Fabric Covered Wood Beads Bracelet

That's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it!?  I wasn't going to post until next week, as I only try to post once a week, but the next two weeks I'm going to be guest blogging, so I thought I'd throw in a couple quick tutorials during the next couple weeks in the meantime. 

I've seen these bracelets (and necklaces) around and found a couple tutorials I liked online.  No one seemed to have any dimensions though, and so after I figured it out, I decided that it might help someone be more motivated to make one, as they are so easy!

You do have a few closure options, so read on to find out which you might prefer!
 

You’ll need:

*One 4” x 30” strip of fabric (you can see I also did a strip of lace, the same size for one of my bracelets).  Also, if you want to just tie the beads in and use the unused fabric ends for tying the bracelet, you might want to cut the strip a little longer.  I just didn’t like the way the ends jutted out from side to side, so I didn’t show this method. 

*Four-Seven 1” wooden balls, or about 25 mm (they don’t have to have holes).  I found my beads at both Joann and Hobby Lobby.  They were cheaper at Hobby Lobby by over a buck though:), and you can use a coupon if you've got one!

*OPTIONS for closures on bracelet:  ribbon, snaps, or even velcro (velcro not shown though)


Sew the right sides of the strip together, along the long side, with a 1/4" seam.  Turn right side out (I just use a safety pin). 

Tie a knot about 3-4” from the bottom, unless you are using the fabric itself to tie.  TIP:  Tie this first knot loosely.  You can always tighten it, but it’s really hard to untie if you need to adjust your bracelet at all.  You can see the lace in this picture over the cotton.  I just sewed it along with the cotton strip.  The knots aren’t quite as small on this one with the lace though.  I prefer smaller knots, but it’s still cute.   Just make sure to pull the fabric so you get really nice, tight knots. 
OK, here’s where we’ll discuss the different ways to finish. 

As mentioned above, you can certainly just tuck in the unfinished edges and sew the ends shut, leaving two strands of fabric left to tie your bracelet on. 

For a ribbon closure:  cut two 6” pieces of ribbon.  Cut the excess fabric on either end after all the beads are in and you’ve got a not at both ends.  Leave about 1” of fabric.  Since there was lace, it hid the frayed edges a bit, so I didn’t bother tucking and sewing those closed. 


Fold the end in thirds, placing one end of the ribbon in between one of the layers.  Sew the ribbon on through all 3 layers. 


Treat ends of ribbon with fray check. You can see the four beads, but after the knots and sewing in the ribbon, there was another couple inches added around your wrist, so thus only 4 beads:).


Without the lace layer, the knots are much smaller. 
After tying a know at either end, tuck in the unfinished edge. 

I didn’t actually sew on the snap, but if you use a snap, make sure you just sew it onto one side while it’s still a big piece, rather than waiting until after you’ve folded the end into thirds.  If you do this, all the thread you used for the snap will be neatly hidden when folding the end into thirds. 
 
For the last two methods, you can either leave your ends untied after the last bead, or with a knot after the last bead.  Just make sure you have enough beads to be able to slip the bracelet over your hand.  Mine is a tight fit with 6 beads, but I don't like it loose, so it's worth the pain to get it on if it's not sliding all over.
This next picture shows just tying the ends together,


And then tucking the extra pieces into the knot itself.  You could probably use some fabric glue to hold it in place. 
So it will look like this now.


OR, my friend Jenny came up with one of the cutest ways.  Tie a knot at the end (either with final knots or without). 


Cut some small slits in the remaining pieces, and tear those all the way down to the knot you tied to close the bracelet. 


See the cute, frayed look? 


It looks great, don’t you think?  Great, great idea Jenny had:).


So there you go!  I hope that helps someone out there!