Today I have a sweet and shabby chic DIY for you! I am going to teach you how to make a braided bracelet from an old handkerchief. These are easy to make and a great way to repurpose your stained and tattered vintage hanky stash. You can customize the design to your liking as well. What I like best about them is that they are fast to whip up.
Here’s What You Need:
*Vintage Hankies
*Scissors
*Twine or Thread
*Chain(optional)
*Metal End Caps
*Jewelry findings (jump rings, clasps)
*Beads and Charms
*E6000
*Jewelry Pliers
Step 1: Cut your hankies- Gather up your tattered hankies. Cut them lengthwise into strips that are about 1.5-2″ wide.
Step 2: Braid- Gather up three hanky strips. At the very top of the gathered strips tie them with a piece of twine and snip the ends of the twine off after you knot. Then braid your strip, and secure with another piece of twine at the end. If you wish to add chain, replace one strip of hanky with a couple of lengths of chain and braid it in. Once you have tied off your braid, clip off the chain ends close to the twine.
Step 3: Glue- Carefully snip off the ends of the hanky braids close to the twine as possible. Place a little E6000 into your bead cap and mush in one end of your braid wiping off excess glue if you have some push out. Let dry overnight or at least for a few hours.
Step 4: Add Clasp and charms- Using your jewelry pliers add your clasp to your end caps with jump rings. Make bead charms or add ready-made charms and add to your clasp with jump rings. And there you have it!
I love these little bracelets! I think they are a great way to repurpose less than perfect hankies! They look so sweet by themselves or stacked together. I made a batch of them for my shop, but I think I will be making some of these for holiday gifts as well. You can make a whole batch of them in under an hour. And the best part is that you can have so much fun customizing them in your own way. One of a kind wearables! Hope you enjoy!
Happy Crafting!
