Wrist Wrap Tutorial and Giveaway

I have been working for some time now on my new line of toggle clasps that work well with silks.  I used the first one in a wrist wrap last January for one of my pieces in Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Hop. 

Since then I have fixed a few problems, like making the hole larger and trying out different silks to see which ones will work. Today I want to share with you my tutorial on how to use these toggle clasps (available in my Etsy shop.)  Actually it is very easy to do and with  what a fun result.  

Two different kinds of Silks.  On the left a Silk ribbon    On the right a wide grunge silk wrap.

I am using a silk ribbon that measures about  32 inches and is 1/2 inch wide. It has been finished on the edges.  This one is from Lima Beads, but they are available in other places as well.  I have found that most silks and sari ribbon work.  The idea is to check the length which is done by folding the ribbon in half and making  sure that it wraps around your wrist at least two times after you have taken into account the overhand knot. The silk ribbon pictured works perfectly for my 6 1/2 - 7 inch wrist.

Once you have determined the length,  you will string  your toggle bar  through one length of the silk ribbon.  

Next you will fold the ribbon in half and when the two ends  meet exactly you will make an overhand knot leaving about an inch for a tail. If you think your ends might fray you can dip them into Aleene's Stop Fraying which will  dry clear, soft and flexible.  I got mine from JoAnn's.

The next step is to take the folded end of you ribbon and push it through the smaller hole in your toggle clasp. Either from the back to the front or vice versa. You will be making a larks head knot.  

You make the Larks Head knot once you have a good size loop which you have pushed through the clasp as in the picture above. Bring the knotted end with the toggle bar through the loop you have made and draw it tight.

Adjust you knot until it looks like the one in the picture above.  

And here is how it looks from the back

Now you have the silk securely attached to both the toggle bar and and toggle clasp proper as seen in the picture above. Make sure that you get it to pull through evenly so that your knotted bar lies flat on the end of the ribbon. as seen in the picture above.

 Next  wrap your silk around your wrist a couple of times, secure the bracelet by bringing the toggle bar through  the clasp.  You can tuck in your tails or let them fly. The silk showing through the toggle clasp adds wonderful color to your wrist wrap.

Here is a  photo of some other size silks I have used.   The light blue in the middle is a wide grunge silk and the last one on the right is a much thinner piece of hand died silk.   I don't know how that beaded wrap got into the photo shoot since it has a button clasp.LOL

Sources of Silks

MarshaNealStudio

Example of wrist wrap using a combination of a silk ribbon and a silk string from MarshaNealStudio

with one of my new toggle clasps

Lima Beads

100% Silk  1/2 inch by 32 inches silk ribbon

Sowzere Silks

                                       

Example of a Grunge silk wrist wrap with a hand died silk from Sowzere

(You may have to special request the Grunge size and style silk)

And a very thin hand dyed silk string  from  Sowzere

Group photo of some of my wrist wrap toggle clasps

You can find these toggle clasps in my Etsy shop on  Sunday Sept. 30 at  5:00PM  EST

The GIVEAWAY

I will be giving away one of my wrist wrap toggles clasps with coordinating silks to make a bracelet.  Just leave a comment and a way to contact you.  I would love feed back on the tutorial--i.e what could be better and what is good.  I will pick a winner the Random Generator on Oct. 12, 2012.  Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my blog post tutorial.