Leather Stackable Bracelets Jewelry Tutorial

1. Introduction

Katie: Hi, I'm Katie Hacker, your host, and this season is a jewelry making workshop with a featured designer each week, and a lot of them are favorite guests from past seasons, like Molly Shaylor. Hi, Molly.

Molly: Hi, Katie.

Katie: Thanks for coming.

Molly: Thanks for having me.

2. Molly's Approach to Jewelry Design

Katie: So, one of the things that I love about your jewelry is that you use trends to create the pieces that you make, and you have such a great eye for color. And it all starts with this style board, right?

3. Creating a Style Board

Molly: Yes. This is one of my favorite tools to use. And it's also fun to search for images out of magazines, out of even online. You can print out things that you like. But basically, what I do is I start with images Ilike that have colors I like, because that's the thing that, for me, makes a lot of my designs exciting. And so, basically, I find the images first, and sometimes they'll be just images of nature, which I think you can always find a lot of inspiration in nature or out of fashion magazines, which is really fun, too, to flip through and pull-out pages you like.

4. Finding Inspiration in Nature and Fashion & Using Color Proportions for Jewelry Design

Katie: And I noticed that not all of your pictures here have jewelry. Like you said, you have some different images here with the trees. And this one is really beautiful, the way that the colors are kind of monochromatic, but there's a little bit of blue in there. So, then you start pulling beads together that look kind of similar, right?

Molly: Yeah, basically. And I think a lot of times, something from images that you can get that if you find an image that works for you that just really seems to resonate with you. A lot of times, it's the proportion of colors. So, like you said, in this one, there's kind of a neutral in the foreground, but then there's blues and greens in the background. So, what I did was I pulled out a lot of blues and greens, and then I also like that the pops of color that happen with the oranges and the yellows along with that green. And so I found a few beads that are those colors for just that little pop fun. And it's totally unexpected, and you maybe wouldn't have thought of that if you hadn't seen the pictures that really kind of bring that together.

5. Magnetic Sliders for Style Board

Katie: And I love these little magnets that you made. These are so cute and fun.

Molly: They're little sliders. They just come in a strand. And all you do is use some really strong, quick drying cement and those tiny, strong magnets. And you want to make sure that the pieces that you use to glue them onto are big enough for your fingers to hold.

Katie: So you really could use any flat back. And that one gives a lot of sparkle, too. Yeah, it makes your board more fun. And what about the drawing? When does that happen?

6. Drawing and Design Process

Molly: Usually that, for me, happens after I've picked the colors and the beads, because then you kind of know what you have to work with the shapes and everything, because different shapes go together differently. So, yeah, you'll go through that and things do change. You might have a drawing that works one way, but then when you put it together on your board, you find out, oh, this bead doesn't work well with that bead. And so you just kind of play with it until you find something that works.

7. Exploring Different Color Palettes

Katie: Tell us a little bit about the other color palette, because that's really pretty, too.

Molly: That one is more, I wouldn't say more sophisticated, but there's something about it that is a little bit more risky. I don't know what it is. I think it's that there's a lot of colors that you wouldn't think about putting together, like pinks and reds or something, along with some purples that often will go kind of girly or like young girly. But the image but it's really elegant.

Katie: Yeah, actually, the images look really elegant and kind of you have the sort of world flavor, too, there. And so let's talk a little bit about these bracelets, because this is a piece I'm assuming you started with these beautiful focal beads.

8. Stackable Bracelet Trend

Molly: I did. I really like how the facets in these beads capture light in different ways. And I liked how, depending what color you put the bead with, it kind of changes the way that you perceive the colors in the bead. So, I went with jewel tones on most of them. So that these beads, it's funny, if you flip them one way, they look kind of like a gold and purple, and you flip them the other way, they're like a blue green. And so, I chose purples. I chose navy blue and then turquoise. And then I even chose some leather that was more like almost a light minty. It wasn't really minty green, but like a green. That's sage. We'll call it sage green.

Katie: That's really pretty with those green beans. And of course, this is a trend with stacking bracelets.

Molly: Yes. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. And then you just stack them up your arms and have a lot of fun with it. And even you don't have to leave it with just the leather. You can add a strand of beads here and there to even give it more texture. It's really pretty.

Katie: So how do we get started making the bracelet?

9. Creating the Stackable Bracelet

Molly: Well, this is actually a pretty simple bracelet. It starts, like I said, with this focal bead. And I went ahead and you're going to make a wrapped loop. I started with about a four-inch piece of 20-gauge wire, and I use the softer, artistic wire because it's easy to work with, but it stays hard enough to be solid when you're using this. So, I went ahead and made one wrap loop and then you're just going to make a second wrap loop on the other side to hold it all together. And we put the magnifier here just in case you need it. But sometimes people need a little bit of extra help when they're working on smaller things, or especially too when you're working with color that natural light can help you.

Katie: Yeah, it makes a big difference, your lighting, especially in pieces like this.

Molly: I found that I might sometimes have one piece that I really like when I'm in my studio and then I take it in the house or outside and I'm like, oh, it's not working the way I hoped it would. So, it's good to work with natural light. So, I'm going to go ahead and finish this wrapped loop over here. And I really like how soft this wire makes it easier to work. And I always try to kind of count my loops when I'm working and have about even three loops. Yeah. So, it's even on each side. It gives you a little more I don't know, it just looks more finished that way. And snip the end so that you have this will be your center bead component. Then we're going to make a wrapped loop for this little guy. These are some of my favorites. I come back to them over and over and over. And the way that I do this is actually I'll take another about four-inch piece of wire and I bend it so that it follows that shape of the bead. And then I'll make a right-hand turn so it kind of goes up like a coat hanger. Then you just fall across with that one and you can hold on to one and make a let's see what the best way to do this one is so everyone can see it. So just kind of wrap around. And if you want to, you can be really tidy about this or you can be a little messy because you are going to be covering this part up with the second loop. And the second part of the loop is you're just going to make another bend and make a wrap loop. And if you want to, you can be tidy again or you can just kind of be messy and go right over the top of that other loop. And it just depends whatever you feel like doing. And this is a little dangle that you're going to put at the end of the bracelet. Yeah, this kind of goes next to the clasp.

10. Working with Suede Lacing

Molly: So, you'll have those next you're going to get your suede lacing. Suede lacing, and I use about twelve inches here. It depends on the size of the wrist you want to work with. And you can make them relatively adjustable. But I'll go ahead and cut that in half because I'm going to double it over. So, you coil your wire here where it's folded. Well, the next step is to go ahead and make this wire. Wrap the coil around the leather. So, you're going to go ahead and pass the leather through the loop until it meets back at the end with the other one getting them relatively close. And then you're going to take one of your pieces of four-inch wire. And I usually make a bend in the U shape at the beginning, and that's what's kind of kind of loop around your leather. Because I think the start is the hardest part always.

11. Wire Wrapping Technique

Katie: You're right to get it to kind of conform to that wire.

Molly: But once you get started, it really isn't too hard at all. And I kind of hook it around one half of the…

Katie: So, you sort of make a staple.

Molly: Yeah, that's exactly it. And then you start to wrap, and it just takes a little bit of time to get it going. And let's see. Same with this one. You want to try to get it pretty similar on both sides so that looks like it's about four reps.

Katie: Then you can kind of neat it up, too, as you go along and squish it together. Yeah, I did the same thing.

12. Finishing the Stackable Bracelet

Molly: So, you can kind of exactly like you said, make it neater. And when you're finished, you can manipulate it still a little bit. It's nice and soft. And then to finish it, I just pull it through in between like that. And you just cushion it in there, give it a couple squeezes, and then trim the ends. And then you're going to go ahead, you're going to add these ends. I usually use just a dab of glue, and I put it on this part and you fold the ends over. You can use your chain. Those plastic works really well. And then when you're ready to attach the clasp it's just a jump ring. And I found a lot of times it helps to put a tiny bit of chain at the end of it because it's bulky right here. Do that and add your little dangle on the end along with that jump ring, and you're finished.