These charms feature mini balls of yarns stacked in a variety of colors!
Total Project Time: 20 minutes
I have the heart of a knitter. Knitting has been a part of my life since I was in middle school, and I got in trouble for crafting during class throughout high school and sometime even in college. I wanted to make some sort of charm for knitters! It’s unlimited in color and stack size. These charms work well as pendants or as keychains.
Don’t feel like making your own? You can order these on my Etsy and customize the colors – the link is here. Check out the Craft section of MCG for more fun patterns in strings and things or more unlimited ideas.
Supplies
For such a small project, there is a surprising number of needed supplies.
- Embroidery Thread
- Bead Core
- Thin Embroidery Needle
- Needle Threader (Optional)
- Paper Label
- Clear, Fast Drying Glue (or Super Glue)
- Silver or Gold Flat Head Pin
I like to have the bead core and embroidery thread be the same color because it makes mistakes a little more forgiving. The areas that might be visible will match the thread color.
Process
01
Connecting the Thread and Bead
I found two ways to connect the thread to the bead: making a knot or gluing it on. For making a knot, the thread should be pulled through the center of the bead and wrapped around. Then the tail will be tied around the working area and any extra tail should be cut off. I hid the knot on the inside of the bead.
When I used the gluing method, I placed a small amount of glue on the end of the thread and then pressed it against the inside of the bead. Again, the tail end should be trimmed to avoid having it stick out of the project. I prefer using the gluing method for this step.
02
Wrapping the Bead
The majority of this project is wrapping the yarn around the bead. I used a threaded needle for this part because the center of the bead becomes very crowded very quickly. I recommend using a needle threader because embroidery thread can be tough to get through that tiny hole. Wrapping the bead is very repetitive and can be a struggle, especially towards the end. As the center gets thicker and thicker, it can be hard to get the threads to wrap around the entire beads.
03
Finishing Touches
To finish the look, the tail end of the thread needs to be grounded and a label needs to be added. I like to glue to label on to keep it in place on the ball. The label should have a little extra than needed to wrap around entirely. The first point for the label is also a great place to hide the tail end of the thread.
To make the charm, each mini yarn ball is then threaded onto a silver (or gold) flat Head pin and the end is curled around to make a space to attach a thread of keychain.
Lessons
Protect Your Fingers
When working with glue to do delicate work, I find it almost impossible to avoid getting glue on the tips of my fingers. That’s when I found these silicone finger protectors. These keep my fingers clean, and the silicone is easily cleanable. It’s a great, reusable option for keeping your fingers safe from getting glued to everything around them.
Quick Recipe
Instructions
- Attach thread to bead using the knotting method or the gluing method.
- Using an embroidery needle, wrap the thread around the bead until the bead is no longer visible.
- Glue the end of the thread to the bead.
- Wrap the label around the mini ball of yarn and attach using glue.
- Thread desired beads onto flat head pin and curl end of pin into a loop.
- Put on necklace or keychain!