Embellish Fashion Accessories With Beaded Fringe
Available in dozens of colors, bead styles, and sizes, beaded fringe helps you create instant fashion accessories with very little effort. Sew or glue the strip of beads onto an accessory in need of a little pizazz. The results are instant and spectacular.
Purses and Bags: Fasten a strip of beaded fringe to the bottom of any narrow bag with a handle, and you have an instant 1920s flapper bag. Or a 1960s hippie bag. Cover a small cloth bag with stripe after stripe of beaded fringe for an extra festive look.
Hats: Used with a little restraint, beaded fringe can also embellish hats. Try covering a knit stocking hat with closely spaced rows of beaded fringe for an allover look. Fasten it in place of a traditional ribbon hatband, using a fringe about the same width as the hatband would be.
Belts: A strand of beaded fringe could be worn as a belt, if it were strung securely enough with heavy duty nylon thread. Otherwise, attach one strip, or several, depending on its width, to a belt. Outline a large, openwork metal belt buckle with fringe that has a drop of only two or three beads. Replace belt buckles with a double row of fringe, sewn head to head.
Gloves: Although beaded designs, especially floral and geometric, are popular on both winter and evening gloves, beaded fringe should probably be reserved for use around the edge of the cuff. Formal, elbow-length evening gloves could be embellished with a line of beaded fringe from the tip of the pinky finger to the hem, along the outside of the arm. More substantial, winter leather or knit gloves can be individualized by sewing short strips of fringe across the top of them.
Hair Accessories: Wrap a strand of two- or three-bead drop fringe around a topknot or ponytail. Glue double strands of fringe, their straight edges butted together and centered on a plastic headband. Do the same thing with a long, narrow, metal barrette. Outline a more substantial ponytail or bun holder with fringe. Create your own beaded fringe using elastic and use it solo as a headband or ponytail holder.
Shoes: Imagine a pair of high heels, perfectly good except the heels are scuffed or the leather on them is torn. Cover the heels with beaded fringe wound round and round. Or run a strip along the edge of the shoe. Put a double row along a decorative strap-one that does not insert into a buckle. The beads will not survive the buckling process.
Socks: A single row of dainty beaded fringe at the edge of a pair of ankle socks, the kind you fold over. Use a contrasting color, so the beads stand out. Wear these socks with a pair of very plain pumps, and either capri-length skinny pants or a mini skirt. Darling, and charming. For more pop, sew row after row, close together, along the cuff of the sock. This is good to pair with jeans or something casual.
Although there are dozens, if not hundreds, of styles of pre-made fringe, if you create your own strands, you’ll also create a one-of-a-kind fashion accessory.
Copyright Sharon Shares, 2011
1960s fashion
