Easy Bracelet Display From a Mailing Tube
by Sue Runyon.
(Niceville, Florida, USA)
I’ve been meaning to figure out how to make one of these for a while so I’ve been saving cardboard tubes that are approximately wrist size to do it. But I hadn’t figured out how to cap the ends to make them look finished and professional.
Then it occurred to me that mailing tubes already are the right size and already have end caps. This couldn’t be easier. I used a scrap of fabric that resembles white Dupioni silk to match my other displays. The white fabric matches the white end caps.
Supplies:
* Mailing tube that is wrist size (this one was 7 inches in circumference).
* Thin fabric of your choice (too thick and the end caps won’t go on later)
* Matching thread
Instructions:
Make sure your tube is clean. I used a recycled tube so I needed to cover dark writing with a piece of legal sized white paper and clear packing tape so it didn’t show through my fabric. Some tubes come with address lines on them that may need to be covered.
Cut a piece of fabric to cover the mailing tube. Measure carefully so that the fabric is just 5/8 inch wider than the circumference of your mailing tube and at least two inches longer.
With right sides together sew the fabric into a long tube with a 1/4 inch seam. Reinforce the ends of the seam so they don’t come undone. I used pinking sheers after sewing to trim the seam an keep the fabric from fraying.
Press seam open using just the tip of the iron–don’t press the whole tube flat. Turn fabric tube right side out and slip over the mailing tube.
It should fit very tightly if you measured correctly. Tuck the raw ends into the tube and slide the end caps on.
Bonus features are that the inside of the mailing tube will give you additional, protected storage space for inventory or other items you might take to a show and this display can also double as a photography prop for bracelets.
