Flipping through September Vogue, I spotted this fun dress by Akris and immediately thought it would make a fantastic necklace. I love the clean lines and I LOVE the way it looks with a strapless dress or top. Though it wold also look great with a simple white tank… and now I regret not thinking of it sooner so I could photograph it more casually. I’ll just have to wear it and style it so you can see the variety in it. It’s so cool, really, though definitely a statement piece. But it could also be an addition to a halloween costume, not that I can recall one it would work for at the moment, but I’ll think of it, just give me a few days 😉
Inspiration…
What You’ll Need…
- Leather or faux leather
- Leather hole punch
- Scissors
- Blade, cutting mat, ruler
- Beading pliers
- Necklace closure of choice… I used a lobster claw & gunmetal chain, with two jump rings
Steps…
Beginning with your leather, cut a large rectangle anywhere from 15″-18″ in length and from 5″-8″ in width.
I began with a curved piece because it was originally from my Leather Peplum Belt DIY. I repurposed it… but a rectangle will work just the same.
My final piece is 15″ x 5″
Find the center of your rectangle, place it on your cutting mat, grab your ruler for a straight line, and slice all the way down, leaving no less than 1/4″ at the top.
You may choose to use a blade all the way around, but I found it was a bit easier with sharp scissors… you just have to have a keen eye and steady hand to cut near-perfect straight lines.
If you don’t trust yourself, continue with the ruler and blade.
Continue all the way to the end of one side… and then beginning at the center again, cut until you get to the opposite end.
You can begin at one end rather than the middle, I just wanted to make sure my fringe was equally perfect and imperfect on each side, because I was working with a curved piece of leather.
Once you’ve got all your fringe cut, hold it up, around your neck to measure where you want it to rest along your collarbone, and cut off any excess.
Since my leather was in a curved shape, I ended up with little tabs at the ends to secure the closure in place. If you work with a rectangle instead, yours will look a little bit different, and that’s okay, your fringe may line up a little better in the back than mine did.
Grab your leather hole punch and using the smallest hole, puncture the ends of each side… Mine ended up center, yours may just be along the side, if you’re working with a rectangle.
Attach your necklace clamp with a jump ring on one end…
…and your chain with a jump ring on the other.
I left my chain long so it would hang down my back, you can trim yours to your linking.
I started out with a wide piece of leather because I wasn’t quite sure how long I wanted it to be… I had to see it visually around my neck before I decided, and then trimmed off a few inches so that it was 5″ wide.
If you notice, my fringe isn’t perfect, but that’s okay… not only do my slices not all line perfectly along the top, they’re not all perfectly straight either… again, that’s okay, when it’s around your neck, the imperfections aren’t visible.
And… Voila!
Have Fun!
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