Lately, I've gotten into the hobby of jewelry making. Costume jewelry is all the rage these days, and after my first few attempts I've found that I quite enjoy the methodical configuration of various jewelry pieces. It's an easy hobby to get into, you don't need a huge workspace and I'm able to keep my supplies in a medium sized basket which I can whip out whenever the desire to create something new strikes my fancy. The best part about it is that it's relatively cheap. Once you buy your tools and components, you don't need to buy anything else for a while in order to make the jewelry. All you need to purchase are new and colorful beads which come in all price ranges, and if you shop around you can find really good deals at either your local craft store or online. It's a fun hobby, and easy to clean up and put away when you're done for the day. Unlike scrapbooking, which takes up so much time and space, with jewelry making you can stop in the middle of a project and clean up without worrying about messing up your current project.
Having said all that, here is one piece that I've finished recently that I'm really pleased with. I found this idea in the book The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Stringing Beaded Jewelry. This is a great book for anyone that is thinking of beginning to make jewelry. It has all sorts of ideas for different beaded projects and helpful hints and techniques for beginners. This is a multistrand cord necklace that is pretty easy to do, the hardest part for beginners is going to be finishing the ends for the clasp, but other than that it's relatively simple.
Supplies you'll need: * 3 10mm silver-lined glass beads
* 20-25 6mm round beads, silver
* 15-20 6-8mm round beads, glass (2 or 3 different colors)
* 4yds 1mm cord, color A (you can get bty at any fabric store)
* 3yds 1mm cord, color B
* 12" 20-gauge wire
* 2 1" cones
* Toggle clasp (or any clasp you prefer)
* Chainnose pliers
* Roundnose pliers
* Diagonal wire cutters
* Awl or large needle (I didn't use one, but it can be helpful)
* Drinking straw (also not necessary, but I used one)
* Scissors
*Tip: You need to make sure your beads have a large enough hole for your cord to fit through, one of the bead colors I picked had teeny-tiny holes, and therefore couldn't use them (bummer). Also, the silver-lined glass beads are your focal point, so whatever style and color you select, pick your bead and cord colors to go with those three silver-lined beads. Also, you need your silver-lined beads to have large holes because all the cords will be threaded through those three beads.
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| These are the silver-lined beads I choose, and once I had them picked out I picked my other bead and cord colors accordingly. |
As you can see, I choose purple and silver as my two focal colors. I can't help it, I am magically drawn to anything purple. One of these days I will try this with a totally different color scheme, but for now you will have to endure my purple passion once again.
Step 1:
Determine how long you want your necklace to be, and cut five pieces of cord twice that length (if you want your necklace to be 20 inches long, cut your cord 40 inches). I used two strands of grey and three strands of purple. If you use a straw, cut it into lengths of 2 inches, 1.5 inches and 1 inch, then cut a slit lengthwise into each straw piece.
Step 2:
Center one of your silver-lined beads through all five cords. Tie an overhand knot of all five cords on each side of your bead (which of course will keep it in place, knots are the theme of this necklace). You can use an awl or needle to guide the knot, it's not necessary and I didn't use one but they can be handy at times.
Step 3:
Using the 2 inch straw as a guide, make another knot and string another silver-lined bead next to the knot and then make another knot to hold your bead in place. Do the same on the opposite side so that you have all three of your silver-lined beads threaded through all five cords.
Step 4:
Separate your cords and now you can start knotting beads on each cord at different lengths. You can use your straw pieces as a guide to space your beads or you can forgo the straw and just knot your beads at random. Work from the center out, alternating from both ends to keep your lengths even. If you work from both ends, you can test the length of your necklace as you go and decide how long you want the finished product to be. I used the straw, it's not necessary but it's helpful to keep your beads separated. It also helps when tying your first knot if you aren't using an awl.
Step 5:
Once you have your desired length, gather all the cords together. Use about half of your 20-gauge wire (around 6 inches or so) to wrap around your cord end. Wrap it about half an inch or so and leave the rest of your wire. Trim your cord ends close to the wire you have wrapped around the cord.
Step 6:
String your cone onto the wire tail and one 6mm silver bead after the cone.
Step 7:
Make a wrapped loop with the rest of your wire above the bead. Trim any excess wire that wasn't used. Use a jump ring to connect your clasp with the loop. I used a toggle clasp, but a lobster clasp or a magnetic clasp would also work well with this necklace.
Step 8:
Repeat steps 5-7 on the other end to finish off your necklace.
This is a pretty basic necklace to make, like I said earlier the hardest part will be working with the wire at the ends. If you aren't sure how to make a wire-wrapped loop, there are dozens of youtube videos such as this one that can help you. There are also instructional videos on youtube for opening and closing jump rings that can be helpful as well.
I was very pleased with the outcome of this necklace and I will definitely have to try this again with some different colors. It's hard to say how much this piece cost me to make since I had some of the pieces and tools already on hand. I had to buy the cord and the beads and cones, but I already had the wire, jump rings, clasp and the tools at my disposal. Overall I probably spent around $10-15 dollars for this necklace. If you don't have any of the tools, it can get expensive but if you're planning on making more jewelry pieces, those tools (chainnose pliers, roundnose pliers, wire cutters) are an absolute must-have.
Good luck, and happy creating!
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