Unique Lace Bracelet With Locket

In this Instructable I'll show you how to make a unique bracelet - made from a single piece of lace, a locket and some beads. Most of the items used here I already had at home. You won't have the same materials as I do, but hopefully this Instructable will inspire you to use what you have to create something even more unique and beautiful! The locket in the center of the bracelet is something that I had and had never worn - as I wear one small necklace all the time and don't like to change it out. So, I wanted to use the locket and transform it into a bracelet that I could wear!

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Materials:

• lace
• beads
• thread & needle for sewing (I used a clear thread)
• Clasp for back of bracelet - anything will work
• scissors
• I used bias tape binding for the edges of the bracelet
• other embellishments
• locket if you have one
• anything else you like to add

Tips:
The materials you have and use will vary and differ from mine. Using beads that look like pearls can really be beautiful as well. Be creative, yet try to be cohesive in keeping with a similar theme. It's real easy to make this look tacky! I actually added more beads and tried to make it more interesting but I crossed over into the "tacky" grey area - where it just didn't look good anymore. I removed some beads and it looked much better! So try to keep it looking clean and classy!

The first thing you'll want to do is drape the lace over your wrist and around - to get a measurement of the length. Then, cut it to size - taking into account the clasp which will be added.

In this step, I wanted to create a finished edge on the sides of the bracelet, so I could sew the clasps onto it. I used some bias binding tape to do this. I first cut off two strips which were a couple inches longer than the length of the side of the lace (just to be safe).

Then, I opened it up and folded the top down about 1/4 to a 1/2 an inch - and put that under the sewing machine and did a few stitches in the middle of it. I then snipped off the edges of that flap to form a bit of a triangle. You can see what I mean in the photos. Then, I lined this piece up to the side of the lace, then folded the bottom edge up so it would be the same length as the side of the lace. Then I repeated what I had just done on the sewing machine.

I then took the little rectangular piece of material and held it open as I pushed the side of the lace into it. I didn't completely sandwich the lace in between the two layers of white bias binding tape - I first sewed the lace onto the bottom part of the bias tape. Then, I folded the top part over to completely enclose the lace - and topstitched over that. I did it that way to avoid having the lace slide around. I wanted it to be sewn evenly.

Fold the lace in half and place a pin in the center (if you plan to put a locket or something else in the center). I then cut the locket off of the necklace. And, I noticed that there was a little decorative metal piece above the locket that looked very unique and I wanted to use it in the bracelet. So, I saved that and set it aside.

Once the locket was removed from the chain, I then cut out a round piece from a manilla folder I had in my office. I tried to make the piece very similar in size as the locket. I then glued the locket to the piece of manilla folder. I set something on top of it to let it dry fully. Once dry, I cut out a piece of white felt - a couple centimeters larger than the locket. I glued the locket (which had the circle of manilla folder on the bottom) to the felt and let it dry.

As that is drying, it's a good time to sew the clasps onto the sides/edges of the bracelet. The clasp I used was from the necklace itself - you can buy fancier clasps at JoAnn Fabric or another store. It is up to you! Just sew it on so they line up properly.

Now that the locket is dry and firmly glued to the felt, you can sew it onto the bracelet. I used the clear thread again to sew it around and onto the lace.

I really liked how the locket necklace chain looked, so I wanted to incorporate it a little bit. I wrapped it around the felt and up - then snipped off the ends. I then sewed the piece together to form a loop. Then, I used the clear thread to sew it fully onto the area right around the felt.

Once that was done, I decided to use gold beads also to create a simple design around the two rose petals on the sides of the bracelet. I did this by beading about 5 beads, then securing it by sewing it to the lace. Then, continued beading more and so on. I had another little embellishment that was gold and looked like a small flower - so I stopped the beads there.

To finish it off, I used Adobe Photoshop to edit an image of my son (he is very embarrassed I used his picture by the way!) to create a rounded small image for the locket. I then cut and trimmed it and put it in the locket!