Recently, hand-made jewelry and decorative elements have become increasingly popular. They are made from beads, polymer clay, rubber bands and many other jewelry. It is worth examining in more detail what soutache is and what kind of soutache jewelry can be made at home.
What is soutache braiding?
Soutache is a woven cord made of silk. It is also used to make jewelry and accessories. This type of handicraft definitely cannot be ignored. This definition itself is not as familiar to people as all other techniques. It is used not only to create accessories, but also to decorate clothes, usually women's and children's.
Important! Due to the interlacing of the braid, a depression appears in the middle of the tape. Several layers of soutache cord are sewn along it. Not only silk, but also viscose or metallized threads called lurex can be used in the production of the tape.
Today, soft and hard cords are available. They also come in:
- Satin;
- Metallized;
- Matte;
- Neon.
Soft tape is 4-5 mm wide. It is satin, shiny, but less popular than hard. The length of hard soutache is only 1.5-3 mm wide. The composition is most often based on PE or lurex, and the rest is cotton or viscose. It is cheaper than using pure silk, and is in demand by buyers.
The binding is most often made of single-color threads. They are used to secure the cords. For a person who has at least the slightest sewing experience, mastering the soutache technique will not be difficult.
A little history of soutache technique
Although the technique is simple, it requires some skills, a very careful and reverent attitude. The craftsman simply must be careful. To make a beautiful decoration, you need:
- Prepare a base for sewing, which is fabric or felt, less often leather;
- Select ribbons by color and other decorations in the form of beads, seed beads, rhinestones;
- Sew the product directly.
Soutache embroidery appeared in the 15th century. Even then, it was used in France to decorate clothes and accessories. Several centuries later, it became so popular in Russia that it was nicknamed the "Russian braid". This happened thanks to Peter the Great. Our needlewomen came up with even more uses for it. At first, it was used to decorate dresses for ballroom dancing, theater costumes, and then for men's military uniforms. Today, dresses and other items using soutache are chosen by fashionistas for everyday wear.
Important! Thanks to Israeli fashion designers who created jewelry from it in the 90s, soutache has also acquired the significance of an independent item that has become an integral part of the lives of fashionistas all over the world.
Today, soutache is most popular in Japan and Spain. An internet search for soutache jewelry will yield hundreds and thousands of different, dissimilar items.
Soutache technique for beginners
To start working, you need to prepare the material and tools. It is not difficult to make a product, it takes time. That is why you should not rush and skimp on quality material. It depends on the person whether he will get a masterpiece or a low-quality trinket.
To get started, you will need:
- Soutache cord, purchased at a sewing store;
- Beads made of clay, glass, porcelain, plastic;
- Rhinestones of various types;
- Beads;
- Fine beading needle;
- Thin fishing line - monofilament;
- Scissors;
- Cabochons;
- Fabric, leather or felt.
The principle of making any soutache decoration includes three main points: creating a sketch, sewing, finishing the back side.
The first stage is drawing a sketch of the product. You don't have to be an artist or know how to draw to do this. It's enough to just sketch out what the future decoration will look like, its pattern and the arrangement of beads.
The second stage is sewing. For this, you can use a soutache tape folded 2 or 3 times. Professionals recommend starting from a conditional center. Sew it with a cord and then place rhinestones, beads or beads. The cord itself can show in what key you need to work further.
The third stage involves finishing the back of the product. It directly determines how long and how well the final decoration will hold its shape. To make the back, you need to apply the product to a dense material, cut it out along the contour and sew it to the outer layer of the soutache row with monofilament.
Important! After this, a kind of decoration will be ready. The next step will be to find a basis for it. It can be a pin, a hair clip, a bracelet on the hand, etc.
How to Make Soutache Jewelry
To make a soutache decoration, you need desire, patience and accuracy. Below, the second and most important process will be described in more detail - the manufacturing process. It includes the following points:
- Glue the ends of the cord so that it does not come apart;
- While the glue is drying, glue stones, beads, etc. to the thick fabric;
- When the stones or cabochons are firmly glued to the surface, the fabric is cut off, leaving a couple of millimeters;
- Sew the soutache cord to this fabric. It is advisable to do this in the middle so that the seams are not visible;
- When the center is ready, decorations in the form of rhinestones and beads are added to the sides;
- The ends of the ribbon are trimmed and glued to the back of the decoration.
Important! It is necessary to carefully mask the back side of the product and the cords glued to it. For greater beauty of products made of soutache, you can put thick paper or cardboard under the fabric.
What is required to create a soutache bracelet
To make a soutache bracelet you will need:
- Soutache ribbons of different colors;
- Beads or seed beads with a diameter of 3 to 5 mm;
- Monofilaments of different colors;
- Clamps and fasteners for fastenings;
- Thick fabric or leather.
After preparing all the materials, you can begin working in the usual way, as described above.
How to make a necklace yourself
The necklace is made in a slightly different way, as it is more complex to make. The process of making it should be examined in detail:
- Glue a round stone to a thick fabric;
- Sew it with beads or sequins;
- Using soutache, wrap it around the stone and sew the edges to the fabric;
- Using silver soutache, pearls or beads can be added between the two cords;
- A bead wrapped with cord should also be added on top;
- Thus, sew half a row with these beads;
- Cover them with soutache and connect the ends by sewing them to the previous row;
- Bend the ends and make another row with a different type of beads;
- At the end of the row, add a large bead and wrap the remaining cord around it;
- Cut off excess material and singe its ends;
- To form a ribbon, you need to secure a large bead and add new beads in a snake-like pattern.
Important! The same principle can be used to make the second symmetrical part. If the length is satisfactory after trying it on, then a clasp is added, and the necklace is ready.
The clasp can be made in a simple way:
- A loop is made on one side and a large bead on the other;
- A piece of thick material, such as leather, is cut out and attached to the back of the central part.
The picture below shows a decoration made using this principle.
How to decorate clothes with soutache embroidery
Many people are also interested in how to make openwork soutache on things: dresses, shirts, blouses. Decorating ready-made clothes with soutache threads is even easier than making independent decorations. For example, a single-color light or dark dress can be easily trimmed with ribbon, twisting it so that certain patterns are obtained. Between the patterns, you can sew beads and seed beads, creating an even more beautiful pattern.
Important! Plain transparent fabric can be decorated with patterns to resemble soutache lace. Such material immediately acquires a romantic and fascinating look.
To make the design more even, you can use a pencil or an erasable marker on light fabrics and chalk on dark fabrics before embroidery. After that, you can lay the cord and sew on it. The accuracy of the work can be increased by putting the product on a hoop.
Making flowers is even easier: just cut out petals from some material, sew them in a certain order and trim with soutache. You can attach a bead, pearl or seed beads in the middle.
Thus, using soutache techniques is not as difficult as it seems. It is enough to have accuracy and patience. Then everything will work out. This ancient way of decorating clothes and creating jewelry is still popular today. After completing the master class, you can make unimaginably beautiful products without great economic losses.
