I had the special privilege of editing projects from Handcrafted Jewelry 2012,
which will hit newsstands September 25. Inspired by Chloe Chatenever's
Forget Me Knot necklace and Bianca Howell's and Carla Rogers' Chunky
Braided T-Shirt Bracelet, I created two easy t-shirt necklaces. Enjoy!
Knotted and Braided (instructions below):
1 ] Cut a t-shirt widthwise to make six 1" wide strips; repeat using a
second t-shirt for a total of 12 strips. Stretch and pull the strips so
they curl on the sides. (I also cut mine so they weren't giant loops.)
2
] Group the strips together and arrange them to match the photos above
to create a large knot in the center of the necklace. Flip the necklace
over to see the front of the knot.
3 ] Continue following the photos
to fishtail-braid the strips on one side of the knot. When you reach 1"
from the end of the shortest strand, use a safety pin to pin all the
strips together, making sure to pin every single piece on that side of
the necklace.
4 ] Use a sewing needle with doubled thread to sew all
the strands of one side of the necklace together as pictured; tie a
double-overhand knot at the end of the thread to secure.
5 ] Use the
longest strand to string 1 jump ring (I used a square-shaped jump ring),
then wrap the strand around all the other strands once and tie it to
itself to secure. Then continue wrapping the strand around the other
strands.
6 ] Use the previous thread to sew the wrapped strand into
place and sew all the strands together again to secure. Secure the
thread and trim.
7 ] Trim all the loose t-shirt strands, making sure not to cut the strand with the jump ring.
8 ] Attach 1 jump ring to the clasp.
9 ] Repeat steps 3-7 on the other side of the necklace, attaching the jump ring from Step 8.
I
created a similar necklace by looping the center of the groups of
strips together, then used all the strand on each side of the necklace
to tie an overhand knot. Then I finished the ends as with the previous
necklace.
What unusual materials have you used in your projects lately?
Happy Crafting!
Kate Wilson
Project Editor
Be sure to check out both the pieces that inspired me in Handcrafted Jewelry 2012 this September!