Toteally Kenya: May 2013

Thursday 16 May 2013

Ankara fabric comes in a variety of rich colours including luscious yellows, oranges, reds, greens and several other colours. Made of 100% cotton or cotton poly material, the material is durable and the beautiful array of colours it comes in makes it extremely popular. The material originated from Nigeria and was typically used for making casual outfits. Nowadays, it’s primarily made in Ghana and usage has expanded beyond clothes to include bracelets, earrings, neck pieces, purses etc. The amazing bit is that with enough skill you can comfortably make your own Ankara jewellery at home.

The D.I.Y instructions in today’s post are dealing with how to make an Ankara bracelet with a bit of a twist, as it will be all blinged out. We all know how popular rivets and studs have become in the recent past and the Ankara studded bracelet is bound to be up there on the list of chic items. It's pretty simple to make the bracelets as the pictures are also quite self explanatory.

Cut a strip of fabric on the 'bias' i.e. across a square section like you are cutting a strip off a diagonal. The picture below with red fabric shows the bias direction. The fabric should be just long enough to go round the bangle and wide enough to close in neatly on the inside although you may need to finish off with some ribbon to make it look neat.

For ease use iron-on studs for this project and iron them onto the fabric.

Spread your glue on the bangle being careful not to use too much of it.

Place your already studded fabric on the glued bangle surface and smooth evenly. Finish off with some ribbon or trimming on the inside to conceal rough edges.

* Images and Story adapted from Naira Land.

Tuesday 7 May 2013

AYE FOR TASSELS

Tassels and fringe embellishments on handbags have been important accessory details over the past few years and this trend has caught up with jewelry, shoes and basically anything and everything. Playful, somewhat bold fringe and tassel additions complete your look quite fabulously. Thankfully you need not look further than Toteally Kenya to stay up to date with this trend.