Sunday 15 January 2012

Travelling Pattern, and a Tutorial

First up, the Travelling Pattern.
Here is my completed and framed version.
The next stitcher for the travelling pattern will be

(drum roll please)







Kate

Kate can you email me with your postal address please?


You might remember the hex nut bracelet I made a couple of weeks back. I've been having a play, and I think I've got them coming out how I envisioned them now. They are similar to the ones on Honestly...wtf, but since I started them and finished them differently to theirs I decided to write up a tutorial for the whole process.

You will need:-

a bag of hex nuts from your local builder's merchants/ DIY store. These are apparently M4 hex nuts, basically I just bought the smallest they had. They cost me the princely sum of 3p each. You'll need between 3 and 4 dozen depending on the size of your wrist and how tight you braid them.
Ignore the washers, they are for a different project.
Stringing material. After experimenting I found that the suede thong worked best, the nuts dont slide about on it as much while you are working. Cotton cord worked quite well too, but ribbon was a bit too flimsy.
A clasp of your choice, split rings to attach it with, and  a pair of the toothed jaw type ribbon clamp ends.

Cut 3 pieces of your chosen stringing material each approximately a foot long. (some of the length is taken up in the braiding & you need more than you think, better to have to cut a bit off at the end than not have enough)
Place them side by side in the jaws of the clamp ~ I like to put a drop of craft glue in as well for extra hold ~ and squeeze it closed with pliers. Using a split ring attach one part of your clasp. I don't recommend using a jump ring as the finished bracelet is heavy and it may pull open.
Plait the pieces together for about 1/2 inch.

thread a nut onto the next end to be plaited in and push it up as far as you can before crossing the end into the centre.

Repeat with the opposite side.
Continue as set, threading nuts onto alternate sides as you plait, and keeping them pushed well up
until your braid is around 1" short of your desired finished bracelet length, then plait without nuts for a short distance to match the first side.
This is the part where having an extra hand would come in very handy, but unless you are Zaphod Beeblebrox you are going to have to find something to hold the braid in place with. I used this tiny decorative clothes peg.
Once you have your peg (or Zaphod hand)  in place to hold the braid, snip off the excess, and again add a dab of glue before fastening on the 2nd ribbon clamp.

Ta da! Your lovely bracelet. They are so chunky and satisfyingly heavy to wear.

And here is a gallery of different styles
I love the effect on the turquoise one, which was made by alternating zinc and brass nuts.
The pale pink one is done with waxed cotton cord which, as you can see, allows you to fit the nuts much closer together creating a denser bracelet.
The white one is threaded in a completely different way, I'll explain that one another time.

11 comments:

cucki said...

hello deary, congratulation to kate..
me cant wait to stitch it :)
beautiful bracelet..thank you for sharing how to make them..
love for you
hugs cucki xx

Dani - tkdchick said...

Yoru travelling pattern looks just lovely all framed up.

thanks for the tutorial!

Kate said...

Oh brilliant - I've wanted to join this travelling pattern for so long. Off to email with my details.

Heidi said...

The framed piece is just beautiful! What a perfect piece to start 2012 with. The bracelets are amazing and you make it look so simple.

Hugs from Holland ~
Heidi

Nicola said...

I have enjoyed reading about how you make these braclets. Sharing projects is such fun.

Joke said...

This travelling pattern, what a great idea! Do you have to sign up for such a thing? Yours is nice, framed and all :)

Julie said...

Brilliant, looks a lot more complicated, thanks for the tutorial.

Beautiful stitching, nice frame you chose for it.

Mylene said...

Congrats on finishing the travelling pattern, it looks great!

Your bracelets looks lovely, great job!!

Carol said...

Congratulations on your finish and frame, Christine! It looks darling. And what a great group of bracelets you've created!

Sally said...

Your framed finish is gorgeous Christine. Congratulations to Kate.

I love those bracelets!

Siobhán said...

Love your framed finish!

The bracelet is sooo neat! You are so clever. I'll have to show it to my girls--I'm sure they'd love a go at it.