You’ve probably noticed that ric rac features heavily as a favourite trimming in the 1950s ~ a lot of dresses and skirts had ric rac detailing on them, like these lovely examples:
There are also a million different things you can do with ric rac, like this rose applique & ric rac trimmed collar :
Or these pretty cards decorated with ric rac:
However, when I found this tutorial by Janet of Vintage Vogue’s Nostalgic NeedleART I thought it was a great way to top off any outfit with a lovely vintage touch, even if you don’t have a ric rac trimmed 1950s piece, because you could easily add it in the form of jewellery!
Materials you will need:
- Thin ric rac if you want to make earrings, thick ric rac to make a broach/ring
- Jewellry findings ~ I use post earring back and a broach pin {I would have made a ring, but I didn’t have one to glue the rose to}
- Thread to sew the roses together/to your jewellery findings
- Hot glue
So here’s what you do to make a ric~rac rose:
Step 1: Cut a length of ric~rac, fold it in half and twist the two pieces around each other.
Step 2: Roll the rose up and secure it with glue or thread so it doesn’t come unravelled. You can use pins to get the placement of the end right, or just hold it tight.
Step 3: Peel the petals back if you like, or use it as a rose bud. : )
Now to make it into jewellery!
To make ric rac rose bud earrings:
Step 1: Cut two 15cm pieces of 1/2cm wide ric rac and roll them into a rose bud.
Step 2: Glue your bud to the earring finding.
Note: I used bead cup/clasp/thingy with the post earring threaded through the hole in the middle because the disc at the end of the post was too small to glue the bud onto. You can just use a plain post earring however.
Step 3: Lather, rinse, repeat ~ and voilà! You have two cute ric rac rose earrings to wear.
To make a ric rac rose broach:
Step 1: Cut a 82cm piece of 1cm wide ric rac and roll into a rose. Glue the end down.
Step 2: Peel the outer layers of the ric rac back to ‘unfurl’ the bud. You may have to glue the bottom of the rose to keep it from falling apart.
Step 3: Cut out some green felt in the shape of leaves and a small circle that is the width of your broach pin.
Step 4: Glue down the leaves, then the broach pin, then the felt circle. You want the circle to sit in the middle of the back of the rose and cover all the untidy glue.
Now you can début your lovely set of ric rac rose jewellery. ^ ω ^ You could also make a ring, or glue a rose to a headband and wear it in you hair ~ really the possibilities are limitless. Ric rac can add a lovely vintage touch to just about anything; so have fun with it! ᵔᴗᵔ
xox,
bonita
