Monday, December 21, 2009

Tutorial: Earring Organizer

I was 21 when I finally decided to get my ears pierced, I had them done a long time ago in the 1st grade, but they grew in.

A few months after that me mom sent me 4 or 5 pairs of dangle earrings that I always forgot to wear because they were in my jewelry box. I had the mesh fabric left over from another project, and I had some embroidery loops, so I thought this might be a good idea. And it is, so far it's worked out great, I can see what I have, and I don't have to untangle them from other pieces of jewelry.

However my mom lives in LA where you can find really cute earrings for 1$, every time I receive a care package from her there's usually 4-6 pairs of earrings included. My earring hangar is getting a little crowded as you can see. And that's not even all of them, so I decided to make a new one and cute it up this time.

What you will need:
  • An embroidery loop
  • 1 yard fine meshed tulle
  • Some kind of glue
  • Scissors
  • Sewing machine (optional)
  • Decorations (optional)















I bought my new embroidery loop at the Salvation Army for .49. They come in a number of different sizes and you can buy them in wood, metal, or plastic. I suggest you avoid plastic it's not very reliable..

You can find the tulle in the bridal section of most fabric stores. It’s usually used for veils and it’s a lot softer with smaller holes than the regular stuff. You’ll want about a yard because you’ll be layering the fabric. 4-6 layers.

Lay the loop on top of the layered mesh and cut a wide swath around it in any shape you like. This time I did a circle, last time a square. Make sure the fabric is cut with an inch or two away from the loop.


After that I sewed the edge of the fabric down, you can glue it down too if you want but it doesn’t looks as nice. I did a straight stitch around the edge to keep it in place, then I sewed over that with a blanket stitch because it looks nicer and it will be more stable in the long run.


Then you can place the loop around your fabric and you can choose to tack down the excess fabric behind the loop with a sewing machine or glue to make it look cleaner. I like to leave it out because it’s easier to hang post earrings it on that way.

After that you can choose to leave it plain, or start decorating. The skys the limit lace, ribbon, gemstones little bit’s of old jewelry, go crazy. I started using a hot glue gun for this part, but then it exploded on me, literally exploded and set fire to the cardboard it was laying on.


So I switched to a glue called ‘Mighty Mend It’ after that. I glued on lace, ribbon, gemstones, and an old necklace.


The end result looked like this.

I have a friend who mentioned she was interested in my old one if I ever decided to make a new one, so I spruced that one up a bit.


And she'll be getting it for Christmas.

Anyway, I hope this was useful. Ta ta for now!



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