Gold beaded necklace (2 ways)...

It feels a while since I shared a jewellery project. I actually made these while it was warm enough for me to sit outside in the garden and bask in the sunshine while crafting away...they were good days :) I didn't share them straight away as I intended to buy some end caps to finish off the plaited necklace and bracelet...however I'm yet to still order them and, lets face it, I probably never will get round to it so I thought I should share them anyway!

I have a distinct lack of gold in my jewellery collection. It's something my teenage self would have been very happy about as back then I firmly believed it to be old fashioned, However it has grown on me over the years and these days I might even choose gold over silver. Most of the gold jewellery I have are statement pieces so I wanted to create something a little simpler for everyday wear. I ended up making two necklaces and a bracelet. Unfortunately I completely neglected to take any photos of the process but they're pretty self explanatory! Here's what I came up with...

What you need: Beads, embroidery thread, scissors, needle and thread, safety pin

1) Cut three equal lengths of thread and tie them together in a knot. Attach this to the safety pin and feed this through your trouser leg (obviously optional but it holds the thread taught).

2) Tightly plait the thread until it is the length you desire and tie another knot to secure.

3) Feed one strand of embroidery thread through the needle and feed the beads onto the thread. Repeat this for the other two strands (I did 11, 15, 17 beads). If, like me, your bead is too small to fit over the eye of the embroidery needle then select a thinner needle and feed thread through the eye of the needle. Tie both ends of the thread together and loop the embroidery thread through it.

4) Now you just need to make each strand slightly longer than the last and then tie in a knot to secure.

5) Then plait the remaining embroidery thread and secure with a knot. Trim the ends.

If you're more organised than me then attach end caps, otherwise secure with a bow!

Here's the bracelet that I made with exactly the same technique...

The second necklace I made is so easy it really doesn't require step by step instructions! It is very similar to the first necklace as I'm using pretty much the same beads (I mixed some slightly smaller and darker beads into this one) and thread. But sometimes all I want is a simple line of beads to finish off an outfit...and this is perfect for those occasions.

Cut the embroidery thread to the length you desire, allowing for extra thread to tie a bow to secure. Feed the beads onto the thread with the technique above and tie a knot about 3" from each end of the thread. Feed a bead onto each end of the thread and tie a knot to secure each of these. Trim the ends.

I love the mix of the soft thread with the metallic beads...let me know if you try it out!