Shibori Silk Bracelet Cuff

It all started with this bracelet from Alyson G. Design I found on pinterest one day last November:

I had to have one.  Of course, I could find no place that sold them locally (or online) and I think they were pretty expensive (for me, anyway).  

Hmm...how can I make these.  

Pinterest searching...Etsy searching...

Once I found a source for the Shibori silk, I was pretty sure I could handle making something similar.    It took me awhile to decide on the silk colors I wanted, where to buy decently priced cuff blanks, what to sew the shibori/beads to, and backing material. 

I made a total of 3 for Christmas presents, but completely forgot to photograph the first two.  This one is, by far, my favorite of the three!  

Purple is not my favorite color, but I've got friends and family who like it, so it ended up on the shopping list.  Beads are a purple mix I picked up from Hobby Lobby with some other randoms I found in my stash. 

The first couple I made had minimal beads on them.  Similar to the green/blue I found on pinterest above.  But for this one, I was like, my friend likes a lot of bling, let's keep adding beads and see how it looks!

I think the folds on this shibori just lended to having a lot of nooks and crannies filled with beads!  I was SO tempted to go back to the store and pick up more variety (size and shape) of beads, but my bead stash is already out of control, so I resisted the urge.  As in, I did not allow myself to even go into another craft store for the entire month of December...

The support material is Nicole's Bead Backing (similar to Lacy's Stiff Stuff) and available in lots of colors.  I used ultra suede for the backing.  Shibori is made by ShiboriGirl and can be found on her website and a few authorized people on etsy (here, here, and here).  I found 1" aluminum bracelet blanks for under $2 each.  I had thread on hand.  The cost of each bracelet (getting 3 bracelets per ½ yard of silk) would be about $10 - $15 each.   Not bad.

I'm going to get some more silk - a blue this time, and make one for myself...perhaps with a clasp instead of a cuff...

Happy Creating!

How Tos:

How to cover a bracelet in ultra suede:  here by Beadaholique on YouTube.

Shibori Ribbon Bead Embroidered bracelet:  part 1, part 2 by beading-arts.com

Bead Embroidery with Shibori Ribbon:  here by Jennifer VanBenschoten on BeadingDaily.com