ACCESSORIZE IT: NEEDLEPOINT BRACELETS
Jade Wrist Cuff Materials
» 9" stretcher bars ( 2 pairs)
» 9"× 9" piece of eggshell 18-count
mono canvas
» Kreinik metallic 087C medium #16
braid ( 10 meters)
» Needlepoint Inc. silk 872 ( 5 meters)
» DMC metallic 5270 ( 8 meters)
» Epoxy cement
» Thin hand material
» 8"× 3" piece of ultrasuede in a
coordinating color for backing
(if doing the finishing yourself)
» Laying tool can be bought in a
needlepoint store, or you can use a
kebab skewer or unsharpened pencil
for a fraction of the cost
1. Assemble stretcher bars.
First, assemble your stretcher bars into a square
frame and tack your canvas to it. You can cover
the edges of the canvas with masking tape so the
thread won’t get caught and snag.
2. Stitch the cuff.
Once the canvas is framed, you’ll start to stitch with
3-ply of the silk, using a length of about 18" in your
needle. Beginning a third of the way up the canvas
and about 1" in from the left, stitch the entire cuff
in Giant Rice Stitch (Figure A). Use your laying tool
to keep the stitches smooth and flat as you drop the
needle in a hole, and work the bracelet in rows from
left to right. Stitch each cross over 3 diagonal holes
(Figure B) and make your rows long enough for the
bracelet to go around your wrist in a cuff fashion. Your
bracelet should have 7 rows of crosses (Figure D).
After completing the silk crosses, work the
metallic green thread in diagonal stitches over the
top of the silk, with each diagonal stitch crossing
over 1 canvas hole (Figure B). No need to use the
laying tool with this thread — just make sure it isn’t
twisted when you drop the needle in a canvas hole.
3. Finish the stitch.
Once you finish the Rice Stitches, backstitch vertically over 2 canvas threads at each end of the cuff
to create a vibrant red line on both edges (Figure D).
Use 3-ply of the DMC metallic for this step. Then,
after taking the piece off the frame, fold the canvas
back at each red end and whipstitch over a few canvas
threads at the edges with 3-ply of the DMC to make
the red thicker and to finish those edges. Whipstitch
across each end of the cuff as many times as it takes
for the red to cover the canvas underneath.
4. Finish the bracelet.
Now that the piece is stitched, you still have to make it
into a bracelet. I recommend taking it to a needlepoint
shop, where they can finish it for you by folding back
the raw ends on the length of the bracelet and cover-ing the back with a piece of ultrasuede. If you want to
finish it yourself, I suggest following the instructions
found at the DIY Network website ( craftzine.com/go/
cuff). When it’s finished, find a can of tomato paste
(or something of a similar diameter), wrap your cuff
around the can, and put a rubber band around it to
hold it in place for about a day. This will give the cuff
shape so it doesn’t fall off your wrist. Now it’s finished!
