either side of the button for the second wrap.This will also place the button in the middle of the bracelet.

• If the ribbon is somewhat too long for your desired length it's easier to just let the ribbon ends be instead of trimming them down as they will fray. Let them hang free or tuck them under the ribbon when you've clasped it around your wrist (compare top photo with the one below). Works best with tight bracelets.

Silk ribbon bracelet tutorial

***Tutorial in english can now be found here***

Due to circumstances (which include being bitten by a tick, which have made me slightly hypochondriac, and having had a jaw ache that's made me cranky), I haven't been able to blog much lately. However, I did get around to publishing my first summer project on my other blog: Manekis sidenarmband.

It's just a very simple bracelet project for all ages and skills. Planning on making an english version to publish on this blog too, but for the moment I'll be referring you to my other blog for instructions. There are many pics and the project is so simple that it shouldn't be hard to just follow the pictures. And then use Google Translate to try and make out the tips. Key tip, which I didn't even write: pick out the loveliest ribbon and button you cand find as it'll make all the difference!

I'm hoping my second blogiversary project will be more about bead-weaving. Or perhaps I'll do something embroidered... Well, we'll just have to see what happens.

Hope you enjoy it!

Bead Soup Blog Party 3rd Reveal

And so it's finally here, the third BSBP reveal. I signed up for BSBP again, not having joined for for a couple of rounds. Of cause that had made me very keen to participate again and I signed up -- completely forgetting that the dates could be in the middle of spring farming season. Oops! Of cause I couldn't know that the spring farming would start unusually late this year, but as luck would have it (for me), the reveal was postponed a couple of weeks so here I am, free from the potatoes and ready to show what I made with the lovely soup I got from my BSBP partner Noemi.

First, let's take a look on that spanish soup Noemi cooked up for me to work with.

You can read more about all the different ingredients here. It was a fab soup, but due to work, a workroom I couldn't work in (= no metalwork or techniques requiring a torch this time) and everything else that came in between, I still had my struggles with it. Mostly with getting ready in time with something I wouldn't be embarrassed to show anyone and that would make Noemi's soup justice. In the end, I ended up with four piece to show you today. Haven't yet used all the beads from the soup so there might be some "leftover posts" later.
 

First a quick (and hopefully enticing) sampler of what's to come below.

First up is the necklace made for the lampwork focal. I had matching fire-polished rondelles, but they were pretty tiny (as are most my beads, being used to working with dainty jewellery and seed beads) and there were only 30 of them. After going back and forth many times, I finally decided on just stringing them with dark green silk cord (in lieu of anything matching the chain) on a gunmetal chain.

Looking back at it, I should've added something to the last portion of the chain. Ran out of rondelles, but adding, say, some gunmetal beads would've looked better than just leaving it bare in the neck. Well, something to remember for next time, then.
 
And look at that wire wrapping -- you can tell I've almost only been seedbeading and embroidering these last couple or years!

For the next piece, I wanted to do something with the sweet little copper connectors and clasp, which are made by Noemi herself. Wanted to keep it simple in order not to overpower the connectors and this is what was finally settled on. Not the best chain to use -- if you want to try something similar, I'd suggest a small rolo/belcher or cable chain -- but the only one I had that matched the copper. As it was slightly boring with just the chain, I wrapped some dusky dark purple anchor embroidery floss around the links. Don't know if it made it better or worse! *lol* I do enjoy embroidery so threads and floss is something I like to add to my jewellery nowadays.

The chain was so uncooperative I almost gave up, thinking of turning the connectors into little charms with a bead dangle in one end (it would've included a maneki neko charm, sorry all catlovers who didn't get any cat jewellery here). But I persevered.

Third piece is a silk wrap bracelet. First I thought of altering the ribbon in some way, either embroidering it, smocking it or adding a beaded edge, but in the end it all came down to my wanting to try an idea. Now, I'll say right away that it's an idea that maybe looks nice, but wasn't as practical as intended.

The idea was to lose the clasp and use the rubber o-rings to tighten the ribbon ends, then tucking them under the ribbon as with other wrap bracelets. But the wrap part made it more cumbersome than practical -- next time I'll try it with a simple bracelet that doesn't wrap around the wrist several times. (Also, the focal was supposed to be black to match the o-rings, but I hadn't time to blacken it. Some of you might prefer the antique bronze colour it has now, though.)

And so, the fourth and last piece. I wanted to use those vibrantly coloured crackle beads, but couldn't think of anything fun to do with them last minute (made it yesterday). Ideally I wanted to keep them mixed with the fw pearls in the colour combo Noemi created, but some of my teal supplies kept trying to get my attention, wanting to play with the purple beads. Finally, I caved and created this simple leather necklace with beads dangling from waxed linen cord attached to the leather using lark's head knots.

That's all, folks! My creations for this year's edition of BSBP. Now be sure to visit my BSBP partner Noemi, who had this eclectic (and somewhat boringly coloured) soup to work with:

And of cause a huge thank you to Lori for hosting this great (in fabulousness and size) event once again! You're fab!

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For a complete list of all participants in the 3rd reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party, please visit Lori's blog here. As Lori makes her way through the blogs, she will replace the links with direct links to the reveal posts, making it easier for us who will take a long time going through all 200+ blogs in this reveal. 

You will also be able to find many of the creations from all three of the reveal on the official 7th BSBP pinboard at Pinterest.

My Nina Designs creations

I'm a fan of Nina Designs jewellery components so when I read about their new blog partner programme and the chance for jewellery makers to get some goodies from them, I just had to ask if I could participate. And earlier this month I got a late christmas present in the mail. Inside were lovely bronze charms and components, soft deer hide leather cord and sheer silk ribbon.

Today I thought I'd show you what I made with the stuff I got (or at least most of it). I won't complain too much about the quality of my photos as I do that too often, but the light turned out to be more finicky than usual today and I just hope the pics are too bad.

One of the first things I did was to figure out something fun to do with the leaves. Thinking about it back and forth, I settled for two things I like: weaving and embroidery floss. Just like you would use a metal frame to weave and twist wire around in wirework, the 24 mm long skeleton leaf charms acted as a frame for weaving the floss. If the charm hadn't been made in such a pretty metal, I would've wrapped the outer lines with floss too, but this time I decided to keep the metal bare, which also frames the colourful floss.

I'm pretty pleased with this experiment and hope at least some of the charm of these autumn leaves will show in the photo too, which really was a balance between showing detail (which make it look clumsy, but shows up the weaving) and showing the dainty leaves in their natural size.

Originally I wanted to show them on a golden jewellery chain, which is how I intend to wear them, but I couldn't find it. So just try to imagine the leaves dangling on i thin matching chain.

 
The package also contained two coral branch charms, which I immediately wanted to embellish a bit. It was like they were crying out for some blossoms and leaves. This was my first version with tiny acrylic flowers wire-wrapped onto the branch. Simple, but fun. Not sure what chain or cord I want for this one, but will probably opt for a chain that'll go nicely with the colour and texture of the branch.

I also made a second version today with the same flowers but with added seed bead picot leaves where I strung the pendant on the green deer hide cord and finished by adding the toggle clasp that were also in my package. No pic of that as I'm still not sure whether I like it or not.

UPDATE: I just realised that it would've been a nice touch if I'd oxidized the branch first for a more earthtone colour rather than a shiny bronze. 

The sheer silk ribbon (aka fairy ribbon) I got had such a gorgeous dark purple colour I knew this would probably be my favourite piece. But what to add to it when I'm a girl that can wrap a ribbon around my wrist and find that a perfect bracelet in itself? Actually, this piece started out as and idea. It all began with the infinity link and my questioning myself what could be a fun and less usual way of using it. Why not make it into a slider, threading it onto the ribbon and adding a focalpiece to it? Which is exactly what I did by wiring an acrylic violet flower and two dark green acrylic leaves to the middle of the link.

To finish the bracelet, I added two -- for their size rather heavy -- lotus petal charms (such a simple and lovely shape) to each end of the ribbon. The idea is that they will both keep the slider from falling off and add some weight that'll keep the knot  in place when wearing the bracelet. I say bracelet, but it could probably also double as a necklace.

The final piece were a couple of earrings. Unfortunately I ran out of roses, but I didn't want to give up my idea so I simply made just one earring. The base for this earring is a three teardrops link that I attached to a bronze hook. I then played around with different ideas, arranging roses in different ways before ending up with this design. To attach the tiny metal roses I used something I rarely use: glue. A cheat and shortcut sometimes, but here pretty m uch my only option due to an unforeseen lack of suitable wire in the right colour.

 
Of cause, just making a single earring I ended up with a leftover hook and teardrop link. Therefore I made a second design using a single, velvet matte aluminium rose wired onto the bottom link. Very simple and "clean" compared to the first earring. Not sure if it'd look better on an earring with just one teardrop instead of three? But it's definitely  something for those that prefer simple jewellery and a single rose to a whole bouquet.

And that's it, my take on Nina Designs bronze jewellery components. I hope you liked them and perhaps were inspired by them.

~*~

Disclaimer: The materials above were provided as part of the Nina Designs blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.

Gesso texture

A quick "oh-by-the-way post" here. Remember the ribbon I mentioned here? One way I thought of using it was as a stencil. Well, I tried that as you can see above. Gesso applied on cardboard (painted black using a permanent marker) with a paper towel while manually holding the ribbon in place probably wasn't the best combo of materials and techniques for this, but it still result in an interesting texture. A texture filled with unwanted tiny air bubbles, but still a nice result.

Next time I'll either use stencil glue on the ribbon or use another paint, e. g. spray paint, and see if that works better.

Now the big question is just what to do with it. Or rather, not with this particular sample, but more in general what to do with this kind of gesso texture. Could it be applied to a pendant? Or could it be used for backgrounds? Should it be used as it is or maybe painted, brushed with chalk, rubbed with metallic wax, crackled or in any other way altered or manipulated first?

Many questions that I'm not even going to start thinking about at the moment as I'm focusing on some other samples and it's just way too easy to get side-tracked. But I thought it was a nice first result and worth showing today when I don't have anything better to write about anyway.

Sequintastic September

Welcome to the Sequintastic September blog hop!
 
When Sarah of Saturday Sequins first presented her blog hop I was quick to enter. Rarely using sequins, but still buying a few now and then as they felt inspiring, I had managed to amass a small stash that wanted to be used. It's easy to be seduced by sequins once you find the right shapes and colours (like many I don't love all sequins), but not as easy to use them it turned out. Sequins are fun and lend themselves well to many techniques and having seen sequin jewellery from Sarah and Gail Crosman Moore as well as impressive french sequin embroidery, I wanted this as a challenge to actually start using more of my stash.

We did get a lot of time to prepare for this blog hop, but due to all that has happened with the kittens (Sötis, Vitfluff and Snuttis), I felt low on energy and creative flow so in the end I ended up with just the two simple creations below. But also with a feeling that participating have had positive effects, especially by giving me ideas for creating with sequins in the future and seeing the potential in these humble (and sometimes kitschy) plastic bits. It's not just about tangible results, is it? It's also about getting and sharing that spark of ideas and creativity this theme generated. And that's something I'll take with me from this blog hop.

I hope you enjoy my little contribution to this hop and that it might inspire you in your own creative persuit. (and I hope the photos aren't too bad -- forgot to put in new batteries...)

My first creation started as an idea of a floral satin ribbon bracelet. Once I started making it I realised two things: 1) the size of the sequins means they won't follow the curve of the bracelet when worn, making it scratchy and wonky-looking and 2) I didn't have enough flower sequins to cover the length of the satin ribbon. If I'd had enough sequins (and time) it'd probably morph into a necklace instead. Not having done much sequin embroidery before, I found I had a very small grasp of how much sequins were needed to cover a bracelet or necklace collar.

Did finish the embroidery, though, and now I'm thinking of ways to use this piece. One idea I've had has been to make a romantic hairband of it. An initial idea was to make it into a bookmark, but it was scrapped after seing how thick it became, especially with the tiny beads holding the sequins in place. But then again, what if the beaded piece is hung on the outside of the book and an unembellished piece of ribbon is placed between the pages?

What do you say? Do you have any other ideas or suggestions?

The second creation is a very simple pair of earrings I made to show of a couple of my large sequins. At first I wanted to make a linked necklace using these sequins, but in the end the earrings probably turned out better than any quickly made necklace. I'm considering adding drops to the bottom to prevent these very lightweight earring dangles from moving about too much (it only takes a gentle wind gust to move them -- which is also the reason for the blurry photo as I took the pics by the open window for the sunlight).

There were a couple of ideas I wanted to try, but didn't manage to make any samples of in time for the blog hop. If I do finish a few tonight (writing this on Friday evening) I'll add pics on Saturday, but most likely it'll be saved for future sequin posts -- because after this there's bound to be more sequins on this blog. E.g. I would've wanted to make something with my matte bronze sequins (the once that garned positive comments in an earlier post) and hope to be able to show something in the near future. If you were hoping to see some sequin waste creations, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. That too will have to wait. Until then you'll have to make do with the two previous posts, Sequin waste patterns and Sequin waste inspiration links.


And so... That's all from me. Now be sure to check out the other Sequintastic September participants too!


Blog hop list

Host: Sarah... http://saturdaysequins.com

Dita... http://alankarshilpa.blogspot.com

Ambra... http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com

Audrey... http://hotpinkquilts.blogspot.com

Stacy... http://iridalsattic.blogspot.co.uk

Karen W...  http://baublicious.blogspot.com

Lori...  http://www.prettythingsblog.com

Lisa... http://lisabinkley.typepad.com

Carmi... http://resincrafts.blogspot.com

Dawn Marie...  http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Jeannie... http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog

Shirlee... http://www.shirleestuff.blogspot.com

Linda... http://www.lilysofthevalleyjewerly.blogspot.com

Corrine... http://www.sparkledaysstudio.com

Gutukas... http://atradimutakeliais.blogspot.com

Shannon... http://uptwnsh-fallingintothesky.blogspot.com

Mallory... http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com

Cyndi... http://www.beading-arts.com

Maneki... http://wildrosesandblackberries.blogspot.com  (You're here!)

Maryanne... http://zingalasworkshop.blogspot.com

Ine... http://jewelsbyine.blogspot.com

Karen... http://www.overthemoon-design.com

Kepi... http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com

Jennifer... http://jenniferstumpf.blogspot.com

Misty...  http://thejollyfatelf.blogspot.com

Dot... http://speediebeadie.blogspot.com

Hope... http://craftyhope.blogspot.com

Cynthia... http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com

Micheladas... http://www.micheladasmusings.blogspot.com

Shirley...  http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com

Karla... http://texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

Eleanor... http://eleanorpigman.blogspot.com

Therese... http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com

Rita... http://www.toltecjewels.blogspot.com

Robyn... http://rcponders.wordpress.com

Stepha... http://skwds.blogspot.com

Sue... http://suebeads.blogspot.com

Cate... http://fulgorine.wordpress.com

Amy... http://Loraamyjames.com

Mesh ribbon musings

I've begun a new bead embroidery project -- which was slightly hindered by two cats who had to sit on me in between my face and the beadwork -- but that doesn't keep my mind from thinking of other things too. Like this mesh ribbon.

I originally bought this ribbon because I thought the pattern was fun and it could make an interesting background for embroidery, bead embroidery or perhaps even collage/resin pendants. Either used as a single layer or doubled as in the pic below. But it's been in the ribbon bag ever since as I haven't come up with the right design/project yet.

top: double layer. Bottom: single layer.

two lengths of ribbon side by side.

Then not long ago I happened to stumble over this (scroll down). Don't remember how, but it wasn't because I wanted to find something Friendly Plastic-related. I'd never heard of Liz Welch and her ooze technique and seeing it for the first time it looked very interesting.

Now, I don't use FP and I have no intention to focus on another material right now, but the use of "my" mesh ribbon made me think of other ways to use it than the once I initially thought off.

In the end, I began thinking about using it as a mask or stencil, especially considering my interest in resist patinas. Could the ribbon be used as a resist/"bound object"? The lines are rather fine so I'm not sure; perhaps if I spray it with glue and attach it first. Or maybe I should use it with paint instead? Hold it tight or use stencil glue, dab on colour using a sponge and then remove it. No extended time in a solution during which the patina solution and seep in under the mesh threads or come loose.

For those who own a rolling mill or similar it could probably also be an interesting product to use for texturing.

close-up (note how the dark brown ribbon is really made up from two different colours)

Many ideas, but very few concrete results. However, I havve already tried to use it in another way than the once listed above. Or mor precisely I used one of the ribbon pics. As a texture over another photo. It's the only edit I did to the photo (apart from resizing and rounding the corners) as I just wanted to test the texture: the colours are as I saw them on that night. Maybe the images will need a bit more tweaking for a better effect and maybe this wasn't the best photo to use (the sunset looks even more fab without the texture), but I must say I like the crackle effect it can give an image.