Adventures in Scrap Fabric (part 2)

Hello and welcome to our second instalment of 'Adventures in Scrap Fabric' !! I can barely contain my excitement for todays DIY so please bear with me!! Today I'm going to show you how to make a super simple and super cute bracelet, well I'm making a bracelet, you could make necklaces, headbands etc, if you come up with a really cool idea, comment below, I'd love to see it! 

For this DIY you will need some scrap fabric (duh!) beads, needle, thread, and scissors!

So, begin by cutting your scraps into strips of approx 1cm width, the length isn't overly important but they should be longer than 10cm! Fold one strip in half with the patterned side facing outwards and make a couple of stitches (as shown above).

Take your second strip, do the same and sew to the first piece.

So lets begin the actual construction! This is a two-handed job so I had to tape one end to the table to allow me to take photos of the process! You want to begin by taking your first strip, the one furthest away from you, twist it away from you a couple of times, then bring it towards you whilst pushing the second piece underneath it, now making that one the furthest away from you (gettit?!) Repeat after me! "Twist away, pull towards!"

The twisting of the fabric in different directions will result in a sturdy braid that will not unravel as you go along! 

If you want to make a simple friendship bracelet, or lots of different bracelets in different colours to mix and match, then after braiding the two strips together, make a couple of stitches at the end as you did in the beginning and its ready to wear! I simply tie mine but you could sew a clasp on or a piece of cord and a small bead or button! I am going to make a wrap bracelet so I need to add more fabric to make it long enough. 

Adding more strips is so simple, all you need to do is stitch them to the ends of the existing strips and carry on! 

I have a ton of this chain lying around in my sewing box so I gently braided it in with the fabric...

And it turned out pretty cool! 

When you're done braiding the fabric, then you can begin to decorate! I had some seed beads, larger beads and charms to sew on, if you have big beads with big eyes then you could thread them straight onto the fabric as you braid! 

Some natural fraying will occur whilst you're handling the bracelet, but its fine as you can snip it off at the end! 

When you're done sewing on beads, take the ends of the bracelet and wrap some cotton around it, making a few stitches to keep it in place, this will keep the ends of the bracelet looking neater and it will be easier to tie it on, it will also make it easier to sew on a clasp.

And its done! All thats left to do now is wear it or pack it up as a cute gift! I hope you enjoyed this DIY as much as I did! Thanks for reading, Yasmin x