Flipping through the October 2011 InStyle Magazine, I came across Lauren Hutton’s picks and found this delicate pearl necklace from Calypso Sea and loved the contrast of the raw leather with the pretty pearls. I went to my local bead shop to find some really great pearls but they were closed so I used the budget version from JoAnn’s and it turned out just as nice.
* Raw leather cording… I used very fine leather cord for this & bought two packs but didn’t use it all.
* Pearls
* Bead reamer for plastic pearls or a pearl reamer for real pearls.
* Scissors
* Cut two strips of leather cord between 20″-30″ depending on the length you want and tie a knot about an inch from each end. I didn’t get fancy with a closure, I figured I’d just tie it around my neck. Cut three 9″ strips and two 6″ strips. Using your bead reamer to make the hole in your pearls larger if necessary, slide one on each end of your 5 strands and knot the ends.
* Find the center of your necklace and using one of your longer strands of pearls, create a half slipknot around your base necklace and pull it tight. {*there may be a proper term for this knot but I don’t know it}
* Make a loop… slide under your base necklace… pull ends through and tighten. Knot your small strands on either side of your center long strand.
* Continue knotting your two longer strands on either end of the shorties.
I stopped at five but it would be pretty to go further up the sides as well in descending size.
I made earrings as well by knotting two shorter strands on a pair of medium gold hoops.
Have Fun!
