Makeover Monday: Leather Twine Bracelets

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I am happy to say that I made these bracelets because I had seen one at the store and thought, I could make that. And then I actually did! I wish I could say that every time I am out and about and seeing something I like, but could make, I quickly get on doing just that. The reality is that I often do not make time to actually gather all the materials and start creating.

I first made a bracelet just like I had seen at the store, but then branched and started experimenting with beads and chains.

Supplies:
-jewelry wire cutters
-jewelry round nose pliers
-jewelry flat nose pliers
-jewelry chain
-jewelry rings
-leather twine
-clasps
-thong clamps
-beads

A little pause in this tutorial to talk about thong clamps. You need them for this project. It’s what attaches the leather to the end clasps and to the jewelry chain. However, be careful while googling this item if you are looking to buy them online because you are in fact searching with the words ‘thong clamps’. I think you know how the rest of this story goes. It’s like the time I wanted to make black bottom brownies for a bake sale and tried to find a recipe. I always forget you cannot just go typing anything into a search engine. I have learned the hard way that ‘black bottom brownies’ and ‘thong clamps’ will in fact pop up with lots of pictures of bare behinds.

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Directions:
1) Measure out how long you want both your leather and chain to be. I made mine the same length for both. I’m not giving a size here because it depends on how loose you like your bracelets to be.
2) Attach a thong clamp to the end of both sides of the leather. Use the flat nose pliers to press the clamp in place.
3) Use a jewelry ring on each end to bring together the leather twine (via the thong clamp), jewelry chain and the clasp. This will create the simplest version of this bracelet.
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Now for some variety:
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To add beads to the twine, simply add the beads to the twine before attaching the thong clamps. If you want the beads to stay in place, then tie them in place with a knot on each side of the beads, as I did below.
bracelet2
I was pretty excited when I came up with a braided variation of these bracelets. Take three strands of leather (longer than you would normal use to make the bracelets) and attach all three inside the thong clasp and press in place. Braid the leather and add the other thong clamp to the end to tie it off. Follow the rest of the directions as above.
I also like how the bracelet below mixes gold and silver. I can’t believe how different all three of these bracelets look. This is a great project to use up extra pieces of jewelry chain and beads as the supplies needed are very few.
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4 Responses

  1. Sasha

    April 1, 2013 11:37 am

    Super cute! I have some beads that need to be put to use so I’ll definitely be following this tutorial when I make bracelets with them!

    Reply
  2. Lauren @ The Thinking Closet

    April 2, 2013 11:29 am

    I have not yet ventured into jewelry making, but this post is inspiring me to! I really love the look of the delicate braided bracelet and chain. It makes you feel like you’d be crazy to pay for jewelry again when you can just make it yourself! 😉

    Reply
    • Jess

      April 2, 2013 4:06 pm

      Lauren, I think you would really like jewelry making. It costs some money up front to buy supplies (like all hobbies!), but once you get into it you find that you can make so many things with the supplies you have. I think it is a great way to make sweet, little gifts for people.

      Reply

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