[Help] Bracelet regarding Lilith

[voidcat]

I had a weird dream last night. It was a very complicated dream probably having a lot to do with the tons of sudden changes going on in my life. But in the dream I dreamed of a bracelet that I want to make real because it was so pretty and will give me something to do. Problem is I am not a big arts and craft person and don't really know much on how to make it and would like some advice on how to go about this project. Imma now describe the bracelet

It was black made out of leather like a cuff tho since leather is expensive I'm thinking it'd be ok to use black fabric. Not sure what kind yet but it'd be cheaper than leather for sure. In the leather there was a carving of the words Queen on one side and Lilith on the back with an Algiz under the name Lilith. I'm thinking I could sew this into the fabric since I'm not using leather. The coloring for the letters was a reddish pink. Connected to the leather was bits of fabric and chain holding different kinds of sliver charms. I can't remember the charms but I know they were silver in color. I'm thinking I could use different beads representing Lilith and attach them somehow to the fabric. Not sure yet what types of beads ill add or sure on how ill attach it to the fabric. The leather was joined together by a string tying it together. I don't know how to sew however or what kind of fabric would be good for this or if there's some things I'd have to keep I mind trying this. Never done this.

Thoughts?

 

[ghoulish]

If you're not going with leather, but still want the look, a type of faux leather could work (though, when I checked Michael's craft store, real leather was cheaper, especially for smaller amounts). With leather (real or faux), I'd advise embossing, but if you want to sew it, I'd suggest a stiff fabric (maybe canvas or denim, off the top of my head) with an interfacing layer.

You'd want to cut two rectangles of fabric (and the interfacing) a bit less than the circumference of your wrist, if you want a visible connection point (and some leeway on sizing). I'd advise that you use something thicker than standard sewing thread. Note that some interfacing is iron-on, but that's not necessarily what I'm thinking of.

For the actual embroidery, trace out the letters on the right sides of the fabric (the side you want facing out, and taking into account that around 1/4 inch will be lost around the outside when you sew the pieces together) with fabric chalk or something similar. You'll need a thicker needle for this, especially if you're using embroidery floss (the general rule of thumb is that you want a needle the same thickness or slightly thicker than your thread). Personally, I never use the full thickness of embroidery floss-- I take only one or two threads from the larger floss, but that's really just personal preference. I always advise back-stitching for both embroidery and joining fabric together. You can find a ton of resources online for how to do that stitch.

The method of attaching the fabrics together is a simpler way than I'd necessarily do myself: the turn method. To attach two fabrics (and interfacing, assuming you haven't gotten an iron-on one), line them up on top of each other, wrong sides facing out and place the interfacing on top of one of them. Pin in place around the outside, leaving a gap in the middle of one of the longer sides. Remember that the fabric will be turned through this opening, so make it large enough to fit a few fingers through. Backstitch around the perimeter, around 1/4 inch in from the edge of the fabric, remembering to leave the gap that was left unpinned. Turn the fabric, so the right sides are facing out. With your fingers, turn the edges of the gap under, and close that last opening with a ladder stitch (this is a type of stitch that is invisible from the outside). Ironing the finished result will give you more crisp edges.

The string closure has a few different options: either attached during the previous step, with an extra line of backstitching (if you want something like a strip of cotton tape), or with a series of eyelets that have a string woven through them (not unlike corset lacing, though with far less eyelets). I find the eyelet method to be more sturdy, but that really depends on the width of the bracelet.

There's a few different ways to go about attaching chain and additional fabric, so I'll just cover the easier ones. For the chain, attach using small double-cap rivets in a few places. This will show through both sides of the fabric. For the fabric pieces, just tack them down with a few running stitches (and make sure to only catch the top layer of fabric, so they won't show through both sides). Charms can be easily added to the chain with small o-rings.

If any of that is unclear, I'm more than happy to explain further, and I can make diagrams if necessary. I will admit, I wasn't entirely sure what you meant by "back" of the bracelet, so this written assuming you wanted text both showing on the outside, and pressed to your wrist. If you have a doodle or sketch of what you were thinking of, I could be more specific as well.