How To Make A Tape Measure Rose Bracelet Tutorial

I think I’ve seen just about every incarnation of the tape measure bracelet but even though I love the concept I never found one that was perfect for me. So obviously it’s time to make my own!

The main points I wanted to include were a stiff bangle base and bunch of roses. I prefer roses grouped in threes so I went with that for a design.

Let’s get into it!

You need:

Old tape measure to cut up
Wire
Ribbon
Needle and thread or Hot glue gun

Let’s make the bangle part to begin with.

Measure your wrist and cut the two ends of the tape measure off so together they are long enough to wrap around your wrist.

Hot glue them together in the centre.

Measure out some wire which is 3 times as long as the tape.

Fold it up so it’s the same length as the tap and hot glue it to the bottom.

This will allow the bracelet to move and bend but remain stiff on your wrist.

Now cut off a piece of ribbon as long as the tape, fold over the edges and hot glue it over the wire.

This will hold everything in and hide the wire but it will also make sure the metal ends don’t irritate your skin.

A good tip when gluing things like this around curves is to bend the bracelet roughly in the finished shape before you glue, this will avoid any bumps in the ribbon at the end.

Now we need to make the rose.

These are the same kind of rose that people often make from ribbon. I’ve done a full tutorial for that over here so have a look if any of this is a bit confusing.

Take the end of the tape measure and fold it at a right angle.

Roll the folded part (the stem) up towards the fold.

Fold the tail of the tape backwards again at a right angle.

Continue rolling the stem over the fold you made.

Keep going with this process, fold backwards and then roll the stem over it.

As you keep going it will form petals.