DIY: Embellish

I've got to say, Birmingham is lacking in places to buy jewellery making/haberdashery items compared to other big cities (other than The Birmingham Bead Shop of course), and I know it's a problem that many of our readers also have. This is one of the reasons I love this tutorial. We've sourced these materials from all sorts of different places. The massive chunky chain is actually a dog collar (this becomes a little problematic later... I'll explain further on in the tutorial), the spit rings/keyrings are from the key cutters and the embroidery floss is from the Birmingham indoor market. Ok yes, the clasp is from The Birmingham Bead Shop, but besides that we done good right?

(Just a little note before we start; your going to need around 3/4 packs of embroidery floss. I found this out the hard way.)

Tie a slip knot and put it onto the crochet hook / Put the crochet hook through the first chain link / Wrap the yarn over the hook and pull back through first chain link / Wrap the yarn over the crochet hook again / Pull the wrapped yarn through the two loops that are already on the crochet hook
(There's a great tutorial on crocheting onto chain here: http://www.beadinggem.com/2012/01/crochet-and-chain-mixed-media-bracelet.html) / Continue to do this onto one side of the chain. It's a bit trial and error with how many stitches you'll need on each chain link. I've done 16, but experiment to see how it sits / Continue until you've covered the length of the chain. Our chain was a little long so I used the flat grinder thing(?) on my craft drill to cut one end off. (This was actually pretty dangerous, I wouldn't recommend it unless you really know what your doing... I almost set fire to my arm!) So then I decided not to cut the other end off, and left it as a massive extension chain. It actually works quite nicely to stop the twisty thing that always seems to happen where the clasp moves around to the front / Put your jump rings onto the chain to create the correct length and pop your clasp onto them.

And there you have it. I was going to sell this one at the Contemporary Craft Fair we're doing at the Midlands Arts Centre next weekend, but I like it too much. I've put it up on our Etsy shop so if you'd like to buy one I can make them to order. This gives us plenty of room to experiment with colour choices!

Hope you've enjoyed today's post! Fran x

Tutorial Tuesday

Here's another tutorial from the archive. As with the all the tutorials this month we will be releasing this as a kit with Checkmybox, this week! Keep your eyes peeled for that, and enjoy the tutorial.x

UPDATE: You can buy the materials to make this kit over at Checkmybox.co.uk or at our Etsy shop, making things even easier!

1. Using chalk pastels colour rectangular sections of a sheet of shrink plastic in four different colours.

2. Cut the sections into large isosceles triangles, around 10cm in length.

3. Using a hole punch make a hole at the bottom (shortest edge) of each triangle.

4. Heat them in the oven according to the instructions. They usually need around 3-5 minutes.

5. Using a 7mm jump ring attach the pendants to a 50cm piece of chain. Build this up in a random order, mixing up the colours.

6. When your happy with the design, put two jump rings and a clasp onto the end of your chain.

VOILA! Get out into the sunshine and show it off.

Tutorial Tuesday

Hello. I've been looking forward to this tutorial for ages! This is definitely one of my favourite pieces of jewellery at the moment. It's a nice twist on the conventional collar piece or collar tips (which I love!).
I've used a heat gun to heat and shrink the polyshrink plastic. I actually find it much easier to heat in the oven instead of chasing bits of plastic around a plate! I'll be posting tomorrow my hints and tips, and ways to stay safe when using shrink plastic, so if your a bit unsure check back tomorrow for my guide. (click here to see part one)

What you'll need:
80cm/30inch chain / Shrink plastic / 7 x Jump rings / Hole punch / Flat nose or chain nose pliers

 

Instructions:
Making sure your screen is set to 100% trace the triangle onto a piece of paper and cut out / using this as a template to cut from, cut out two pieces of shrink plastic / Punch holes in 2 corners of the triangle / shrink using the instructions on the packet / Cut your chain into four pieces each 20cm/8inches in length / Attach two chains together a one end (do the same with the other two chains) / Using jump rings, attach each set of chains to a triangle. (See more on jump rings here) You should have two separate parts that look like necklaces / Take a jump ring and loop it through one of the rings on each triangle to bring the two together / Open one of the jump rings keeping the chain together and attach a clasp. (See more about attaching clasps here.) / If necessary add or take away chain links to achieve a necklace length your happy with.

Tutorial Tuesday

With London Fashion Week in full swing I've been spending a lot of time researching new jewellery trends (making huge wish lists while I'm at it!!) and starting to develop ideas for new DIYs. Whilst I love to use the trends I see designers using and take inspiration from their pieces, I never want to directly copy anyone elses work. I think it's more fulfilling and imaginative to add your own unique twist, which in turn gives you a piece which is inherently your own and shows off your creative personality.

This DIY was inspired by this piece by Miss Alice Jewelry. I've used more of the recycled leather bag Hannah recently wrote about, and some more of the rivets that make working with leather so easy!

Instructions
Using a round object (ie. a jar lid) around 7cm in width draw a circle on the wrong side of the leather / Cut out and fold in half / Punch six holes equal distance apart along the straight side / Attach the rivets / Starting from the back thread the chain in and out of the holes until both ends are equal / Attach a clasp using 2 jump rings / Voila!

Hope you've enjoyed this weeks Tutorial Tuesday. Fran x

Tutorial Tuesday: Guest Post

Hello. We've got a real treat for you today. Our friend Meghan from over at The Flight of Fancy has put together a fantastic DIY guest post for Teahab. You need to go and check out Meghans blog for her gorgeous, effortless style, the dreamy photography, and some killer DIYs!

Here it is:

The statement neck-wear trend doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and really, why would we want it to? There's no end to how many awesomely DIY'ed pieces you can add to your own neck party! After re-discovering little mirrors at the craft store, I wanted to make an eye-catching (and reflecting) piece of jewelry with them.


Materials:
piece of vinyl or faux leather
small decorative mirrors {find at www.hobbylobby.com}
super glue
necklace length of  jewelry chain (or twine)
jump rings, clasp, etc

Step One:
I created the necklace template by tracing around one of the mirror shapes, enlarging it somewhat. After cutting out that oval, I used it to trace the pattern for the necklace, curving it slightly upward at the edges.

Step Two:
Using the paper template you just made, trace the collar shape onto your piece of material and carefully cut out. Play with the placement of the mirrors a bit, before we get serious. Remember you'll need to leave space long the outer edge of each end for stringing.

Step Three:
Use a few dabs of glue to attach to craft mirrors to the vinyl shape.

Step Four:
Holding your collar up to your throat with your fingertips should help you determine how it will hang when you attach the necklace chain. I used a craft punch to poke a hole on each side of the collar, slightly below the top center. I put a tiny drop of instant super glue on the back of each hole, to help reinforce it. Allow glue to dry completely.

Step Five:
Decide how long or short you'd like your necklace to be, and cut a length of chain to match. I wanted the little heart clasp to show, so I attached one end of the chain to the collar using round nose pliers and a jump ring, and attached the clasp to to the other end. A jump ring or two in the other side of the collar will give the clasp something to hold on to. You can also cut two smaller pieces of chain and make a regular style necklace with the clasp at the back of the neck.

Tutorial Tuesday

Ingredients:

25cm/10 inches large link chain

1 metre/40 inches small link chain

1 metre/40 inches of three other types of cord

4 x box clasp/cord ends

1 x lobster clasp

2 x jump ring



 

Instructions:

Attach the three cord strands together using the box closer or cord end (find out more information about using these here). Alternatively wrap with wire (see how to here) and attach the chain to this using a jump ring / Using a safety pin or hook secure the piece to a sturdy surface / Lay out your four strands and number 1 to 4 / Take strand 1 and take it over strand 2 and 3, to lay between strand 3 and 4 / Take strand three (which is now second from the left) and take that over strand 2, to lay to the far left / Next take strand 4 over to lay between 3 and 2 (that are now the first and second strands from the left) / Then take strand 2 (third from the left) over to the furthest right point.

Continue step 2-6 along the whole length on the 4 strands / Secure at the end with a second box clasp or cord end and jump ring / Take a 12 inch section of the larger link chain and weave your braid through the links / Attach box clasps onto the chain links and position in the middle of the braid / squash your box clasp or cord ends over the cord section of the braid / Attach a lobster clasp onto one of you jump rings.

I really love the idea of building this up to create a multistrand, woven multistrand necklace! (if that makes any sense at all!) Maybe I'll do that for the end of week round up.

I've been working on making all my tutorials more beginner friendly. I realise that without written instructions it can be a little difficult to get your head around some of the more technical aspects. Going back and writing all of the tutorials up is pretty daunting, and with my ever increasing work load it is going to take me some time, but I'll make sure to write up all the new ones as I go. If there are of my previous tutorials you think are particularly tricky, or difficult to understand please let me know and I'll get them done first!

I'm working on yet another tutorial for this week based on my plaited bracelet tutorial, but with a little extra ombre added, because, well we all love ombre! That will be up later this week, and tomorrow I'm making bracelets out of some mini knitting... all very exciting stuff! Hope you enjoyed todays post. Fran xx

Tutorial Tuesday: FREE PRINTABLE GEOMETRIC PATTERN

Shrink plastic is perfect for geometric designs. The glossy, manufactured look is perfect for the kind of industrial feel you get with repetitive lineal patterns. I've made three variations of the same necklace using different types of shrink plastic, but I would love to make this in a hundred different ways/colours/effects. You're really only limited by your own imagination!

Follow the link below to access the free PDF to create this design. Make sure the design is set to 100% and that you check the "actual size" box on the print options screen (as shown below).

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2ENgNHp0AT0dU9VSk9ZdUdWcGs

1. Print out the required pattern. 2. Using masking tape secure the pattern to the shrink plastic. 3. Carefully cut out the design using a ruler (don't cut your fingers off!!). 4. Remove the paper stencil and "cook" in the oven following the instructions on the packets. It usually takes just a few minutes. 5. Whilst cooling flatten the plastic between hard, flat objects (such as wooden blocks) to make sure it stays nice and flat. 6. Attach to a chain using a large jump ring.

Et Voila! Perfect geometric charm for any outfit!

TUTORIAL WEEK: MONDAY

Tutorial Today Thursday