Good Little Things

I shared this whimsical little bracelet when the weather was just starting to turn warm and lovely. I had requests at the time to do a tutorial, and here it is finally. Let's take a look at what we're going for.

Have you ever had a butterfly land on you? It's a magical moment when something so beautiful and fragile trusts you like that. Kinda like a newborn baby sleeping in your arms. Shall we get started?

First, you'll want to take a measurement of your wrist and add one and a half inches to that measurement for overlap. Then you'll want to cut out a piece of vinyl that is a rectangle that long by however wide you want your cuff to be. So if your wrist measures 6 inches and you want a 2 inch cuff, your rectangle should be 7 1/2 inches long by 2 inches wide. As you will see I have done this bracelet in a few different widths and I think they all work. You'll also need to cut out a matching rectangle of pretty fabric if you want it lined with fabric, or you can double up the vinyl if that's your wish. I have done it both ways, and I find that the fabric backing makes your arm sweat less. Ha! Just a helpful little tip from me.

Cut away.

When you have your rectangles, you're going to want to cut out another swatch of vinyl in a contrasting color and another matching piece of pretty material to back it with. This will be for the butterfly. When you have all of that taken care of, it's time to adhere the two together. You could use glue, but I recommend a fusible web, like Wonder Under. That stuff is awesome. Just saying.

Prepping the fabric

When all is dry, what you want to do is get you butterfly all cut out and ready. I traced mine from photos, but you are more than welcome to free hand it, if you have that kind of talent. Trace your butterfly onto your extra fabric backed swatch as seen here:

Pretty...

and carefully cut it out.

That's a lot of butterflies. You may only need one. I tend to get carried away.

Now, let's find the butterfly's placement on the cuff...

Hold it closed so that you know where your butterfly should "land".

I like to set it at an angle as opposed to straight on the cuff, but then again, I've always considered myself a little off center, so... if you like it straight, go for it. Now, we sew!

Look, a rainbow and frog are keeping the butterfly company. How sweet.

Sew straight down the center of the body, making sure you sew one stitch past the ends on both sides, and reverse all the way up the body once or twice to make sure all is secure. When you're done give it a good pinch to get those wings fluttering a bit.

See?

We're getting there.

All that's left to do is attach your closures. This is totally up to you. I have used snaps, a large button, even velcro for the ones I made for the three year olds attending my daughter's birthday party. I will say, if you fabric backed your vinyl and you plan to use snaps, I recommend reinforcing the ends with small vinyl rectangles. Like so: