By: Mandy Project Type: Bead Stringing
This outstanding necklace was inspired by a necklace that we saw on the neck of Natalie Cole in Oprah Magazine . A classic pearl design with an elegant feel. It wears equally well with a low cut gown or a high collar blouse. Very inexpensive to create and a welcome addition to anyone's jewelry collection. The pearls are 5 mm gold cultured round. 4mm and 6mm pearls also work well with this creation.
It also features the use of a chain and S-clasp to allow the necklace to be worn as at different lengths for different occasions or even different people and have a correct fit. The cone is used to hide crimps and give a finished look to the ends if the strands
Materials:
- Approx. 264” of pearls (5mm but 4mm to 6mm also work)
- Soft touch, fine (.014 diameter)
- 7” gold chain
- ‘S’ clasp
- 22 ga. gold wire
- 24 gold crimps
- 2 split rings
- 2 cones
- Size 11 seed beads (approx. 150 beads)
Strand Lengths:
- 15 ½”
- 17 ½”
- 18 ½”
- 20”
- 21 ½”
- 22 ½”
- 23”
- 23 ½”
- 24”
- 25 ½”
- 25 ½”
- 26 ½”
Steps:
- Start by cutting wire 4 inches longer than you want your strands, (2 inches for crimping on both sides)
- String pearls on the wire to the desired length, plus 3 seed beads on each end
- Separate strands into 3 groups of 4, shortest-med-longest, set aside
- With the 22 ga. gold wires, make a perfect loop (not too small), and instead of doing 3 or 4 coils to close the loop- stop after you go halfway around. The piece, (loop and tail), should measure about 4 inches.
- Make 6 loops that size.
- Crimp one side of the 4 shortest strands to one loop, and the other side to another loop.
- Then crimp the 4 medium strands to a loop of their own, and then the 4 longest to another.
- Pull the tails of the loops through a cone and the other sides through a matching cone.
- Pull tightly, and then complete a 3 coil perfect loop with all three wires, at the same time.
- Attach a split ring to 3 ½” of chain and then attach the split ring to the three-wire perfect loop you just created
- Repeat step 10 to the other side of the necklace
- Attach a jump ring about halfway down the chain on both sides, then put your ‘S’ clasp on the jump ring. This allows the necklace to vary in length to fit multiple people and multiple outfits. Leave both sides of the 'S' clasp open so that it can be moved on either side
For the dangles:
- String daisies and pearls in the order of your choice, on a gold headpins
- Complete a perfect loop to the end of the chain.
Click picture for a close-up of detailed steps.
