OOOOOH YES! it’s me again, peeps!! Leslie, from Little Mookie!! Wahoo!! ok, pompoms down. before we get down to the nitty gritty, can i just say that i’m in love with Instagram? i’m fairly new to the game, but i love it! what’s that? you have instagram too? let’s be friends, shall we?? ooh, goodie! i love new friends!! (i’m @littlemookie)
| you will need:- cutting mat & rotary cutter (scissors work too) - scissors (see, you need em anyway) - fabric (i used faux leather-ish-type stuff) - ribbon (or lace, boondoggle, twine, etc) |
| first of all, cut a strip of your choice of fabric at 1 1/2 inches by 7-9 inches the braiding will shrink it down a little. then round the corners of the ends |
| see? rounded corners. i just eye balled it and if you look closely (don’t you dare), you can tell trace something if you want it to be even. |
| (why do my photos do this?? we always play the “tilt your head” game. sorry.) tilt left, please. from the left side, measure over 1 inch leaving 1/2 inch out and cut BUT NOT ALL THE WAY THRU THE ENDS!! STOP cutting about 1/2 – 3/4 of an inch from the ends TIP: just cut MOST of it and then use your scissors to snip to the ends so you don’t go all the way thru |
| you should have this. a piece of material that has 2 long slits in it |
| let’s play the game again…tilt your head to the left, please. get a super fancy piece of tape and stick one end to something i used a desk. go as fancy as you like, but i used plain jane scotch tape and it worked fabulous |
| aaaaand we braid… remember – PATIENCE!! i promise it’s easy once you do it a couple times right side first… |
| tilt game – right please. then left you good so far? |
| and right again, then stop. |
| tilt game – right see how two piece are pointed to the left and one is going right? see how that makes a sort of hole? flip the bottom, yes, the whole thing, thru that hole… |
| like so. |
| looks weird right? and you might think you’ve done something wrong, but worry not, my friends! you’re good! just keep braiding, starting on the left this time |
| left... keep things tight up top no loosey goosey right now… |
| right… |
| tilt game – right left, and stop! same deal as last time only opposite two pieces go right and one goes left making a hole time to flip the bottom thru! |
| see? you can do it! well done! |
| wahoo! we’re back to normal!! |
| now repeat 2 more sets one set is: right, left, right OR left, right, left right before you flip the bottom thru. all together? these must be done in sets of 2 or else the bottom is weird and twisted it’s the second set and flip that straightens it out just trust me on this |
| tilt game – left good, so when you’ve finished your sets, loosen things up here’s where we get comfy get things all nice and even, making sure the pieces aren’t rolling weird it should naturally want to curl up into a circle when you’re done |
| too cool, right?? i want to do this on EVERYTHING now! |
| to make this little baby into a bracelet, snip a tiny bit into the ends i just folded it in half lengthwise and snipped about 1/8 inch wash, rinse, and repeat on the other end |
| perfect location for your ties! |
| cut a length of ribbon/twine/lace/fabric/whatever and fold in half (cut at least 18 inches each end) wrangle the folded end up thru the hole in one end from the bottom to the top |
| pull the ends thru the loop formed on the top side and pull snuggly but not too tight |
| wash, rinse and repeat on the other side… |
| TA DA!! a bracelet!! wear that little gem with pride and people will wonder how you did that braid! |
| now, getting fancy… this one has not one, but TWO braids in it! dun, dun, DUN! just leave a section in the middle un cut and braid the sides it’s a cinch! |
| want to make it even better? as if that was even possible, right? that center spot is PERFECT for adding some bling! a gem, a brooch, a flower (see, you can sew if you want to), glue a metal charm/plaque… the possibilities are endless!! |
these are also superbly cool when made with real leather! and a few different ideas for closures : a button and buttonhole, snaps, a small length of chain… go crazy! it can only be awesome! and if it doesn’t quite work out like you thought, revert back to ribbon/whatever you have on hand, and give it to a friend. they’ll never know it wasn’t quite perfect and will love a little gift! :) i see Valentine’s Day bracelets for this coming school year… a cute little heart on that?? get out! love it! if you have any questions, please ask!! i try to get back to everyone. if i somehow miss you, hit me up on the ‘ol facebook HERE. you can also find my shop HERE and follow me on pinterest HERE.
p.s. this is an excellent video tutorialthat helped me a lot when i was first trying to figure this out. please check it out!
enjoy! thanks!
