How To... Make Recycled Fabric Wrapped Bangles With Two Variations

I had some neglected  plastic bangles in my jewellery box that I hadn't worn for ages, so I decided to give them a makeover! This is a really simple How To... but I think you'll agree, the bangles you create are very pretty and it's a very thrifty make too. How about recycling the pretty fabric from an old top to make a matching set of bangles and adding beads from the broken necklace that you love but you know you'll never get fixed? Oooh and they also make great gifts! Here is a tutorial for making the basic recycled fabric wrapped bangles and a couple of variations- happy making!

For a basic fabric wrapped bangle;

1) You will need

PVA glue, paintbrush, plastic or wooden bangles, strips of fabric

Note on fabric: My strips of fabric were aprox half an inch thick and 25/30 cm long. For one small bangle I used aprox two and a half fabric strips. For a larger bangle it may be easier to cut wider strips of fabric, to cover the bangle quicker

 2) 

Add a small amount of PVA glue to the inside of your bangle and add the end of your first fabric strip. It's much easier (and less messy!) to only add glue to the inside of the bangle, rather than gluing the fabric!

3) Start to wrap!

Wrap your fabric strips around the bangle, overlapping it slightly. After each couple of wraps, add some more glue to the inner bangle to secure the sfabric. Wrap until the entire bangle is covered, securing you end with PVA glue on the inside of the bangle. Leave to dry

4) It's finished!

It's as simple as that to transform a boring unused bangle into something pretty. You could leave your bangle plain like this, or read on for further ideas!

Fabric wrapped bangle with chain

1) You will need

The materials listed above for the basic fabric wrapped bangle, old jewellery chain, tube of all purpose strong glue, fabric wrapped bangle

2) Follow the How To... above to make a fabric wrapped bangle

3) Choose your chain!

 I got this necklace in a bundle of old jewellery on ebay and immediately knew that the tangled chain would be great used in a How To..! The chains on this necklace were quite easy to break off by twisting them, but if your chain is made of stronger stuff, you may need to use a small pair of pliers to remove the chain. You can experiment with different weights of chain to give your bangles a different look

4) Add a thin squeeze of your strong all purpose glue to the inside of your bangle and use to stick the end of your chain

5) Wrap your chain!

Wrap the chain around the fabric covered bangle, using the strong glue to secure it in place on the inside of the bangle on every couple of wraps. Leave to dry

6) It's finished!

That's all there is to it- pretty effective and very simple

Fabric wrapped bangle with beads

1) You will need

The materials listed for the basic fabric wrapped bangle, beads removed from an old necklace (I have used glass pearls from the tangled chain necklace), needle and thread, fabric wrapped bangle

2)  Follow the How To... above to make a fabric wrapped bangle

3) Remove the beads from the necklace

How you remove the beads depends on the necklace you have- I was able to remove the glass pearls from my necklace using a small pair of pliers, but it may be as simple as snipping a cord. You can use as many or as few beads as you wish, depending on how heavily you'd like the bangle to be embellished

4) Stitch your beads onto the bangle

Stitch the beads to the bangle in any pattern you wish, catching the thread between the wraps of fabric. This is easy to do as the fabric is only glued to the inside of the bangle

5) Ta-dah! 

That's all there is to it, so simple but so effective

Enjoy wearing your lovely updated bangles!

New materials

 I've been experimenting with learning Fair Isle knitting recently and I've decided that I'd like to have this as a Winter project. In the meantime, I wanted to make some bright and summery textile jewellery, so here's a sneak peak at what I'll be working on this week!

 I've been gathering off-cuts of Liberty print fabrics from Ebay (this is a new brightly coloured batch, I love them!), as well as hand embroidered tray cloths, and I'd like to combine these with lace and other up-cycled materials. I also wanted to add some extra colour and I'm excited to have discovered these Permaset Eco Friendly screen printing inks. Looking forward to getting to grips with these- I've just started making some handmade stamps using wood blocks and fun foam (more on this later in the week). I'm also going to an embroidery class later this week as I'd like to include some hand embroidery. It's going to be a busy week! 

                                                 

Hand embroidered Tray Cloth

I'm planning to patch strips of the different fabrics together

How To... Make a fabric remnant Tote Bag

Welcome to my latest  How to..." How to make a fabric remnant Tote Bag! 

The inspiration behind creating this "How to..." has come through having numerous crafty projects on the go and carting them to and from work in various bags, ready to work on in my lunch hour. I thought how much more organised it would be to have a little cotton Tote bag to house each project and to keep them a little more stylishly than in the current bags for life!!! 

Also, one of my aims through this series is to show you how you can create something handmade and unique without having to spend much, placing emphasis on using what you have and Make Do and Mend. I had this fabric left over from when I made a rag doll for my niece, but this could also easily be made from an old top, dress, pillow case, etc. Think of it as a recipe that you can tweak according to the ingredients you have in the cupboard! So without further ado, let us begin...

1). You will need

A fabric remnant, fabric scissors, pins, sew-all thread to match your fabric, sheets of newspaper, sewing machine. 

2) Fold your fabric in half

Fold your fabric in half to give you a bottom edge and two layers of fabric

3) Pin newspaper pattern to your fabric

Using a single sheet of newspaper as your pattern, place the paper on the fold of your fabric in the bottom corner and pin this to your fabric, ensuring you pin through both layers of fabric. My newspaper pattern measures 47cmx31cm. You could make it bigger or smaller if you prefer

4) Cut around your newspaper pattern

5) Remove newspaper and pins to leave your basic bag shape

6) Create your top edge

Create a neat top edge for your bag by folding over one inch at the top of your fabric and pressing with an iron

Fold over by another inch and press again. Repeat these steps for the other side of your fabric

7) Tack along your top edge

8) Machine stitch your top edges

Using a straight stitch and the wrong side of your bag facing you (so you can follow the visible edge) machine two vertical rows of stitching to secure the turn over. The first should be aprox 1cm away from the edge, with the second row as close as possible to the edge. Repeat this for the other side of your bag and sew in your ends. Remove the tacking

9) Cut the bag handles

Cut a piece of newspaper (mine measures 52cm x 4cm) to use as your template and then pin this to your left over fabric. Cut four pieces

10) Turn over the ends

Turn up each end of the four fabric strips by 1cm. Press with the iron- this will give you a neat finish

11) Sew the handles

Pair up your fabric strips and with right sides together, tack and then machine a straight stitch down each long side, leaving a 5mm seam allowance and creating a tube. Repeat for the other strap. Remove the tacking

12) Turn straps through

Turn the fabric tubes back the right way (a knitting needle comes in really handy for this, or a Bodkin if you have one) to give you two handles. If you would prefer you could use webbing or ribbon for straps, if you have some to hand

13) Stitch your straps to the bag

Pin and tack your handles to your bag, lining them up with your top edge. Stitch a long rectangle to secure the handle. If, like me, you're not that neat on the sewing machine, you could always cover this stitching with buttons, beads or decorative stitching. Likewise you could cover your top edge stitching with ribbon or rick rack, which you could applique or use Bondaweb to hold in place

14) Almost finished! Stitch the side seams using a French Seam

Now all you need to do is sew up the sides of your bag. There are some options here- you could simply place the right sides of your fabric together and stitch a straight seam up each side, allowing a 1cm seam allowance. This would, however, leave you with raw edges to your seams.

The other option is to create a French Seam, which is great as it encloses your raw edges and is really simple (promise!)

To create a French Seam you will need to place your fabric with wrong sides together and stitch a straight seam down each side, allowing a 5mm seam allowance.

Next, trim away a couple of millimeteres from the seam allowance (see below). Press this seam open

Next, turn your bag through so the right sides of your fabric are together and press along the seam line.

Stitch a row of tacking very close to your first seam. 

Next, machine stitch 1cm in from your seamed edge- this encloses the raw seam

Remove the tacking and press the seam to one side. Turn through the right way and press again. Check out You Tube for some really helpful tutorials on this here

15) It's finished!

All ready to take my knitting project to work in! If you make one I'd love if if you could link a pic of it in the comments box!

Happy making!

Adventures with Fair Isle part 2

My adventures in learning Fair Isle have continued today, in a beautifully sunny studio (seeing the sun makes everything that much better!). 

Following on from my last post, I'm at the starting point of developing a new collection. I'm not sure what direction this project is going to take me in at the moment- all I know is that my ultimate goal is to produce a new jewellery collection. Also, although I'd like Fair Isle to be the main focus, I would like it to be a little different. So today I've been experimenting and recycling! I've cut fabric strips from an old lace skirt, jersey fabric from an old tunic top and strips of blue mock silk scarves that a friend kindly donated to my cause and used these to knit in Fair Isle patterns. Here are the results!

Ok, so the first attempt at the seed stitch using the lace and the scarf fabric wasn't a great success, but I love the way the lace has knitted up

This is a seed stitch pattern that alternates two coloured strands across the rows- really liking this effect. I need to try this with more contrasting colours and fabrics so the effect stands out much more

A three coloured pattern- I will experiment with using different fabrics in this way to highlight the pattern more clearly

How to... Make a D.I.Y Fabric Pin Board

One of my goals for the blog this year is to start featuring regular tutorials, so welcome to the very first in my "How to..." series... How to make a D.I.Y Fabric Pinboard! 

This is a great way to jazz up that boring cork pin board you may have in your study/studio/kitchen and is also a good way to use up any odd bits of fabric and wadding you may have. You could even use the fabric from an old dress or jumper, so it's a handy recycling project and you get something useful (and pretty) at the end!

1). You will need...

You will need a cork notice board, scissors, a staple gun and staples, wadding in your chosen thickness (I used 4oz) and a piece of fabric large enough to cover your board

 2). Cut wadding to size

Cut your wadding to size, allowing aprox. 3 inches extra all the way around your board. If you'd like a thicker padded board you could use a double thick layer of wadding

3). Staple your wadding to the board 

Staple your wadding to the board, taking care to only staple onto the wooden frame. Carefully pull the wadding taught to avoid a saggy finish

4). Cut your corners

You may need to trim some excess wadding away from your corners to avoid a bulky finish

5). Cut away excess wadding

Trim away any excess wadding

 6). Attach your fabric

Now your pin board starts to take shape! Cut your fabric to fit around your board and allow aprox. 3 inches extra all the way around your board. Staple into place over the top of the wadding, still taking care to only staple into the wooden frame

7). Neaten your corners

Trim the excess corners of your fabric in the same way as you did your wadding and fold into a neat shape. Staple a couple of time to keep secure

8). The final trim!

Trim away any excess fabric to neaten the back

9). Yay, it's finished!

Use your board to hold shopping lists and notes, or images and drawings, photos, magazine clippings, jewellery, or anything else you like! I'm using this one as part of my jewellery display and I've found map pins really useful for holding pieces in place.

Decorate your board with strips of ribbon, lace, mini bunting, the possibilities are endless! You could also attach ribbon or a hook to hang the board, or sit it on canvas display stands, as I will do with this board.

I'd love to see photos of your pin boards if you give it a go and I'd love to know what you're using them to display!