Craft Time

I found this lovely necklace at a farmers market years ago.  It was an amazing deal, and made of semi-precious stones.  I just love the braided torsade, but not the closure.

The glittery beads at the back of the necklace did not match, in my opinion – but I could still wear the necklace with my hair down.  However, those pesky beads caught in my hair and scratched the skin on my neck.

The hook and jump rings were oversized but incredibly difficult to open.  My nails are far from beautiful, but I do not enjoy tearing them to get a necklace on and off, which was happening with the clasp.  So the necklace was buried in my jewelry box for years.

Time for some crafting!  I have boxes full of beads and wires and findings, but rarely use them these days.

There was a distinct possibility that the whole thing was going to come apart as soon as I used the wire cutter to remove the clasp.  It looked like there were some crimp beads holding the torsade, and thankfully, they held everything in place!

With only an inch left of the jewelry wire to work with, I reattached the decorative cap, along with a new length of wire extending through that cap.

My first thought was to use some fluorite beads to extend the length of the piece and add a toggle closure.  But in the end, I was not happy with the way the beads I had on hand looked.

I decided ribbon was the best way to go – but, once again, had nothing that would work.  Time to make some ribbon! 

I am working on a dress from some lovely rayon satin, and realized that the fabric would work beautifully with the necklace (the dress is actually what reminded me of the necklace!). 

A width between ¾” and 1” seemed like a good size.  The fabric was folded, stitched, and turned right side out.  After a good press with the iron, my ribbon was ready.

To test out length, I grabbed a couple of ribbons and tied them to the end of the necklace.  After tying a bow, I placed a pin where I wanted the hanging ribbons to end.  When the ribbons were untied I knew just where to cut my handmade ribbon.

But now I had the problem of how to attach the ribbon.  A jump ring was not the look that I wanted.  But a loop was the only thing I could think of to attach a length of ribbon in a secure manner.

In the end, I looped my wire through a crimp bead.

Voila! 

My cut satin ribbons were threaded through my newly create wire loop, the raw edges tucked inside, and the ribbon wrapped around and stitched over my created loop.

The last step was to finish the other end of my created ribbon.

Now I have a necklace that I will wear and to top it off, the length is adjustable depending on the neckline of whatever I choose to wear!