It appears that I’ve caught spring fever, because I’m suddenly noticing all the pastel colors in my fabric stash. They’re just begging to be made into something “Easter-y.” Don’t worry, I won’t be crocheting any bunnies or hens with googly-eyes to fit over our plastic easter-eggs…
A few days ago I was feeling in a rut, so I started making some bracelets on the fly. It was a lot of fun, just creating something that I would want to wear for myself, and not worrying about what someone else would want to buy. Okay, so I did end up listing them for sale in my Etsy store…
They were a needed distraction, and the results happened to be great. The first started with a pastel green satin-like ribbon and a piece of lavender lace. I sewed the lace to either side of the ribbon (“right” sides facing) and folded the edges under so the stitching didn’t show. I then did some decorative stitching along the sides using silver metallic thread.
I had a piece of wide, black stretch lace that I used for the back of the bracelet. The lavender lace was originally much wider, and had a decorative band along the outer edge. But, when I was applying my iron to melt the web interfacing between the front and back layers, the iron melted some of the mesh from the lace, making a hole (I really need one of those mini craft irons)! I then decided to cut the lace back (by about half the width) and melted the entire new edge with the iron to seal it. In my opinion, the lace was too wide in the first place–so there!
I put a row of silver beads arranged like little tiny flowers to add some interest. I added a shiny lavender button and silver cord for the closure (which makes it relatively adjustable because of the stretch in the silver cord). You can also see more details and photos at the Etsy listing.
The second bracelet started with some really soft cotton scraps that were already on my sewing desk. I was initially planning for this one to be reversible, but I was so caught up in just making something that I didn’t want to slow down to plan ahead. (If I make another one like this, I’ll know what to plan for, and be able to pay attention to the details as I go along.)
I hand-stitched the beading, and added a gold metal disk with some dangling beads, too. The green ribbons on front were stitched with one of my new variegated spools, which has about 5 different colors in each (I love these!)–as you stitch a straight line, the color shifts gradually. If you stitch a more closely-spaced, decorative stitch, the color transitions quickly and you get a more striped effect. Click to see the store listing for this item, including more pics and detailed info.
As with the first bracelet, this one is sturdy (but not bulky) because of several layers of fabric. I ironed on a thin layer of interfacing (nothing to melt this time!) across the back to cover the stitches and create an even softer surface to wear next to your skin. The Velcro closure also allows for a little bit of size adjustment. Elastic would allow for greater adjustment in size, but this one feels so much more comfortable and snug this way, and it’s a little bit easier to get onto your wrist by yourself…without asking one of the kids for help.