Friday, January 29, 2021

Tutorial: Wooden Leatherworking Clasp from SandraMel

These beautiful clasps were brought from etsy seller SandraMel.  They are very wide though so need to be for a substantial bracelet.  I paired it with my Spring Tartan which, with its shades of green, looks good paired with the rich wood of this clasp.


The end section of each part of the clasp has a series of holes drilled through which exit the clasp on the very end with the other end feeding into a slot so that no thread ends rub anywhere.  The clasp is a little rustic though, so the holes do not have precise gaps.  This is not a clasp you can give a precise stitch pattern for because it will be different for each beautiful handmade clasp and will even vary along the clasp.


Once your bracelet is the required length, finish off all remaining threads in your usual way.  Add a new thread and exit the beadwork ready to stitch into one corner of the beadwork.

Place the beadwork against the clasp and note where the end hole hits the beadwork when you have the bracelet centred on the clasp.  This may not be the first bead, it could be the first or second.

Stitch through to that bead and then through the first hole into the slot of the clasp and back through the next hole and stitch back into the beadwork.

Stitch back through to the first bead you exited and pass through it in the opposite direction and then back through the hole into the slot, through the second hole and back into the beadwork again.

Stitch through to the next hole and then through the third hole into the slot...  Then keep going, all the way along the bracelet, attaching it to the clasp.

  

When you get to the end of the clasp stitch through the last two holes a couple of extra times.

It's best to fix as many beads as possible to the clasp and to also attach some beads in both directions so they pull evenly.  So as you stitch back through making a second pass at attaching the clasp, chose a different thread path.  I have included three different examples below with the two thread paths in dark pink and two in light pink.  Stitch the dark pink ones first and if you don't stitch the light pink ones, the clasp will still be well attached.

The hole is centred over a high bead in the peyote with both priority bead paths stitching in to that high bead in opposite directions.  The other two bead paths stitch into the low beads either side of this high bead.

The hole is centred over a low bead and the two priority thread paths stitch in to the two high beads either side of this low bead, from the side closest to the hole.  The other two thread paths stitch in to the low bead from opposite directions.

If the hole sits over where a high and low bead meet, then stitch in to both the high and low bead.  The other two thread paths go into the high bead from the other direction and also the high bead on the other side of the low bead from the side closest to the hole.

Complete as many passes as you wish, paying particular attention to the last two holes at each end.  Finish the thread in your normal way.


Then add the other part of the clasp to the other end of the bracelet, ensuring you have it the same way up as the first part of the clasp.







1 comment:

Inspiration: Eggs

When it comes to Easter, chocolate eggs are the first thing many think of.  Certainly I love them!  Eggs are a symbol of fertility and acros...