Embellished scrap fabric bracelets - TUTORIAL

I am sooo excited to share this project with you today!  That’s because it takes a couple of my favorite things and puts them together.

One favorite thing being fold over elastic.  It looks like ribbon but it stretches.  It’s candy colored magic, I tell ya!

Another favorite thing being fabric scraps.  Big scraps, small scraps (ohhhh those tiny scraps!), vintage scraps, new scraps.  All those colors and textures just waiting to be combined!

And I also love quick, simple projects - which this is - so make that three of favorite things combined on this project.

These embellished scrap fabric bracelets are like an Anne’s Favorite Things sandwich!

You can use your smallest fabric scraps for this project.  They're also a good way to use up your scraps of fold over elastic.

The closure is so simple, just fold over elastic sewn to each end of the bracelet and tied in a bow.  The bow is a pretty finish, and the elastic stretches so you can just slide it on over your hand.  No tying and retying each you want to wear it, because who wants to mess with that.

Here’s how you can make them.  They’re soooo easy!

Materials:

Fabric scrap 5” x ¾”

Felt scrap at least 5” x ¾”

2 pieces of fold over elastic, 7” each

For embellishing – beads, sequins, buttons, etc. and Gem Tac adhesive

How to make them:

1. Sew the 5” x ¾” fabric scrap to a piece of felt using a 1/8” seam allowance.
   
2. Trim the felt to the size of the fabric scrap.
   
3. Sew the strips of elastic to either end of the bracelet, lapping the elastic underneath the end and stitching directly on top of the line of stitches that’s already there.
   
4. Zig zag stitch around all sides of the bracelet. This helps control fraying of the raw edge and reinforces the stitching on the elastic.
   
5. Now for the fun part – embellishment! Use Gem-Tac to attach beads, buttons, or sequins to your bracelet.   You could also use scraps of ribbon or free motion stitching or even hand embroidery.  There are no rules – just do what makes you happy.

When you’re ready to wear the bracelet, just tie the fold over elastic into a bow.  Pull the bow tight and trim the ends.  The elastic will stretch enough to slide over your hand so you don’t have to re-tie each time you wear it.

That’s seriously all there is to making these bracelets.

Now go make one, or a few, or a million.

You can also experiment with the width of your bracelet.  Here, I made a wider bracelet and pieced it from several home dec prints and used free motion stitching to embellish.