Bead embroidered cuff bracelets

I promised a few weeks ago that I would write up instructions for how to make the bead embroidered cuff bracelets that I'm doing each month for the Bead Journal Project 2010.  You can see all of my bracelets as they appear each month by choosing Bead Journal Project under the heading "Categories" in the sidebar.  Or just click on the last link!

Anyway, here's how I am making them.  Not all of the fabrics are as complicated as this one.  Sometimes I have painted the fabric, and sometimes I'm using plain commercial fabric.  Steps 3 through 5 deal with making a more complicated collaged fabric base.

1. Decide on pattern and draw it for future reference - measurement of wrist plus 1 inch for button overlap.

2. Pick and cut background fabric larger than pattern. Iron on a piece of Pellon fusible interfacing (lightweight) to back.

3. Layer on embellishment fabrics, zig zag stitching into place.

4. Cut to just a hair larger than size of pattern.

5. Zig zag stitch all around outside.

6. Stitch on button closure and embellish with beads and embroidery threads.

7. Twist and zig zag stitch some fibers for a loop closure. Machine stitch into place on back of embellished bracelet top.

8. Pin top to a backing fabric all around the outside and a few spots inside to keep from slipping. Cut backing even with top. Machine baste all around the edge.

9. Embroider around the edge with buttonhole stitch, adding beads every other stitch. Do not sew beads to the edge where the button is - the loop end will overlap it.

Note: The button used is a Susan Clarke Originals, made in the Czech Republic

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Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Best Bead Embroidery Books:

Art of Bead Embroidery by Heidi Kummli & Sherry Serefini
Beading on Fabric by Larkin Jean Van Horn
Beading With Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin
Bead Embroidery by Valerie Campbell-Harding
Beaded Embellishment: Techniques & Designs for Embroidering on Cloth by Amy C. Clarke
Embeadery by Margaret Ball


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