scrapslady

A friend of mine took green leotards, purple balloons, and grape leaves to make a bunch of grapes out of herself. She wore the leotards for the stem, blew up the balloons and attached them all over the leotards, and placed grape leaves into the "grapes." It was clever and cute but not practical. The guys popped the balloons, leaving her in green leotards with grape leaves stuck all over! She decided not to use that idea again.

As I grow older and more conservative, I realize the value of crafting, restyling (I love that word. It gives the "made-over" stuff I've been doing for years a cool sounding name!), etc. What started as an economic necessity for a young mother of 3 with no job and a husband in school quickly evolved into a lifestyle for me. Now I never throw anything away without considering how I or someone else could use it to make something else. For example, my husband, a minister, just discovered a hole in a pair of his good slacks. He was going to discard them, but I will recycle the zipper, fabric, and anything else I can to make other things--maybe a little suit for my grandson. It's lots more fun to restyle and redo than to go shopping for retail, and it saves a lot of money as well. It's a good lifestyle for me whether or not we are having economic problems.

I'm with sewingcats. I have an embroidery machine but haven't learned to use it yet. Don't see why you couldn't use a hand embroidery pattern to do the same thing. If you're really good at hand embroidery, it can be even more charming.

Gorgeous bracelet! And such a novel technique. What fun!