How to Design a Brooch
Designing a brooch can be fun and it can be done cheaply. Combine the most unexpected items using your imagination to design a piece of jewelry that will impress everyone who sees it. The following steps explain how to create this unique work of wearable art. Read on to learn more.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Fabric
- Cardboard
- Ribbons
- Buttons
- Needle
- Thread
- Safety pin
- Pinking shears
- Bottle caps
- Gold spray paint
- Decorative paper of choice
- Acid-free glue
- Clamps or clothes pins
- Colored and/or textured beads
- High-gloss acrylic spray
- Scissors
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Make a Fabric Brooch
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1
Select fabric, ribbons and buttons. Add to that a needle, thread, safety pin and pinking shears.
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2
Cut out a shape from your fabric with pinking shears. This shape can be a circle, or whatever you choose. If you prefer not to cut out the shape freehand, you can make a template out of cardboard, trace around the template on the wrong side of the fabric with a pencil or tailor's chalk and then cut out the shape.
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3
Decide how you wish to use your ribbons. You can do anything from fold them in half to make them have a 3-D effect or remain straight like streamers. Cut the ribbons to the length you want.
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4
Lay the ribbons on the fabric background and sew them in place. Use thread that will blend in the same color of the ribbon.
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5
Sew on your button or buttons in the pattern you choose. You can either use the same color thread or thread that draws attention to itself as part of the overall design of the brooch.
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6
Place the safety pin on the back of the brooch and tack in in place with your thread. Make sure you can easily open it.
Make a Brooch With Bottle Caps
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1
Find a bottle cap to make a brooch. This can be from a soda bottle, a juice bottle, whatever you like. Clean the bottle cap and let it dry.
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2
Spray paint the bottle cap with gold paint. Let it dry.
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3
Cut a circle that's the same size of the bottle cap out of cardboard and another out of printed paper such as wrapping paper or a doily. Glue both pieces of paper to each other and then to the back of the bottle cap when the bottle cap is dry. Make sure the decorative paper is on top of the cardboard, and directly beneath the bottle cap. Secure with clamps or clothes pins until the glue dries.
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4
Pour a little acid-free glue to the middle of the bottle cap. You can find acid-free glue at any crafts store.
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5
Sprinkle colored beads of any color or texture onto the glue and let the glue dry.
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6
Glue a pin back to the back of the bottle cap brooch. The brooch pin should be ΒΌ-inch shorter than the diameter of the bottle cap.
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7
Preserve the bottle cap brooch with an acrylic spray. A high gloss spray will work best. Allow the spray to dry and then wear your bottle cap brooch with pride.
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