Fly Bee! Bracelet Tutorial

Created by: Polly Nobbs-LaRue

Designer Tips

Punch 1/16" holes in the bracelet where you want to place the rivets.
Run the first rivet through the leather, place a washer on it, and use a fine-point Sharpie to mark a line on the rivet shaft about 1mm past the washer.
Use heavy-duty flush cutters (or a jewelers saw) to cut at this line. Be sure to cut nice and flat (parallel with the rivet head). File flat if necessary.
Place the bracelet rivet-head-down on the rubber side of a steel/rubber bench block.
Begin mushrooming the wire rivet. See the Fancy Wire Rivets Blog post for step by step instructions.

NOTE: If the washer jumps off, you need to mushroom the wire tiny bits at a time before you can put the washer back on and have it stay in place. Once the washer stays on, keep mushrooming the wire rivet until it is a nice smooth dome.
Other (less expensive) washer options include vinyl / vulcanite heishi beads. Just punch a 1.6mm hole in the center (or a 1.5mm hole and enlarge is slightly with a bead reamer), and you have an inexpensive strand of 100's of washers!

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