Bubbe PinsTM: Innovative Wearable Art for Your Hair by Patricia C Vener
It all started when I saw a post on Twitter from a representative of Rings & Thngs, the wholsae supplier of findings for jewelry artists and designers, about their latest offering of metal bobby pins with 10 millimeter pads soldered on. Their thought was that folks could glue stones on the pads. I saw these and knew at once they'd be perfect bases for more elaborate bead weaving designs. I immediately sent a message and their response was to offer to send me a few to see if the idea would work. I accepted, they sent the findings and I made history.
I devised a technique to weave the beads directly onto the pad forming the base for all the rest of the designs, some of which are quite ornate. The versatility arises in that I can either work directly onto the base or I can work a section separately and then sew (or weave, really) the section as an appliqué onto the base.
Now I was ready to name this new line. I happened to show them to my sister who quickly realized they'd be perfect replacements for the plain (boring) bobby pins that Jewish men and some women use to hold slippery yarmulke and lace caps from falling off the head. It has become almost a universal problem with modern cloth and styles. For many years the best solution has come from grandmothers, ("bubbe" is Yiddish for grandmother) handing out cheap metal or plastic covered bobby pins. No style, just plain functionality.
My Bubbe PinsTM add that missing element of style and you don’t have to be Jewish to wear them!
Yarmulke in the main photograph was hand-made by Larissa Eidlina. You can see more of her work at her website, DesignKippah.
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