Word up, it’s Friday! Luckily, I don’t have the dilemma of whether or not to kick it in the front seat or sit in the backseat, so life is at least better than Ms. Black’s at the moment. But instead of making sarcastic reference to one of the worst and most diabolically catchy song EVER, I will talk about a subject completely unrelated: homemade jewelry.
Today’s post is actually several months in the making. Not because it took me several months to make something, but rather that long to actually motivate myself to make something. For Christmas, my Sister-in-law gifted me a necklace someone else had made. I loved the colors, but also knew at first glance that I could make it myself. In essence, this post is about recreating someone else’s idea and, though I do not know this said person’s identify, I am at least acknowledging the source of my inspiration. Without further blabbering, here is the necklace in question:
Lovely, yes? And yet the construction is so simple! The basic design is a fabric tube that is filled/cinched with beads. I wanted to give a go at making my own so I pulled out a vintage scarf I had on hand and went to work.
I first flipped the fabric inside out and sewed it to the desired length (~24 inches). I then flipped it inside out to hide the seam. I then started to slide the wooden beads I had purchased for this project into the tube, quickly realizing that they were not right to recreate the original necklace. Since I was too lazy to take apart the necklace to see what type of beads she used, I just guessed. Given their weight and feel, I surmised she used marbles. So off I sent little man to fetch his marbles for my project. Luckily for me, he was more than willing to sacrifice them for my project. Sweetness, isn’t he?
With the beads in, and iridescent plastic beads “cinching” the fabric between beads and holding them place, I just sewed up the ends and I was done. The whole project took me about a half hour- a time consumption I can handle. Let’s see the final project, shall we?
My plan is to use up some of the scarves I have lying around to make other necklaces and pick up some funky vintage prints at area thrift stores. Recycling/reuse at its best!
Hi! I’ve just tried to make something similar but none of my beads had a hole big enough to thread the material through – very frustrating. I ended up cinching with jump rings which looks ok but wasn’t quite what I was after. What kind of beads should I be looking for? Thanks! Katie
Hi Katie! I actually had a little trial and error with my first necklace. The first thing I learned was that you have to use a thin fabric like silk or vicose (sp?) in order to get it through the clear plastic beads I used (found at Hobby Lobby). I would recommend using a silk scarf such as you can pick up for mere pennies at a thrift store. The second thing I learned was that the wooden beads I used didn’t have enough weight to make the necklace drape properly. I “borrowed” my son’s marbles and they worked quite well. I hope this helps! Feel free to share photos of your end result and I’ll be happy to post them for all to enjoy
-Erin