Another Nursing Bracelet Post
A while back I made a nursing bracelet for my friend as a baby shower gift. Since then I have decide to go ahead and order the proper beads and try to make a few more “traditional” bracelets and attempt to sell them on Etsy. Here are some of bracelets I made.
I haven’t listed them yet, but they will be up by tomorrow. I have to resize the pictures =)
Bead Crochet Tutorial
This tutorial is based on a pattern found here and assumes you are familiar with the basics of crochet.
Needed:
Size E (3.5 mm) aluminum hook
32 gauge wire
Memory wire (bracelet size)
Beads of choice (enough to make it around you wrist once strung)
1. String desired number of beads onto wire. Note: At least one bead will equal one crochet chain, but feel free to add extra beads in order to have two or three beads in each single chain (smaller beads work better for this).
2. Begin making a crochet chain, pulling one bead down to your hook and using the wire above it to pull through (remember to do this a bit looser than you would normally).
3. Continue your crochet chain until you are out of beads.
4. When you have completed your chain, chain one more and turn. Single crochet across the row, only on the back post and keeping each loop on the hook rather than pulling through.
5. Bind your wire at the end and weave it in. Next, cut a piece of memory wire to fit, and slide the wire through the loops left on your crochet hook. Fasten off the ends of the memory wire by either using an end bead, or by forming a small loop using pliers.
A Fishy Necklace
To me, Wal-Mart is one of those necessary evils. I hate shopping there, but their prices are so low on some things, that it just has to happen occasionally. A while back I went on a bead shopping spree. They actually have some pretty fun beads there. This necklace is made up of beads purchased at Wal-Mart, and oddly enough, this simple necklace has received more compliments than many other necklaces I’ve made.
The fish makes such a great focal point, and the details on some of the beads accent it really well.
Another great detail is the swirl above the fish. I made this simply by bending an eye pin about a third of the way down, and shaping the rest into a swirl. I tried to make the swirl a bit on the “rough” side in order to fit into the earthy feel of the necklace.
All total, the beads for this necklace (including the fish) cost me less than $10, with plenty of beads to spare. Not a bad price and very simple to make!
Nursing Bracelet
A while back I heard about “nursing bracelets”, which are basically to help you keep track of your baby’s last feeding. In searching online stores to see what they look like, I was highly disappointed. Many of them looked like a craft from kid’s camp…right down to the cheap plastic beads. So naturally, I decided to make one myself:
The red beads on the bracelet represent hours. In reality, they should be actual number beads, but I could not find any locally, and I didn’t have enough time to order them from an online store. So hopefully these work. In between each “hour” bead are four silver ones, each representing a quarter hour. There is a small charm you move around the bracelet, so if the last time you nursed was at 6:30, the charm marker would be placed two beads after the “six ‘o’ clock” bead. Pretty cool, huh? As well you can switch the bracelet from wrist to wrist to help you keep track of what side you nursed on last. I was really happy with the way it turned out, it looks more like an accessory than a tool =)
