As a social enterprise, we strive to make our community a better place. Part of that is caring about our impact on the environment. We decided a long time ago – Ock Pop Tok is now in its twenties – to source all of our raw materials locally in order to minimize our carbon footprint. This initiative also reinforced our commitment to the local community by supporting local businesses and artisans.
Plus, we make a point to give a second life to Lao textiles. Yes, you read that right, upcycling is also part of Ock Pop Tok’s design and product development process. You can have a look at this blog for more details on which of our products are upcycled.
But we thought this time we would bring something different to the table and we asked our Retail Manager Moonoy to share with you how she makes earrings from scraps of fabric. Moonoy has many more upcycled earrings designs so let us know if you would like to see more videos/blogs like this one. Drop us a line on [email protected]!
Ready? Let’s get started on those upcycled earrings!
- Sabaidee!
- Today I am going to show you how to make earrings using leftover fabric!
- In our stockroom, we have many different leftover fabrics in so many different colors.
- I think I’ll choose this shade of blue for today’s project.
- This matching cotton thread is for the tassel.
- You will also need some simple thread for the tailoring part, scissors and earring hooks.
- Ok, let’s start with cutting the fabric.
- Fold it in two so you can cut the two circles at the same time.
- I will wing it but you can trace it down before cutting.
- Then we’ll prepare the cotton thread for the tassels. You will need about 50cm of cotton thread. You can use any other thread that you have readily available. It needs to be a bit thick though.
- Fold it in two and cut it. Repeat this step twice. The thread will now be about 12cm long.
- If there are some loose strands, cut them.
- Separate your cotton thread in two.
- Take a piece of the tailoring thread, about 30cm long. Place it in the middle of one pile of the cotton threads, tie it together tightly. Cut the thread.
- Fold the cotton bundle in two to make one big bundle.
- Place the tailoring thread about 1.5cm from the top and tie it tightly. Cut the thread.
- Flip the tassel to be and repeat this step to make it more solid.
- Trim the bottom of the tassel.
- Take the tailoring thread and do a running stitch all around one of the pieces of cotton fabric. Tighten it a bit so it forms like a cup.
- Place the scraps of fabric left from earlier inside the “cup”.
- Tighten to close it. Do a few stitches to keep it closed.
- Then, you’ll start forming the flower. Go over the side, from the middle back to the middle front.
- You’ll do that eight times, to get eight sections, thus creating some kind of flower.
- Once you’re done, take another piece of thread, go through the tassel and then through the bottom of the flower earring to the top.
- Once at the top, create a small loop. Do it several times so it’s thicker. And then turn the thread around the loop to make it even more solid.
- Open the bottom of your earring hook slightly.
- Put the hook on the loop and close the hook.
- Repeat the whole process with the second earring.
- Now that our earrings are completed, let’s put them on to see how they look. Beautiful, right?
- So here you go; an easy and fun way to create a pair of earrings from some scrap fabric.
- Enjoy!
Learn more about Moonoy here (scroll to the bottom)! You can also follow our Lao Facebook page for some videos featuring Moonoy!
