They turned out really nice. I am leaving on vacation tomorrow and won't be back until September 5, so there will be no updates. When I get back, I have the ribbon bracelet to do before I dive headfirst into my late summer sewing projects. I spent all last Sunday cutting out all my patterns.
Hope everyone has a really great Labor Day and I will see you next month!
As you can see, the bracelet is being worked on a simple bead loom in beige, off-white, and gold E beads make the base layer.
The next layer consists of seed beads and one E bead woven into every other base E bead in a loop effect. I am going to use either a lobster or toggle clasp to finish it. I also mentioned earlier that I have a matching ring, however, the camera I use doesn't pick up detail and the ring is small. I will see if I can borrow a camera and get a nice clean shot of it. I think that bracelets are the easiest and quickest type of jewelry to make.
And, as promised, here are the jump rings I mentioned.
Let's talk books. I was driving through my hometown yesterday and noticed that the library was having a book sale. Of course I had to stop. I loaded up on really great knitting and crocheting books for $1. A really great find was John Allen's Treasury of Machine Knitting Stitches. I have a Bond knitting machine and my mom has a Singer knitting machine, and we are always looking for good stitching books. I am sure I will be talking more about my knitting machine projects once the cold weather hits. Another really great find was Kaffee Fassett's Glorious Knits.
The library will be having another sale in Sept or Oct, so I will make sure I go. I am trying to find Time-Life's The Art of Sewing, a 14-volume set that was recommended by the sewers on craftster.org. If you haven't visited craftster.org, I urge you to. The forums are very active and you can find people working on every sort of crafty project out there (including making your own shoes). There are also craftalongs where a group of people work on the same pattern and share the results.
Well, I have posted this pretty early. It isn't even midnight yet! I have plenty of time to begin my next bracelet before I embark on a frenzy of sewing.
As you can see, it is beautiful. It is 10K gold and leather and it was designed by Me & Roe (www.meandroejewelry.com).
Did you ever look something and say, "I have to have it?" That is how I felt about this bracelet. If you have ever had that feeling, you know that it is irrational and strong and can only be dealt with two ways: 1) ignoring it; and 2) obtaining the object or reasonable facsimile thereof. I did the latter.
To weave the leather, I used a square knot sinnet, which is basically one square knot after another (thanks to my mom for lending me her vintage macrame books for the technique). I substituted the hammered gold coins in the original for shell coins. I also made a masculine version (sans coins) for my husband. He wears it all the time. I just love it.
My next project was a bracelet from a kit I mentioned in my last post.
Here it is:
I also made another version with different beads that I am iffy about:
Well, that is it for now. I will work on taking better photos. I am thinking of getting a tripod to keep the camera steady.
Hi everyone-
I hope you all had a good week.
I have been pretty busy working on my beading. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Vintage Knits in Michigan to look around. I bought a bracelet kit from Candamar (www.candamar.com), which consisted of wire, a piece of ribbon and some great glass beads. To put it together, you knit or crochet the wire to get a piece wide enough to fit the ribbon and long enough to go around your wrist. Then you threaded the beads onto the wire, then sewed the wire and beads to the ribbon.
The first one turned out great and I had some extra ribbon, so I decided to do another one. Now that I am finished with it (except for attaching the clasp) I am not wild about the beads. It is hard to find good glass beads (except for the ones in the kit and I didn't want to spend another $15 to get the beads when I had all the other materials).
I will take photos and post them, hopefully this weekend.
My next projects are as follows:
-First I am going to make a ring from The Beader's Palette by Ondori. This is an afternoon project.
-Next, I recently dug out my bead loom and am going to make a "loopy-loom" bracelet. This will take a little longer. This bracelet and the ring I make first are going to match.
-Then, I am going to make a choker, titled "Lovely Links" from the February 2006 issue of Simply Beads. This necklace is made of jump rings with beads inside them. It should be pretty cool. I am unsure how long it will take me, probably a couple of days.
-I also want to try my hand at making some earrings. I have an idea that needs to be fleshed out. This is an afternoon project.
-And, of course, I want to make something with my new jig. I had been wanting one and finally bought one. I have put a moratorium on bead spending for now. Really, any craft spending. I have so much that I need to use up my stash of beads and findings.
-I have one more project that I would like to do before I start working on my Halloween costume (I am going as a gypsy this year), and that is a necklace from the Fall 2005 issue of Stringing magazine titled "Vine." It is beautiful and looks like a nymph something a nymph would wear. Maybe I should go as a nymph for Halloween?
