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Elegant Cuff Bracelet



To make this cuff bracelet you will need the following supplies:

2 pieces of black Ultrasuede, at least two inches wide and as long as the circumference of your wrist plus one inch.

Two pairs of black Velcro dots, not more than 3/8" in diameter

Beads: matte grey Delicas,silver Delicas, silver-lined grey Delicas, Czech matte silver size 11 rocailles, gold colored cubes (you will need between 40 and 50, depending on the size of your wrist and the length of your stitches), gold colored size 11 rocailles, and blue-grey pearls (you will need between 40 and 50, just like the cubes)

Black beading thread

Aleene's Tacky Glue


These flat cuff bracelets are a great place to show off complex stitches like herringbone.

Begin this one by drawing a line (a quilter's white chalk pencil works well and brushes away easily) about ½" from one end of one piece of Ultrasuede. This is what Cindy McCormack calls your "no sew" zone, where you're going to put the clasp later.

Now draw two long lines about 1 1/8" apart, equidistant from the midline of the cuff, like this:



These will be your guidelines for the Closed Herringbone Stitch with which you'll begin this bracelet. Start stitching about ¼" in from the "no sew" zone to leave room for the subsequent stitches, like this:



The herringbone stitch in three colors



Bring needle up at A on the top line, string (3 matte, 3 silver, 3 silver-lined, 3 silver, 3 matte) Delicas, bring needle down at B on the bottom line and make a small back stitch to come up at C. Note that C is not directly under A!
You will use the same 18-bead stringing sequence for each subsequent stitch.

With your needle up at C, string 18 Delicas, bring needle down at D on the top line and make a small backstitch to come up at E.

You now have a line of silvery Delicas slanting from A at upper left to B at lower right, crossed by a second line of silvery Delicas slanting from C at lower left to D at upper right.

With your needle up at E, string 18 Delicas and bring needle down at F on the bottom line, but this time make your backstitch so that it comes up exactly at B.

From here it gets easier as you will always be coming up at the end of an earlier stitch. String 18 Delicas, bring needle down at G on the top line, and make a small backstitch to come up at D.
Now starting from D, string 18 Delicas, bring needle down at H on the bottom line, and make a small backstitch to come up at F.
Continue until you have worked closed herringbone stitches nearly the entire length of the cuff (except the No Sew Zone). Leave a little room at the end for the next set of stitches.


Fly Stitches



Next you are going to work Stitch Back Through fly stitches into the open V's made by the herringbone stitch, like this. If you're used to traditional embroidery, this will seem a very strange looking "fly stitch" indeed; it's something you literally cannot do with just needle and thread. The anchoring stitch is concealed in the middle bead of the loop, so you have a flat V shape with no "tail" of thread holding it down.


The 'Stitch Back Through' Fly Stitch



Bring needle up at A and string on the following sequence: 2 matte grey Delicas, 1 silver Czech 11, 1 gold colored cube, 1 silver Czech 11, 2 matte grey Delicas. Bring needle down at B.
Bring needle up at C, go back through the gold cube, and stitch down immediately at D.
You can work around the open ends of the herringbone stitch at either end of the bracelet to give the stitching a more finished look. When you're going around the corners, of course, the stitch has to cover more ground. You should be prepared to lengthen the stitch a bit and use 3 or even 4 matte grey delicas at the beginning and end of the stringing sequence.
After you have worked around the herringbone stitching once with the gold cube fly stitches, work around those with Stitch Back Through fly stitches facing out, using the stringing sequence (4 czech gold rocailles, 1 pearl, 4 rocailles). You've got the instructions for SBT fly stitch above; here's how the new stitch fits in with the previous work:


The pearls I'm using are drilled through the top end, so they have a narrow footprint on the stitch and stick out from the stitching. If your pearls are drilled through the middle, they won't stick out so much, and they'll have a wider footprint, so you may need to adjust the stringing length to use only 3 rocailles on either side of the pearl. In any case, unless all your previous stitches have been exactly even, you'll probably have to make this fly stitch shorter or longer than the norm from time to time to account for previous variations.

Backing



Once all this beadwork has been done, get out your second piece of Ultrasuede, which you have been keeping in a safe place all this time, and glue it to the back of the beaded piece. I like to use Aleene's Tacky Glue, spreading a thin even layer over the backing piece, then pressing the beaded piece down on it with my fingers. It's most important to get the two pieces securely glued together around the edges, where you'll be trimming and adding an edging beadwork stitch, so be sure to press down gently all around the beadwork.

Because this piece is going to be curved when finished, I like to dry it on a curved form. Wrap it around a straight-sided tumbler or a soda can or something like that and hold it on with a couple of rubber bands. This gives the inside and outside pieces a chance to shift gently to accommodate the curve, so you won't have the inside piece acting stiff and trying to wrinkle when you bend it around your wrist later.

Now go away and let the thing dry. This glue will usually set in 4 to 6 hours, but in Austin's humid climate I like to give it a good 24 hours.

Trimming and Fastening



Once the glue is dry, you can take your piece off the soda can or whatever you dried it on. You want to trim fairly close to the beadwork, but not so close that you cut any threads. Since this shape is a simple rectangle, the easiest way to trim it neatly is with a rotary cutter, on a cutting mat, with a straightedge guide, if you have these tools and are comfortable using them. If not, don't worry; a nice sharp pair of scissors and a steady hand will do perfectly well. In any case, remember NOT to cut off your "no sew zone!" When you're through, the bracelet should look roughly like this:



(Don't start counting points; this is a general idea, not a detailed diagram. Your bracelet will actually have more points than you see here.)

Go ahead and round off the corners of the ends so it looks more like this:



Put two Velcro dots, hook side up, on the "No Sew " zone at one end of the bracelet and sew them on. Fit the bracelet to your wrist and stitch the matching loop side Velcro dots to the underside.



Optional Edging


This is already a very nice bracelet, but to make it really sparkle, add a brick stitch edging in silver Delicas. Here's how you do the edging:

If you're familiar with off-loom beadwork this will be easy. If you aren't, don't worry, it'll still be easy.

Your thread will show with this stitch, so you want to pick a thread that's as close as possible to the color of your edging beads. With the silver Delicas, white is a good choice.

Begin by pushing your needle in at the back and between the layers of Ultrasuede so that it comes out where you want to start the edging. Let a little tail of thread show on the back; you can hold this with your thumb while you secure the thread with a tiny backstitch, then pull it taut and clip it. Now, with your needle coming out the front side of the edge, go back through the bead you just stitched on, entering the bead from the bottom (side nearest the Ultrasuede) and exiting from the top.
Start by stringing on two seed beads, then bring the needle down and pass from the back of the edge to the front of the edge. Here's how it looks if you lay the bracelet down flat and squint at the edge (the thick dark line is the Ultrasuede).
String on another bead, bring the needle down and pass from back to front and back through the new bead.


As you keep working this way, your thread will do two jobs at once for you: it will hold the beads in a nice even line along the outside edge of the piece, and it will hold the two pieces of Ultrasuede together (just in case you missed a spot with the glue).



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