Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The Princess Warrior Bracelet Collection

Variations of the Princess Warrior Bracelet - Golden Flowers done with C-Lon Bead Cord in Black & Tan,
Gold Miyuki Duracoat Galvanized Beads and Italian Metal Buttons


This is the next step up from the Turkish Flat Bead Crochet Bracelet. The Turkish Flat Bead Crochet is patterned after Turkish Oya, the beautiful crochet trims found mostly around scarves edges in Anatolia. 

This new bracelet is an original design. I have never seen it done anywhere, although that does not mean someone else did not stumble on this same design elsewhere. This wider bracelet is made with C-Lon Bead Cord and Miyuki 6/0 beads, whereas the Turkish Flat Bead Crochet Bracelet is made with C-Lon Bead Cord Tex 400 and 5/0 beads. This sophisticated bracelet is reminiscent of armor, the Viking or Greek, "Princess Warrior" look, so I decided to keep this collection with metallic beads. The kits are made with Miyuki duracoat galvanized beads and include Italian metal buttons collected over time. The duracoat finish gives the Miyuki beads a durable metallic coat, so you can expect the bracelet to last over time.

Princess Warrior Bracelet - Golden Flowers Bead & Button Pack & Spool of C-Lon Bead Cord 

Several of the bracelets I have been wearing are earlier prototypes made as I was refining the techniques to create the final bracelets. The final design adopted for this bracelet tutorial minimizes stretch, wear well over time, and includes technical aspects that will help if ever the buttons need to be moved, restitched, or the button loops repaired.

Picture from the tutorial

Once the final design was selected, I photographed each of the steps while making the bracelet. The next step was to make a second bracelet while writing the instructions and looking at the photos. Then, I revised the written instructions accompanying the photos, while making a third bracelet.  The full tutorial is a 15 page PDF document with over 20 large pictures. A paired and scaled down printed version comes with the kits and the larger PDF version is sent by email. Both include the Turkish Flat Bead Crochet Mantra, an easy way to remember the pattern. 


Princess Warrior Bracelet - Silver Zuni Circles Bead & Button Pack & Spool of C-Lon Bead Cord 

Matching materials for these kits has been a challenge. I can attest to it by the number of bead finishes and buttons I purchased over time that did not make the final cut. Most of the Italian buttons used in these kits are no longer available, so the number of kits available is limited to the stock on hand.


Princess Warrior Bracelet - Bronze Double X

While wearing the earlier and final versions of this bracelet at shows, shops, restaurants, I have gotten lots of comments from people at large. This bracelet attracts lots of attention from a wide range of people of all ages, so make one for yourself, one for your daughter, or some for friends.



Princess Warrior Bracelet - Pewter Bindu Circles 

Design variations can be done by adding attached elements, by changing the width of the bracelets and of course by altering colors, beads, and buttons. 

Princess Warrior Bracelet - Antique Copper Flowers

The Antique Copper Flower Bead & Button kit is the only one that comes with newly produced copper buttons. These flower buttons are a traditional button design. The Bronze Double X comes with Bronze Metallic Miyuki Beads Size 6 - the metallic finish on these beads is more susceptible to darkening over time than the Duracoat finishes. 

Complete Princess Warrior Kit with the Tool Bag including a Super Max Thread Burner
Bead & button packages are also available for the simpler version of this bracelet made with C-Lon Bead Cord Tex 400 and Miyuki Seed Bead Size 5.

Get kits, bead & button packages, and the tutorials > Turkish Flat Bead Crochet & Princess Warrior Bracelet Kits

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