Jersey Bracelet Tutorial

Hello everyone! We are so excited to finally post our jersey bracelet tutorial here on our happy little blog! These bracelets are so great for summer. They come in so many colors and are so comfortable!!!! Make your own or buy yours here in our Etsy shop!!!

Thanks to Southern Fairy Designs

for sending us a picture of her take on our tutorial. I love the fuzzy material and black and white!

Jersey Bracelet Tutorial

 

Supplies

an old T-shirt or some knit

soft and flexible sticky backed felt

scissors

hot glue gun

lobster clasp and growth chain

ribbon

needle and thread

Step #1. So these are some old T-shirts I had. One had a hole in it, the others were worn out and a little too small now... sigh ;) But I really loved the colors and knew they would make rockin' awesome bracelets. So go dig through your closet, your kids closet or your even husbands!

You can also use knit. These awesome brights were scored at Hobby Lobby.

Step #2. Cut your fabric into strips.  I thought it was easiest to use my mat and rotary cutter, but you can definitely use scissors.  I cut them into 2 or 3 inch strips. The great thing about these is that it doesn't have to be exact. The skinnier your fabric strip is, the thinner and tighter your rosette will be. The thicker your fabric is the chunkier and thicker your rosette will be.

If you are using an old shirt you can cut out the back, but the fabric won't be as stretchy.  Becky had the brilliant idea to cut a strip all the way around your shirt in a circle to get a longer strip. Now your fabric will have more stretch. This piece was too thick so I cut a smaller piece. You'll want your piece to be roughly 2- 3 inches thick. You might have to play with your fabric and make a few rosettes to see what you like best.

See how it's rough cut? That's ok, when you're done with your rosette you wont even be able to tell. You'll then want to cut it so you have a long a strip. I cut it at the seam and cut that part off.

Step #3. Get your sticky back felt and cut out 4 circles. I always just grab whatever is closest to trace a circle. Today it was an outlet cover! You can also use, the bottom of a spool of thread, the bottom of a spice container, anything that's a circle! You will want 2 circles that are a little bigger and 2 circles that are a little smaller. I started with the outlet cover and then cut my second 2 circles smaller.

We can never make just one!!! You'll only need 4 circles for one bracelet.

Step #4. Create a rosette. If you already have a tutorial you like you can do it your way. If you're not familiar with making a rosette you can follow the tutorial below. When using knit you'll want to pull your fabric tight while twisting it.And make sure you glue on the felt side of the sticky back felt.

Ok, so start by folding your fabric in half with the right side of the fabric on the outside.  Tie a knot on one end of your fabric and try to hide the tail, or just cut it off. Then hot glue the knot to the middle of your circle on the felt side.

Twist your fabric around your knot, pulling it tight and hot gluing it down as you go.  Don't use too much hot glue because you don't want it to bleed onto the top of your rosette.

Once you have finished your rosette, simply cut the excess fabric and glue the edge down.

Continue until you have 4 rosettes: 2 larger ones and 2 smaller ones.  Aren't the rosettes too cute?

Step #5. Use the sticky back felt to put your bracelet together. So the first thing you do is get another piece of sticky back felt big enough for your bracelet. Now line up your bracelet the way you want it. Remember, once you put the sticky sides of the felt together you will not be able to move it!

Next, peel off the paper back on your strip of sticky back felt and peel off the paper on your rosette.

Now stick the two sticky sides together. When you place your second rosette, push it right up against the other one as tight as you can. The tighter and closer they are the better.

Step #6. Cut away all the excess felt. You will want to use junk scissors when you do this because the sticky back felt will really gum up your scissors. Cut it as close to the bracelet as you can.

As you're cutting you'll notice your rosettes are flopping all over the place. Don't worry, it's cool. Now you'll just want to expose the felt in between the rosettes and hot glue them together. Hold them in place for a few seconds while the glue dries. Repeat in between each rosette.

Step #7. Attach a ribbon down the back. We like using 5/8 in grosgrain ribbon, but you can use whatever you prefer. Cut a strip that's about as long as your bracelet. Next we are going to hot glue the tips on each end to form a pretty little point.

Once that's done, simply hot glue the ribbon to the back of your bracelet. Are you getting excited? We're getting so close now!!

Step #8. Attach your lobster clasp and growth chain to your bracelet. Ok, so get your lobster clasp and wedge it in between the felt and the tip of your ribbon. Then you are going to sew it on.

You don't want your lobster clasp to rip off, so make sure you sew through the ribbon, felt and rosette to give it as much strength as possible. You'll also want to use thick thread that wont break easily. Quilting thread works well, but really any quality thread works!

Next use the same technique to attach the growth chain on the other side of the bracelet.

And just like that. You're done!!! Isn't it so chic?

Teal Jersey Bracelet

They are so fun and comfortable to wear, you'll be throwing it on with every outfit! Or just  making a million of them to go with every outfit like we have done! Here are just a few that we've made!

Red Jersey Bracelet

Black & White Polka Dot Jersey Bracelet

White Jersey Bracelet

  Happy Rosette Bracelet Making and SHOPPING!