Small Projects - Scrap fabric necklaces

One thing we have a lot of is fabric scraps and so we are always excited to find something we can do with them as it is too sad to throw them away...even when there is just a ragged strip left. So we are really excited Rubyellen of My Cakies shared this idea with us. We loved these necklaces from My Cakies so much we used them in our the summer issue. (you can see them here and here ). Rubyellen's shop is full of charming celebration crowns, hand-made clips and small gifts and accessories.

How to make a scrap Fabric Necklace - Something beautiful can always be made from leftovers!

You will need: scissors, 4 rubber bands, fabric scraps ( the longer the better) coordinating thread.


1.    Choose your scrap fabrics.
2.    Take your scrap fabric, cut a .5''-1'' snip and tear the rest of the fabric down for a nice frayed edge. Used 3 different fabrics for each strand. Repeat until you have nice large pile of strips (approximately 9 strips, more if some strips are particularly short).
3.    For the longest strand, gather 3 of the longest strips and tie the beginning end together with a rubber band.
4.    Braid the 3 pieces together until about 34’’ long and tie both ends together with rubber band when done. You can make the strands any length you want, if run out of fabric, grab another strip and weave it into the braid.

5.    Repeat steps 2 & 3 for additional strands.  The second longest strand, once braided, should be about 30’’ long. The shortest strand, once braided, should be about 28’’ long.
6.    To sew a strand together, remove the rubber band, gather each end of the strand together (with ends slightly overlapping) and zigzag stitch ends together with sewing machine. Repeat to close the other strands. Snip off any excess.
7.    To sew all 3 of the strands together, line up the sewn ends together (side-by-side) and zigzag stitch all three strands together. This is to reinforce all three strands together. Another option to close the necklace is to sew a 10’’ strip of coordinating ribbon at each end, which allows the necklace to be tied closed. Snip of any excess fabric or thread.

8.    Voila! Put on and wear… it is beautiful and stylish way to make use of all your lovely scraps.

My Cakies shop and blog

Comments

[melissa deakin]

i just love these necklaces!
what a wonderful idea!
thanks so much for sharing this!

[Surya]

Fantastic idea!

[karen]

wow Rubyellen you are soooo good! thank you for this awesome tutorial!!!
xxxxooo
karen

[heather]

i love this idea that i just made some for my daughter

[boracay island philippines]

so colorful..

[matirose]

this is wonderful!

[vintage pendants]

Very beautiful, I like your necklace. I'm shore will follow your instructions and make some of those for me and my friends. It's a good training for me on the crafting. Thank you for the post and good luck!

[Mothers Birthstone Necklace]

Wow, very nice fabric necklaces!

[Faith Liamano]

I put this Necklace in my DIY directory! Nice work!!

http://oneblackcarnation.blogspot.com/

[Megan Sullivan]

Very very very CUTE!I really like it!I hope to make it soon with my mom!

[prepaid creditcard]

i really happy you shared this with us.

thank you!

[Jane]

Your tutorial is an awesome inspiration! Many thanks for sharing. I would like to feature your designs at http://www.handmade-jewelry-club.com/

Kindly contact me here if you have a concern.

Jane
http://diylessons.org/
http://www.handmade-jewelry-club.com/

[Gia~ girls jewelry boxes]

What a wonderful project :) from a scrap to something awesome, very creative idea. I got to make one of this as well, with the step by step instruction you provide here, I can definitely make one similar to this necklace for myself. Thanks!

[Rose]

Thank you for sharing this idea for scrap fabric

Cakies so much we used them in our the summer issue. (you can see them here and here ). These links dont work.

[Patsy Desautel]

Cute, glad I hoarded all those scraps ;).

[Megan]

I love this simple, wonderful idea for those endless scraps. I am pinning this blog post to Pinterest to spread your word through that network. Thanks so much for my next fun project.

[Megan]

Just tried to pin this image with credit to your blog on Pinterest, and it didn't work. Oh well, I was hoping to spread your word.

[Joyce]

Adorable! i am going to make some jean necklaces!

[Kate]

I love the look of these! They'd make cute bracelets too :)

[Kate]

What a great idea, adorable! I'm featuring it on my "Top 10 Awesome Recycled Craft Projects" today at www.cheapcraftymama.com, be sure to grab a button if you want. Also I would love for you to share this (and any other creations) at my "Pin It and Win It Wednesday" starting this evening!