OK, so when I went through my closet and got rid of things that didn’t fit, I also went through my jewelry boxes and got rid of things I never wear. I gave away the majority of the things, but I kept a couple. One piece I kept was this old, thick chain necklace. It was the kind that had a letter charm covered in rhinestones…I swear, there was a time they were popular. Well, most the rhinestones have since fallen out (because it was cheap), but the chain is still in good condition. I decided to turn this into a long necklace rather than a choker. I was inspired by necklaces I had seen by J.Crew and guess although I can’t find a good link to the original.
Before I begin, let me just say, I’m well aware of my apparent addiction to white accessories. Between the bib necklace, the jersey necklace and now this, it has become quite clear. It’s a thing. White matches everything, so I like using it. Plus, it just looks so crispy and clean, how could you not like it? OK, moving on….
I have to say, this project took maybe 30 minutes and was super easy. All you need is the necklace, ribbon and pliers (well and needle and thread). I don’t own jewelry making tools, so I just used my standard needle nose pliers.
Here we go!
1. Take off old fasteners from the necklace. (I kept mine for later use)
2. Weave the ribbon in and out of the chain through about every third link. Leave excess on both ends
3. Sew chain to ribbon on each end
4. Decide how long you want the necklace. Mark the ribbon 1″ longer on both ends. Cut of excess.
5. Finish the ends of the ribbon. I used a french seam, but don’t worry, it’s easy:
-Lay the 2 ends on top of each other, rights sides together
-Line them up so the ribbon on the bottom is 1/2″ longer than the one on top
-Fold the bottom end back over the top
-Making sure the fold stays in place, fold the top piece back over. You should have both right-sides facing you.
-Hand sew this seam shut
6. Make a bow out of matching ribbon and attach to the necklace
All done!
Here are a couple other pictures:
Of course, some link parties:
