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Button Bunting Necklace


This cute necklace is made using fabric scraps, buttons from my stash, Heat and Bond Iron On Adhesive, and beads.

Bunting, in this sense, are little triangle flags that are strung as decoration and very popular right now. These diminutive flags can be used for necklaces or in scrapbook projects and card making. Since it takes only a little more time to make lots of flags instead of just a few, it's also a good project for craft parties or group events. You make up the flags ahead of time, and have the sewing and stringing supplies on hand for people to decorate their flags and string them into necklaces.

You will need:
Washed quilting weight cotton- washed to remove sizing so the Heat and Bond works.
Head and Bond- I used the ultra strong permanent adhesive
sewing pins
Iron
Ironing board
scissors
Embroidery floss- I think colors that contrast but stay close to the same tone work well.
tapestry needle
small buttons- Great use of stash buttons!

For stringing the necklace-
Soft flex
size 8 seed beads- mine are gilt lined orange opal from my stash, just a lovely, luminous color
larger accent beads- I used 6 mm fire polish rondelles in pink
crimp beads
clasp
crimping pliers
basic knowledge of how to use the above.

Cut strips of the fabric that are about 2.5 inches wide. I like the look of fabrics that don't match but have some of the same colors in them. Also cut strips the same length that are a half inch wide.


Cut strips of the Heat and Bond to match, and fuse them lightly into place on the backs of the 2 inch wide fabric strips following manufacturer instructions.
Peel up the paper backing. For me, making a small tear in one end of the Heat and Bond layer made it easier to pull up the backing. Pin the 1/2 inch strip down the middle of the 2 inch strip, wrong sides together. The pin heads need to be on the right side of the wider strip, and the pins need to be aligned lengthwise.


Fold the strip in half lengthwise so the thin strip is in the fold, and press and fuse, flip it over and press from the other side. Make sure the fusing is secure. The reason that we fused the strip in instead of just making a channel by putting the Heat and Bond on one side of the fabric then folding leaving a small channel is that the extra layer of fabric creates more structure.

Cut a small piece of the paper backing and fold it in half and make an angled cut to make your flag pattern, then start cutting flags. The folded edge is the channel. The triangle pieces that are trimmed out can be discarded or saved for other projects.


After your flags are all cut, it's time for the really fun part. Picking and sewing on buttons! You can keep knots from showing on the back of the necklace by tying a knot in the floss and going through the hole on the button from the top, it will go through the button and anchor the thread, then go through the back of the flag up through another hole on the button and sew into place. When you're ready to tie it off, go through the back, then fold the flag back so you can see between the button and the flag. Tie a knot, and slide it down with the tip of your needle so it's against the fabric behind the button.


Now string your necklace. I attached the one side of my clasp on one end of the SoftFlex, then strung a few inches of the size 8 beads, then one accent bead, flag, accent bead, 3 size 8 beads and continued until I had 8 flags added. Then the same number of inches of plain strung beads on the other side and the other half of the clasp.

The model is my daughter, her shirt is from Threadless(affiliate link). The design is TARDamask

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Content copyright © 2013 by Shala Kerrigan. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Shala Kerrigan. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Shala Kerrigan for details.



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