Materials
- Large Cabochon or bead
- 2-3 contrasting or toning colours of SoutacheBraid
- 4mm Glass Pearls
- Size 8 Seed Beads and/or size 11 Seed Beads
- Superlon D Thread
- Size 10 Beading Needle
- Ultra Suede
- Cuff Base
- Lacys Stiff Stuff
- Fabric Glue
- Scissors
- GS Hypo Cement
Method
1. Gluethe cabochon or bead onto a piece of Lacys Stiff stuff using the fabric glue.Leave to dry.
2. Whilstthe glue is drying you can cover the base of the cuff with the ultra suede.First cut two strips of ultra suede that are slightly larger than you need.Next add glue to the inside of the cuff base:
3. Gluethe ultrasuede to the inside of the cuff base and use your scissors to trimuntil the ultra suede is approx. 1-2mm larger than the base:
4. Nowcover the front of the cuff with glue (be careful not to get any glue on theultra-suede insde the cuff!). Add the ultra-suede to the outside of the cuffand once again trim to size:
5. Nowyou can go back to the cabochon or bead which should now be dry enough for youto carefully trim the Lacys Stiff Stuff until it is approx. 3-4mm larger thanthe bead. Make sure it is even all the way around the bead.
6. Nowthread 1 meter of superlon thread onto the beading needle. If you are using abead then begin close to the hole on thebead and sew through the Lacys Stiff Stuff a few times to secure the thread.(If you are using a cabochon then begin close to one end of your oval shapedcabochon). If you are using a bead then you may like to pass the thread throughthe hole in the bead and back through the Lacys Stiff Stuff to secure the beadto the backing.
7. Nowcut 35cm lengths in the two different colours of Soutache braid. Hold bothlengths of Soutache together with your left hand and with your right hand sewthem together 10cm from the ends. Sew a few stitches to ensure that the braidsare held together. When you stitch through Soutache you need to stitch throughthe groove in the centre of the braid – use small stitches so that yourstitches will not be visible.
DesignersTip: Never pull your thread too tight or this will make your braid wiggly anduneven – a light touch is better!
8. Nowhold the soutache against the end of the cabochon or against one of the holesin the bead and stitch the soutache onto the Lacys Stiff Stuff:
9. Continuestitching the soutche around the cabochon or bead making sure that the soutacheis lined up correctly and that it is sitting firmly against the bead. Do notpull your thread too tight or this will cause the soutache to sit unevenly.
10. Onceyou have sewn the soutche all around the bead or cabochon you will need tostitch the ends together as shown below:
11. Nowhold the bead in your left hand and make a loop in the soutache as shown(support the loop with your finger)
12. Nowmake a few stitches through the top of the loop and stop at the point shown inthe picture:
13. Nextthread a 4mm bead onto the needle and pass the needle back through the pointwhere you stitched the soutache together:
14.Pass the needle through the LacysStiff Stuff at the back of the bead and then back again through to the front.Now take the needle back through the soutache and the bead until you get backto this point:
15. Nowhold the soutche braid against the back of the Lacys Stiff Stuff and stich thesoutache around the 4mm bead as shown:
16. Nextstitch the soutache braids to the back of the Lacys Stiff Stuff:
17. Trimyour excess braids:
18. Repeatthe with the other loop in the same way:
19. Atthis point you may want to add another layer of soutache braid and some morebeads – if so then begin by stitching your next layer of soutache to the braidjust below one of the 4mm beads you have just added, once again make a loop andadd a bead, then stitch around the focal bead until you reach the other side,make another loop and secure the ends of the soutache to the Lacys Stiff Stuffon the back of the focal bead.
20. Nowput the soutache aside and take the cuff and the size 8 seed beads
21. Takea 1 meter length of thread and add it to your needle. Pick a point on the cuffthat is not on a bend and thread the needle through both sides of the ultra-suede.Leave a tail of thread that is approx. 20cm long (enough to add a needle to).
Designers Tip: If you want to add beads around your soutache piece like the cuffs shown in the photograph you can use the same technique!
22. Nowthread a seed bead onto the needle and bring it down to the edge of the cuff.Go back through the ultra suede to the side of the seed bead and then back upthrough the same seed bead.
23. Nowthread another bead onto the needle and repeat – adding beads all around theedge of the cuff base:
24. Whenyou have added your final bead then take the needle back through the very firstbeads that you added to the cuff. Finish inside the cuff base and take theneedle off the thread. Now add the needle to the long tail of thread that youleft when you began adding the beads. Pass the needle and thread back throughthe first few beads until you get to the other end of the thread. Tie the twothreads in a knot and add a dab of GS Hypo Cement to the threads. Leave theglue to dry for a few minutes and then trim the excess thread.
25. Atthis point you may also want to bead around the soutache focal piece with theseed beads – this is optional.
26. Finallyadd Fabric Glue to the back of the Soutache focal piece and glue to the centreof the cuff. Be careful not to add too much glue as any glue that oozes outfrom the focal point will show on the ultra-suede!
Pressdown until the piece has firmly stuck to the cuff (around 10 mins). Leave thepiece to dry for at least 24 hours before you wear it!
