Monday, January 17, 2011

Brassiere wire necklaces - a how to


Today I've got something I think you are going to like.
For the necklaces I am showing below, I used the wires of a brassiere.
I cannot stand the poking and jabbing of the underwire and I always take the wire as soon as I buy the brassiere. And you guess right. I never get rid of them.

So here is what I made with a pair.

Take the wire and crochet it all around
but stop near the edges and secure by tying.


Crochet some flat flowers. I made two of each color.



Sandwich the wire with each flower 'pad' and
stitch all around to secure it.



Make up your own design. Add some leaves....


... and some buds.

Crochet two strings and attach them to both sides of the wire.
Thus the length is adjustable.


And your new necklace is ready!




Then there is this one.
The velvet, Victorian necklace.


For this one I used a velvet tube
through which I inserted the wire,
ruffled the tube and sewed the ends.



Then I took a piece of lace, ruffled that too.
I added a decorative vintage button and stitched the piece on the tube.
At the back I sewed two silk ribbons for tying.
It didn't take me more then 10 minutes to do this one.



Tips: For the tube you may use any already made edging of sweaters, sweatshirts or such. Just cut the length you need and ruffle it. Or you may wrap a ribbon (or else) around the wire.
Instead of lace you may embellish it with whatever suits your fancy!

That's it for today. Come tomorrow. I have prepared more for you.
There is a giveaway still in progress.

34 comments:

Sus said...

What an ingenious bit of recycling! Lovely!

Merry Makes.. said...

Great idea! It's the perfect shape for a necklace and the possiblities are endless. Thank you for sharing.

ByNightCreations said...

How ingenious!
I love those!

creativejewishmom/sara said...

So smart! And love what you made Maya, thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday! all the best, stay warm!

KJ@letsgoflyakite said...

This is absolutely brilliant and the finished pieces are stunning. I have so many of those wires, and I had no idea what to do with them. I think you have opened up a whole new world.

Maya Kuzman said...

That's great to hear KJ!

Ophelia.K said...

I love the velvet one with silk lace bow! It's so classic!! Also I love your new back ground! It's elegant and it reflects your loveliness!I

Amie {Kitty Cats and Airplanes} said...

Wow...that is so cool! What amazing upcycling, I love it.
Amie @ http://kittycatsandairplanes.blogspot.com

singapore florist said...

adore the victorian necklace <3

Breaking Free From Old Ways said...

Wow you have such a great imagination! I love your blog I am a new follower! I found you through what Allie's making. I would love it if you followed back check out my craft blog http://breakingfreefromoldways.blogspot.com

AllieMakes! said...

Tell me, you really just wanted some fancy new bras, eh? LOL Just kidding. Great idea! It's probably a better idea to ask the smaller endowed neighbor for hers, as the giant ones that poke out of mine would look like plate rims...
Great job!
Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie! I can't wait to see what you have for next week!
AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

The homebodies said...

What a great way to recycle! And I would never guess by looking that those necklaces came from bra wires! Nice work!

-Rochelle @ http://homesweethomebodies.blogspot.com

Jayna Rae said...

What a great idea!!!

Breaking Free From Old Ways said...

Thank you! I was inspired by your necklaces so I started taking out the wire from all my bras right away. I don't know why I hadn't anyway it is so uncomfortable...but I am glad I didn't otherwise I would have thrown them away. Well I can't crochet so I have to think of other things to do. I took a picture of myself wearing it but it turned out kind of blurry. I need a new camera. I will take another one though and post it!

Papgena Made It said...

Thank you!!!

Gina said...

Great idea! I hate those wires too and it's hard to find a bra without them these days. I'm going to post a link on my blog to here and show one of the pics!

JennLucas said...

Such a great use for those awful wires that pop out and NEVER go back in to stay! Thank you so much!

Jenny said...

Love this idea! I hate underwires too, but unfortunately I've already thrown all mine away. I'm not into crochet but I am into upcycled felted wool, so I might have to try a sewn version of the flowery one!

Citizen K said...

This is so clever -I love how modern the crochet looks. Thank you for the inspiration -and since I do crochet I think I'll be giving this project a go!

Audrey said...

This made me laugh at first because I never would have thought of using my worn out bras for this but it is absolutely lovely!
Thank you for sharing!!!

Audrey
aka AudreyGardenLady

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

That's so pretty and sure creative. What a great idea to use that wire. Thanks so much for adding this to the OnePrettyThing Flickr pool, I'll be linking in my next Crochet Roundup.

Tru said...

What a creative idea. I will have to take out the wires before I dispose of my bras from now on.

Teresa aka Tess said...

OMGosh, these are so cute. I love how you found a way to recycle those awful bra wires. I hate them too...

Agy said...

This is a GREAT idea! :-)

Joanna said...

Greate idea, i always brake one of the wires making the bra useless. Now i can recycle at least some part of it :)

Tristin said...

Thanks for the fab tute! I included it on my latest Linky Love post that features accessories made from upcycled objects!

http://twogirlsbeingcrafty.blogspot.com/2011/02/linky-love-upcycled-object-accessories.html

Angie Holden said...

Awesome!! :) Thanks for auditioning for OMTWI!!

Cucicucicoo said...

you're incredible! :) lisa

The Beading Gem said...

I've seen underwire bra inspired necklaces before but never a necklace made from the actual wire!! Utterly brilliant! I will be featuring and sharing in a future post so others can come visit! Pearl

Anonymous said...

THX for sharing

Anonymous said...

that's soo awesome! I recently started to crochet and... I love this project. Especially the first one, with the flat flowers and buds! LOVE IT!

Lia said...

Versione italiana a http://www.cosedilia.com/1/post/2011/08/tutorial-collane-con-i-ferretti-dei-reggiseni.html
Gentilissima Maya, grazie per l'autorizzazione!

Italian version at http://www.cosedilia.com/1/post/2011/08/tutorial-collane-con-i-ferretti-dei-reggiseni.html
Kind Maya, many thanks for authorizing me!

PC said...

This is absolutely brilliant! Pinning!

RobyGiup said...

What a great idea!!!
I've never seen this tutorial, luckily you shared the link few days ago in a new post. I wouldn't miss it!