Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Last thing......birthday beads for my sister...



Fabric bead necklaces.

To make:

13 wooden beads (mine were 2 cm)
Light weight fabric
Spacer beads with large holes (If you haven't got these you can put knots between the beads)
Sewing machine/over locker.

Cut a length of fabric 12 cm wide and 120 cm long. It can be shorter than this - 1 metre is good too. For smaller wooden beads 1 cm wide, make the piece narrower, say 8 cm. You're just allowing for the bead to fit easily and a seam.

Fold right sides together and sew along the edge. I use an over locker for this.

Fold your casing out to the right side. This can be a bit fiddly.  I used a knitting needle to help.

Cut the ends on a diagonal - this helps if threading spacer beads on.

Slide on your spacer bead 20 cm from the end.  Then put the wooden bead inside the casing. Follow this with a sliding a spacer bead on to keep the wooden bead in place. Alternatively, tie a knot.

Repeat until you like the look of it. I used 13 beads on one, 11 on another and 18 on another so , basically, I make it up as I go along. You can trim the ends to make them even.

Fold in the unfinished ends to hem and hand stitch.


Down tools now. Off to the post office!

2 comments:

  1. oooooo .... what gorgeous beads .... I'm sure your sister is going to love them.

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  2. The yellow fabric is actually from one of her old favourite dresses from the late seventies! It's in disrepair but I managed to rescue a strip of it along the hem! I lovie making these necklaces. I guess because I love fabric and patterns. And they are quick to make!

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