You will need the following to make your own weaved necklace:
Crafting/Jewelry Making Pliers, Crimper and Cutter
Beads or Stones of your choice and 28 gauge non-tarnish silver wire. For this project, I am making use of semi-precious agate chips, clay beads and a polished stone for my pendant. Please take note that if you are using a stone/gem of your choice and turning it into a pendant, you will need to make use of a headpin so it can hang from your chain. You will also need jump rings and a clasp or toggle of your choice. If I forgot to mention any other materials you will need for this project, I'm sure you will find it on the instructions below.
I chose this stone for this particular necklace. Note that I used a decorative headpin to turn the stone into a pendant that I can work with and incorporate on my necklace.
You can also use ready-made pendants that you can get from stores. The possibilities are endless when it comes to making your weaved necklaces. You can go for any color and design that your heart desires. One word of advice tho...measure, measure, measure! If your ready-made/store bought pendant has a small opening, you might have to adjust your pattern to make it fit the chain.
I've already explained the pendant part of the necklace but if you have any questions about the pattern, feel free to post a comment and I'll get back to y'all the soonest that I can. Now on to the chain part of this project...
Measure how long you want your necklace. I am making an 18 inch chain but I measured out 25 to 27 inches of wire so I have extra material to work with. The reason being, you need extra wire to be able to weave the bracelet and add clasps/toggles to it.
After you've cut out your wire, go ahead and string your beads (in my case I used agate chips). Since I am making an 18 inch necklace, I strung an 18 inch strand of agate chips.
This is the first strand that I have finished. If you're done with your first string, go ahead and set it aside. Don't tie the ends or anything...just set it aside and make sure it's secure so none of your beads will fall out! Trust me...I have done this several times in the past and it's annoying when you end up with beads all over the floor just 'coz you forgot to secure it.
Do the same with your second strand. This time I am using clay beads for contrast. I suggest using different colored gems or beads for aesthetic interest.
I decided to use a plain silver chain as my third strand - but you are not limited to my patter, y'all. You can opt for just weaving 2 strands or you can use a third strand of beads for your weaved chain.
Now for the weaving part...
If you have a clamp at home, you can use that for the "weaving" portion of this tutorial. My husband got one for me 'coz I use it a lot for my other wire art paraphernalia. It shouldn't cost you more than $2 or $3 at your local hardware stores.
Go ahead and attach your strands to your clamp. Make sure that it's very secure before you start weaving then go ahead and braid your strands. You can start twisting your strand after you're done braiding, until you're satisfied with how it looks like.
Note: I slipped the two strands of wire on the very last hole of my silver chain, so I can braid it together. You can enlarge the picture so you can see clearly. Again, please do not hesitate to ask me questions if you have any.
This is my chain after I got done braiding it.
Next, you are going to use crimp tubes to secure the ends of the necklace.
Slide a crimp tube through your wire strands and crimp it using your crimping tool.
You can use decorative findings to hide your crimp tubes like I did on this project.
Then all you have left to do is to attach your clasp and pendant to your project. If you're not sure how to do so, you can consult youtube videos like this one:
You can attach your pendant by using a jump ring:
You can also make a matching bracelet using the same pattern, like I did.
I hope y'all had fun with this project! I hope it ain't confusing to follow but if it is...I'm just a comment away.
Have a wonderful Thursday, y'all!
