Thursday 1 May 2014

Sisters of Craft - VERY FIRST 'ANYTHING GOES' blog

Good morning  and for my first Sisters of Craft Blog - I decided to  show you something completely different from paper crafting .... well we did say anything goes.


If you're in or around the early teens or slightly before age group you are probably well aware of the fashion for rubber band jewellery. If you,  like me and (ahem...) 'a little' older these might be new to you. I'll start by saying there are loads of ways and endless patterns that you can make with these. I used a crochet hook ( but also possible to use a loom, fork or just your fingers) and my pattern is a fishtail. Google and UTube are a great source of information and make things very clear. That said -  I'll have a go at explaining how I did it  
I started by picking my colours, getting the crochet hook and the little S hook that is used as a clasp to hold the ends together. Obviously the length of the bracelet will determine how many bands you require.
Take one of the bands and feed it through the S hook, so it now looks like the number 8
(sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy)

Put the hook through both loops, as shown above

Take 2 bands, one of each colour and pull them through both loops

Make sure that the bands match, in this case purple as the inside ones and pink as the outer, (as shown) 
The next band, has to match the INNER band on the hook - in this case purple
I pulled it through, straightened it all up on the hook, ( i found it easier to do it this way as it ensured that the tension was right and everything was even and straight)
As you look at the picture, I removed the purple loop from the end nearest the hook, picked up the outer bands ie the pink ones, obviously I started with the pink loop on the rightside, followed by the one on the left side, finally put the purple loop back on the hook, so the pink bands become the inner bands,  it now looks as shown above  
Each time a band is added ensure it is the colour of the inner band,  then in turn it  becomes the outer colour ,  pick up the opposite colour band so that it then becomes the inner one - hope that makes sense
Keep repeating the pattern to the desired length

On the last band, feed both loops into the end of the S hook , as the bands are elasticated- theres no need to keep opening the clasp- they stretch over the hand.


As i said previously  there are tonnes of patterns and variations on this, I have used them for attaching charms to bags and phones - they are sturdy and hardwearing but also bright and cheerful.  And so concludes my first blog for Sisters of Craft - hope you found it useful

Thanks for stopping by and it would be nice to see you back again soon  :)




3 comments:

  1. Wow! They look so cool and creative. What a great idea. Must try and give them a go sometime. Thanks for the great tutorial :)
    Eithne

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  2. oooohhhh fab, i had no idea they were made out of bands as i thought you had made them out of chord. Being of a certain aged group too :-) i hadnt heard of them either but they look great and perfect for our anything goes new venture - PMC all the way with you sister :-)

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  3. I'll have to show my nieces this they'll love your tutorial. :0)

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