DIY Edwardian Cuffs

How To:

1. Turn under all the raw edges of each fabric piece about 1/2″, and sew.

2. On the underside of one of the smaller ends of a fabric piece, sew a piece of velcro (the furry side out).  Do the same for the other fabric piece.

3. Cut 2 pieces of your black grosgrain ribbon and 4 pieces of pleated trim to the same length as your finished fabric pieces.

Use an open flame to heat-seal the edges if they are synthetic fibers; if cotton you will have to either fold the raw edges under or seal them with Fray-Check.

4. Sew 2 pleated trim pieces onto each long side of one of the fabric pieces.  Place them just far apart enough so that the 1/2″ wide ribbon placed in-between them will just overlap them in the center.  Do the same for the other fabric piece and remaining pleated trim.

5. Sew each piece of black grosgrain ribbon down in the center of the fabric pieces.

6. Make the bow: (For my bow I made two loops; one a little smaller than the other, and placed them on top of each other, gluing the top loop onto the bottom one, then wrapping the center and securing with stitching underneath. You can make two or one or however many loops you want!  The methodology is the same anyway.  The following directions are for a single-loop bow:) Cut a 2.5″-long piece and a 1.5″ piece of grosgrain ribbon.  Double-thread your hand-sewing needle with black thread, and double-knot the end.  Create a loop with the longer piece of ribbon, underlapping the ends.  Push your needle into the underlapped pieces to the inside of the loop, then back through and out, pulling the knot tight onto the ribbon underside.  Pierce the end of the smaller piece of ribbon and push it all the way down to anchor it onto the underside of the loop you just made.  Curl the small ribbon around the loop, and anchor the other side of it with the needle and thread.  Sew an X through all layers except for the tops of the loops, knot, and cut the thread.  Make one more bow.

7. Use a dab of fabric glue to glue each bow onto the center ribbon of each cuff.

8.  Sew the other velcro strips onto the opposite ends of the fabric cuffs, onto the right sides, the hooked side facing outwards.

Each cuff is fastened by pressing the strips of velcro together on the underside of your wrists.

The stiffness of the ribbon pleats makes it stand out from the wrist more than I had hoped, thus something that is softer or thinner would be a better choice for the pleating.  You could even make the pleating by hand (with the help of an iron) if you were particularly hardcore.

I think they look equally as good with a casual ensemble as with a slinky LBD!

Hope this has inspired you to make your own!
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly

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