Brooches can be made from all kinds of materials easily found in your local department store, or even at home. You can brooches out of wood, buttons, beads or even bottle caps. Following are three examples of giftable brooches that you can make yourself and a step-by-step guide on how to make them.
1. The Ruffle Button Brooch. This brooch can be a hip attachment to your coat, hat or bag and is very easy to make. All you need is a needle and thread, a piece of fabric (approximately 8″x8″), a button, a pin back and a hot iron. The first step in making this brooch is by cutting your fabric into a circle, after which you need to create a hem by folding the edges of the fabric and pressing it with the hot iron. Once you have the hem, you may start creating the ruffle by sewing baste stitches along the hem of the fabric. You may adjust the size of the ruffles according to your preference. After stitching, place the button at the center of the fabric and secure it with the needle and thread. It is now time to attach the pin back simply by sewing it onto the back of the fabric. Presto, you’re done!
2. Classic Beaded Brooch. All you need to make this inexpensive but attractive brooch are the following: brooch back, beads, beading wire, a large jump ring and your charm of choice. You may also need a pair of metal cutters and round-nosed pliers. These tools are easy enough to find and are also inexpensive. Now that you have what you need, its time to make your brooch. Cut your desired length of wire and secure the first bit by passing it through one of the holes in the brooch back and tying it tightly. Thread on beads as desired, then pass the wire through the next hole and secure. Repeat the process until you have secured the wire through all the holes of the brooch back. Now, to add the charm to your brooch — open the jump ring, insert the charm then hang the jump ring on a central wire at the back of the brooch. Squeeze and adjust the wire holding the beads together to create the desired effect.
3. Beaded Safety Pins. Probably the easiest handcrafted brooch to make, all you need for this accessory are a number of small safety pins (10-14 pieces), beads and one larger safety pin. Open a safety pin, slip beads onto it then close the pin and pinch the end with pliers to make sure that it does not pop open and spill the beads. Repeat this step with all the small safety pins and beads. Open the large safety pin and slightly part the coils at the end. Slip the loop of the small safety pins onto the large one, puling it around the loop to the other side. Once all the small safety pins are in place, squeeze the loop back with the pliers to close it. You now have a fun and hip accessory for your hats, shirts or shoes.
There are a lot more ways to create trendy handcrafted brooches without spending a fortune, and the three examples cited above can get you started. With practice, you can move on to other, more challenging designs. The book linked above has some great projects!
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