Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Safety Pin Watch Tutorial!

Alright guys, this is my first shot at a tutorial. I absolutely love to make these and they are relatively simple. So strap in and let's go!
Look at how beautiful and unique! Mind you, they can be done in whatever color your creative little heart deems fit.
For this tutorial, I'll be using Black and White. 


Ok, so stuff you'll need:
Beads- (of course) I use the larger seed beads. 
Safety pins- about an inch in size and a lot of them
Crimp beads- 4 total
Clippers of some sort
Stretch cord - .8 mm is a good thickness
Watch face- make sure it has two holes on each side. (The photo below will explain)
Jewelry pliers
A clamp to hold the cord- optional.

See how the watch has two holes on one side? This is the kind you want to use.
Step one- place beads on safety pin

Step Two- Pinch the opening closed so the pin wont come apart and STAB YOU!
Step Three- Make a bunch of them. I use about 53 for a 7 inch wrist band.


Step Four- Prepare the watch! Take your stretchy cord and cut two strips the size of your wrist (give yourself some slack to work with)
Step Five- Slide one of those strips into the first hole like the photo above

Step Six- Take a crimp bead and put it on the end of the string. 

FLATTEN IT NICE AND TIGHT

Like so. 


Now when you pull it through, the string wont come out. Amazing, isn't it?
Repeat on other side. (Be sure to only crimp one side of the watch)

Step Seven- Thread the cord through a hole in the safety pin.

Step Eight- Thread it through the other hole and pull the safety pin snug against the watch face.

Do that over and over and over. Notice in the photo above that the ends which are being threaded through are changing. You want to make it this way so that it will lay flat and not have a funky curve to it.

Step Nine- Continue to thread until they are all on your band
Almost there!

Step Ten- When you have them all threaded up, clamp off one of the threads and grab the other. Pull that one through the hole on the other side of the watch.
Step Eleven- Put a crimp bead on. This step will be much like the first, except you want the crimp to be as close to the watch face as possible.
Step Twelve- Pull stretch cord firmly and flatten the crimp tube, making the band tight. 
Step Thirteen- Repeat with the other stretch thread.
Step Fourteen- Clip excess stretch cord and Ta Da! You have a fabulous stretchy safety pin watch. I guarantee, that once you get a knack for this watch, you wont want to stop making them!

Well, I hope I didn't blab your ear off and that this tutorial helped those who wanted to make this. 
Please, tell me your thoughts.

More Tutorials to come ;)








5 comments:

  1. is there a video on how to attach that band to the watch . I cant see the picture very well I really need to watch it done ty so much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have a video and apparently neither does You Tube. The simplest way to explain it is to smash a crimp bead at the end of your stretchy cord so that it doesn't slip back through the watch holes. I smashed the crimp cord flat instead of in a circle like most crimp tubes are smashed. Or your could always try to tie a knot at the ends and put a dot of glue on them to make sure they stay secure.
      I'm sorry I couldn't be more help than that.

      Delete
  2. When you put the cord thru the first hole, you DON'T pull it all the way thru? I am confused also. If the cords do not go all the way thru, how do you connect the band?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello,
      I can definitely try to explain myself better. Can you tell me what step you are stuck on?

      Delete
    2. Hello,
      I can definitely try to explain myself better. Can you tell me what step you are stuck on?

      Delete