Indian Silk thread bangles bangle models
Making silk thread bangles is definitely a laborious task , no doubt about it.
If we would like to have beautiful bangles using a simpler technique, these pictures may be useful.
We have to stick 4 glass bangles together with fabric glue. I use glass bangles because we get a shiny or glossy finish.
We can use plastic bangles also if we are not very particular about the shiny finish. Using decorative items like "stone chain " etc.
we can make this bangle design which we can wear for matching dresses or we can gift for weddings , festivals like Varalakshmi Vratham and Navratri
if we have a tradition of making gifts for these festivals.
Some photographs showing different designs of silk thread bangles tried by me on various occasions.
The first bangle on the top uses five strands of red and five strands of black silk threads. The other bangles are with green silk thread , 10 strands
The first one at the top uses golden ball chain for decoration and stone chain
The second bangle is with two layers of stone chain with yellow stones
The third bangle is also with yellow stone chain and ball chain on either side of the stone chain.
The half pearl are decorated with ball chain as shown in the image. The alternate pearls are decorated with ball chain. This bangle I used a single wide plastic bangle. If you do not get or have a single wide bangle , you can stick two bangles to get a thicker or wider bangle.
The blue bangle at the top has two layers of blue ball chain with a stone chain in between
The black bangle at the bottom uses black silk thread above which another layer of golden thread is wound , initially decorated with a pearl chain
The basic steps are the same for making any model of silk thread bangle
The material needed are
a) Silk thread
b) Glue
c) pair of scissors ( with blunt edges preferable , particularly for children )
d) decorative items like kundan stones, golden chain , pearl string ( all artificial )
e) plastic bangles
The steps , tricks and tips in silk thread bangle making
Take ten strands of the silk thread Apply glue to the inside of the plastic bangle at any one point
Stick the ends of the strands , one of the two sides to the glue
Weave the thread around the bangle tightly in an inclined pattern
When the end of the strands are reached apply glue again on the inside of the bangle at that point
Stick the ends to the glue applied
Again take another ten strands and repeat the procedure.
This process is repeated till the entire bangle is covered with silk thread
We can have two colours of silk threads also instead of one covering the bangle
Next comes the decoration on the outside of the silk threads
For these there are various options like kundan stones, artificial jewelry like pearls etc
Use a combination matching the thread colour
A very good idea for gifts , craft ideas for schools .
It is not necessary that we should have new bangles we can convert our old bangles also into beautiful designs using this technique
We can try with glass bangles also , because they are thin and fragile so we should stick four of them together to facilitate working on them.
Close of view of various individual models from the above collection for reference
My daughter insists that I spend "quality time " with her when she is studying for her examinations.
Actually what she means is that I should sit beside her for a few hours daily while she studies.
These days children are under lot of stress during exams so they want their parents to be around when they prepare. If you are wondering how I get so much time to make so many different type of silk bangles , I make them when I give her company , when she studies for examinations.
We cannot sit idle for hours and just watch our children study. So I use this time to make this simple craft that I store and give as gifts to ladies and girls ( friends and relatives ) who visit our house or during festivals like Navratri and Varalakshmi Vratham Pooja.