It seems that I never get tired of the color turquoise. No matter what material the beads are made from, I always end up buying the turquoise colored ones! Since I have a large collection of vintage beads, I decided to indulge myself with a mix of glass, plastic, wood, and fabric in this turquoise and kiwi colored bracelet. I even had the perfect turquoise colored satin button to complete it! And look how great it looks with the current seasonal palette:
My instructions below are pretty abbreviated. If you need more detailed step-by-steps, please visit my page of bead embroidery e-books. The first chapter of the first book, Every Bead Has a Story, is free.
Materials
Foundation fabric
Lightweight fusible interfacing
Fusible web
Ribbons, Offray 1/4" Simply Sheer Asiana, mallard and kiwi
Sewing thread to match foundation fabric
Shank button
Nymo beading thread, size O, black and white
8" rhinestone cup-chain
Size 11/0 seed beads, Ceylon rainbow white
Size 6/0 seed beads, opaque turquoise
Size 15/0 seed beads, opaque luster turquoise
Accent beads from 6mm to 14mm
Backing fabric, ultra-suede or other non-woven fabric
Tools
Iron
Sewing needle
Beading needles
Wire cutters
Straight pins
1. Pick a fabric for your foundation that will not compete with the ribbons. Cut out a rectangle that will wrap your wrist by at least 1/2 inch. Back the fabric with fusible interfacing and top it with fusible web.
2. Cut ribbons about an inch longer than your fabric and pin them in place, criss-crossing as you choose.
3. Iron the ribbons to the fusible web. Wrap the ends to the back, stitch in place using the matching sewing thread and tiny stitches. Trim the ribbon ends.
4. Stitch the shank button into place so that the bracelet fits your wrist with some give. Add the cup-chain, pinning and then stitching it into place.
5. Add accent beads, stitching them into place with stop-stitch beads. Cut some scraps of ribbon and loop them to form the "hook". Stitch them into place on the end opposite the button, adjusting their length until the bracelet fits, still with some give.
6. Cut a piece of backing fabric to match the top and pin into place. Using size 11/0 seed beads, stitch edging brick stitch all around the bracelet.
7. Add stack stitches to each edge bead except for the area near the button which will underlap the end with the ribbon "hook".
Step-by-step instructions for back stitch, edging brick stitch, and stack stitch can be found in the free first chapter of Every Bead Has a Story.
Copyright 2015, 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 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.
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