ARTSY WRIST CUFFS

I'd been wanting to try my hand at making wrist cuffs for some time. I have, after all, many beautiful materials and scraps just begging to be repurposed and mated with other fabrics into something new. And wrist cuffs always caught my attention when visiting fibre art shows. 

They make beautiful accessories, with the added benefit of extra warmth in the colder months. The right fabrics work well in summer too, with fabrics that feel cool against the skin.  A search on Etsy and Pinterest revealed many styles of wrist cuffs, from simple to lacy, leather to felted, beaded to gothic.

And with more time to experiment this year due to the pandemic, I got busy pairing up various fabrics, tulle, ribbons and more to sew up some wrist cuffs, not just for me, but as gifts for family and a friend or two, all while trying to find the styles I felt were a good fit. 

Here are my best ones. A few didn't turn out as well as I had hoped and so will be turned into something else.

For some I used 2 hairbands tied together and a button to join the ends. This worked especially well after completing one wrist cuff and discovering it was too short to overlap the ends on my wrist. I realized how much better I liked this unplanned look, and continued to make more in this fashion. 

I'm still not sure how it ended up too short in the first place, as I had measured my own wrists and a few others to get an idea for sizing. Perhaps I didn't follow that rule of measure twice, cut once.

On another cuff (not shown here) I used 2 buttons and loops, which also works well. 

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For other cuffs that I made in a more triangular shape, I used a simple snap that is hidden from view. This shape has a softer and less chunky look on a wrist. 

Most of the cuffs have 4-5 layers: a backing fabric, some kind of metallic or bling, a lacy fabric, tulle, and sometimes some ribbons, providing a wonderful depth to the cuff. A simple stitch around the edges and middle adds a finishing touch. I found stretchy materials the most challenging, as I'm not used to sewing jersey. I've since received several tips that should make it easier. 

I plan to continue experimenting to make some very boho cuffs in the not too distant future. The possibilities are endless for these artsy wrist cuffs. And I'm also considering starting to make ATCs.