Power Cuffs: Warding Off Monsters

An elegant solution to all of life's ugly problems

I have been making one-of-a-kind wrist cuffs for a while now, and have dubbed them "Power Cuffs." Follow the link if you want to see the back story and basic how-to tips.

This latest pair of cuffs are particularly special because of an added power: the ability to ward off monsters. If I think I'm going to have a particularly difficult day, I just arm myself with a pair and I am ready for the worst. Both sets of cuffs are made of red vinyl. 

Little Monsters

This first pair is embellished with hand-embroidered little monsters (and victims). The monsters were drawn by my two favorite little girls, then copied onto the vinyl using tracing paper, then stitched. The buttons used for the closures are antique European carved coral rimmed in silver.

The lining for these cuffs was made from scraps of fabric from Guatemala.

Lining

And here we have one on:

The second set of cuffs utilize the spiral as a snare for evil spirits, familiar as a classic spirit trap in a range of different cultures.

Spiral spirit-snare cuffs

These cuffs are lined with scraps from a man's recycled shirt, and employ vintage buttons from Paris.

Power Cuffs: Become a Fashionista Superhero!

Cuff-o-Rama!

I have fiddled around with cuffs before, recycling the cuffs from thrift store men's shirts and embellishing them (see examples here). My current cuff obsession, however, addresses a specific need: protecting and concealing bruised wrists. As one ages, skin gets thinner and more apt to tear and bruise, an unsightly inconvenience that is exacerbated if one also happens to be taking any kind of steroid medication.

Presented with this dilemma, one can choose to either look like a frail victim, or....opt for the role of fashion-forward superhero, in the spirit of Wonder Woman or the Black Panther. If you thought the Wakanda crossed-wrists chest thump was cool before, wait until you try it with cuffs.

For this series of cuffs I've utilized a range of materials and stitching techniques, identified in the photo captions below.

Recycled man's shirt cuffs, scraps of West African indigo, Japanese sashiko stitching.

Close-up.

Recycled truck inner tubes lined with scraps from recycled men's shirts, embellished with vintage buttons.

Buttery soft vinyl, top-stitched with spirals, lined with scraps from recycled men's shirts, and embellished with vintage buttons.

Close-up of spiral stitching.

Recycled man's shirt cuffs and scraps from another recycled shirt.

Close-up.

Just how powerful do these cuffs make you feel?

Very powerful.

I have never seen anyone else wearing anything like these, and they answer a very real need. They would also look fabulous as a fashion accessory for a twenty-year-old. Hell, they would look fabulous on Chadwick Boseman.

So cuff it up!