Let's Do Some Necking!

There is a cutie, cute girl at church who has the best sense of style!  Her name is Sammie!  Sammie wears great outfits that are accessorized perfectly.  I have admired one particular necklace from afar for quite a while.  Finally I decided that I simply must recreate Sammie's pink necklace.  Once I got started I made several versions of the Sammie necklace because they are soooo easy to make.  (You could seriously make this in about an hour.)  Here are my versions of the Sammie necklace...

Well, what do you think?  Which one is your favorite?

They completely simple and totally fast to make!  (They would be perfect for a quick craft night.)  Here is what you need to make your own Sammie necklace...

6" of lightweight gauzy fabric (I don't know what it is called)  I know, shame on me!
10 clear marbles
A button or other embellishment
A needle and thread
Some sort of flame
Maybe some fabric glue or hot glue (I didn't use this.)

 

Here are your materials!  I went a different direction and didn't use the vintage earring in the foreground.

Use scissors or a rotary cutter to cut the material into two pieces:  one 4" wide, the other 2"  each the entire length of the piece of fabric.

Take the 2" piece of fabric, fold it in half, and sew it into a long tube.  Then set it aside for later.

You will definitely want to pin the edges because this fabric is slippery. 

Count out 10 marbles and grab the 4" piece of fabric to make the necklace.

I think the marbles look really cool in this photo!

Divide the 4" strip of fabric in half lengthwise.  Wrap a marble at this spot in the fabric strip and tie a knot close to the marble on each side.  Alternate sides and add the marbles one at a time until all of the marbles are tightly wrapped and knotted into the fabric.

Here is where the directions get a bit sketchy.  I was working on this project while my kiddos were in their swimming lessons so I have no pictures of the creative process.  Just take my word for it, this is EASY!

Tie the selvage ends of the fabric together in a knot.   Singe the raw edges of the necklace above the marbles with the flame to keep them from unraveling.  Set this aside for now.

Pick up the tube that you made earlier.  Take threaded needle and loosely gather the fabric tube.  Stitch along the sewn edge and gather.  Shape the gather into a cute design.  I made a different design for each of the necklaces.  You can see the designs in the photos below.

Hold the necklace by the knot to determine where the design will go.  Stitch the design onto the side that has lower marbles.  That is a funny-sounding sentence!  The fact is, you are using an even number of marbles and starting in the middle makes them come out in uneven lengths in the end.  So just sew the design onto the lower-marbled side.  (You can flip the necklace around to put the lower side of marbles on either side of the necklace.  Doing this will put the finished designs on different sides of the finished necklace.)

Embellish your design with a decorative button.  Either hand-stitch the button or use glue.  And......

Voila!  Here is your new Sammie necklace!  In pink...

Here is the pink one!  The center of this design is the same button as here.

In white...

This design is made by gathering and twisting the 2" piece of fabric.  Then attaching the two ends to make a  circle.  I attached the circle to the necklace and then the rhinestone button to the design. 

Here is the white one!

Here is a close-up of the design:

This necklace has a double twist. 

And in ecru...

This design is made by gathering the 2" fabric and then shaping it into a figure eight.  I attached the "eight" to the necklace (again on the lower-marble side) before attaching vintage buttons from my collection.  I chose these because they were the same design but different diameters. 

This one is off-white.  Do you recognize the button from here?

This design is a double ruffled circle.  I decided to use this fun textured brass button from the button box of my Grandmother.  It adds a little bit of pop to the center of the design and therefore accentuating the asymmetricality of this necklace.  I think it's a fun addition. 

Remember before, I was talking about making these necklaces while my kids were in swimming lessons?  Well, Sammie is their teacher.  Her mom saw me with a finished necklace and instantly recognized it.  She went upstairs and brought down the actual necklace I had been trying to recreate.  So... after I finished making my knockoff, I actually got to inspect the original necklace!

Here it is....

See!  This necklace is awesome!  It is totally knockoff worthy!

Upon further inspection, I definitely did some things differently that the original, but  I like what I came up with after only a few fleeting glances in the church hallways.  I will make a more accurate knockoff someday.  But for now, I will be happy with these...

You can tell that the one on the left is off-white in this picture.

I also made this one for my cousin.  (Notice that the design is on the opposite side on this necklace.)  I'll update this post if she sends me a picture of her wearing it.  For now, this will have to do.

My cousin's Sammie Necklace.

I gathered the 2" piece of fabric up the middle with the needle and thread so the edges of the design are raw.  I singed the raw edges to keep them from unraveling. 

I wore the pink one to church yesterday.  I got a lot of compliments again.  Hey!  I like it!  I would love if you made a Sammie necklace of your own!  Send me a photo and I'll post it on my "You Made It" page.

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