How To... Make Recycled Fabric Wrapped Bangles With Two Variations

I had some neglected  plastic bangles in my jewellery box that I hadn't worn for ages, so I decided to give them a makeover! This is a really simple How To... but I think you'll agree, the bangles you create are very pretty and it's a very thrifty make too. How about recycling the pretty fabric from an old top to make a matching set of bangles and adding beads from the broken necklace that you love but you know you'll never get fixed? Oooh and they also make great gifts! Here is a tutorial for making the basic recycled fabric wrapped bangles and a couple of variations- happy making!

For a basic fabric wrapped bangle;

1) You will need

PVA glue, paintbrush, plastic or wooden bangles, strips of fabric

Note on fabric: My strips of fabric were aprox half an inch thick and 25/30 cm long. For one small bangle I used aprox two and a half fabric strips. For a larger bangle it may be easier to cut wider strips of fabric, to cover the bangle quicker

 2) 

Add a small amount of PVA glue to the inside of your bangle and add the end of your first fabric strip. It's much easier (and less messy!) to only add glue to the inside of the bangle, rather than gluing the fabric!

3) Start to wrap!

Wrap your fabric strips around the bangle, overlapping it slightly. After each couple of wraps, add some more glue to the inner bangle to secure the sfabric. Wrap until the entire bangle is covered, securing you end with PVA glue on the inside of the bangle. Leave to dry

4) It's finished!

It's as simple as that to transform a boring unused bangle into something pretty. You could leave your bangle plain like this, or read on for further ideas!

Fabric wrapped bangle with chain

1) You will need

The materials listed above for the basic fabric wrapped bangle, old jewellery chain, tube of all purpose strong glue, fabric wrapped bangle

2) Follow the How To... above to make a fabric wrapped bangle

3) Choose your chain!

 I got this necklace in a bundle of old jewellery on ebay and immediately knew that the tangled chain would be great used in a How To..! The chains on this necklace were quite easy to break off by twisting them, but if your chain is made of stronger stuff, you may need to use a small pair of pliers to remove the chain. You can experiment with different weights of chain to give your bangles a different look

4) Add a thin squeeze of your strong all purpose glue to the inside of your bangle and use to stick the end of your chain

5) Wrap your chain!

Wrap the chain around the fabric covered bangle, using the strong glue to secure it in place on the inside of the bangle on every couple of wraps. Leave to dry

6) It's finished!

That's all there is to it- pretty effective and very simple

Fabric wrapped bangle with beads

1) You will need

The materials listed for the basic fabric wrapped bangle, beads removed from an old necklace (I have used glass pearls from the tangled chain necklace), needle and thread, fabric wrapped bangle

2)  Follow the How To... above to make a fabric wrapped bangle

3) Remove the beads from the necklace

How you remove the beads depends on the necklace you have- I was able to remove the glass pearls from my necklace using a small pair of pliers, but it may be as simple as snipping a cord. You can use as many or as few beads as you wish, depending on how heavily you'd like the bangle to be embellished

4) Stitch your beads onto the bangle

Stitch the beads to the bangle in any pattern you wish, catching the thread between the wraps of fabric. This is easy to do as the fabric is only glued to the inside of the bangle

5) Ta-dah! 

That's all there is to it, so simple but so effective

Enjoy wearing your lovely updated bangles!