TOPSHOP – Peter Pan Necklace
So I’ve been a fan of the whole “collar” thing for awhile now but I haven’t gotten on that bandwagon…until now. I was about to buy this collar (pictured above) from TOPSHOP when I was in Vegas last month…but I couldn’t bring myself to pay $28 for it. My philosophy when shopping is: spend little on trendy items, invest in the essentials. (This is probably THE philosophy for most budget-conscious individuals.)
Instead, I decided to make my own version of this collar/necklace. YAYY FOR DIY PROJECTS! I mean, why not? It’s always more fun to have something that others don’t have, right? ^o^
Here’s the finished product:
TA-DA! The materials cost about $5 and it took about 3-4 hours to make. W00T W00T! Already saving money! The small crystals are 3mm swarovski crystals and the rest are just your run of the mill beads from the craft store. I believe the silver beads are 4mm and the black beads are ~6mm.
Still haven’t worn it out yet, so you’ll have to wait for a photo of it “in action”. In the meantime, you can (if you’re interested) get a glimpse into how I made it. ^o^
Step 1: The supplies
Beads (duh), pliers, side-cutter pliers (I think that’s what they’re called), monofilament, and some silver findings for the end of the necklace (where we’d connect the clasps). I like to get regular fishing line (vs the jewelry monofilament) because it’s cheaper and I’m assuming it’s as strong, or stronger. I mean, this is the stuff they use to catch fish right? Haha
Step 2: Starting Row 1
So, if you look at the “pattern” and the actual collar….I made a boo boo. Can you spot it? Hahaha The trick with making things like this is you don’t want to pull each loop too tight or too loose. Too tight and it won’t lie flat…too loose and the beads won’t be spaced evenly and it’ll be more likely to catch onto something and break.
Step 3: Ending Row 1
The final loop is a little different from the middle loops so I included a photo of it. Don’t forget to link the two sides of the collar! I almost forgot…hahaha
Step 4: Starting and Ending Row 2
So this is one of the points when I failed at documenting the steps properly. Hahaha. The start of Row 2 can be seen on the left, and the ending can be seen on the right. In order to make the rest of the collar less complicated, I tied off the monofilament at this point rather than try to finish the entire thing with one piece of it. (Trust me, this will make your life SO MUCH BETTER.)
Step 5: Row 3
Okay…so this is a bigger fail for documenting the steps. SORRY. The pattern shows how to start it off (pretty similar to Row 2 so shouldn’t be too hard). The ending for this row is the most difficult so that’s why I’ve included 3 small photos of it. >.<
Step 6: Starting Row 5
This part was a little difficult as well…just because the first three loops are all different so you have to really concentrate and not get distracted (like I did). The bottom right picture shows the first loop that doesn’t link to any of the previous rows. (Row 4 is completed last because it doesn’t span the entire length of the collar (so it would’ve been hard to complete row 5 had we done that one first.)
Step 7: Finishing Row 5
ALMOST DONE! In case you haven’t noticed…the black circles on the diagrams are old beads…the colorful circles are the new beads you add to the collar. ^o^
Step 8: Row 4
This is how you finish it off. The beads in the right red box are from row 5, the beads in the left red box are from row 3. After you do 9 of these loops, you run the two strands of monofilament through the nearest 5 silver beads then tie it off.
In case you forgot what the finished product looks like…here it is again!
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❤ ❤ ❤
Happy crafting!!!
La Poubelle 