WOVEN NECKLACE TUTORIAL
Woven Necklace Tutorial
Enjoy easy weaving project and make lovely summer accessory
I was especially excited about the woven necklace tutorial project! Last year I bought a large weaving loom on a stand and planned to start weaving wearable art. There is something truly unique about the woven texture that I would love to turn into unique fashion pieces. Last year has been really busy so I haven’t been able to start properly yet. However, not only do I have several designs prepared to start but there is also a possibility to make own yarn to use for weaving! A while ago I have also tried different ways to dye natural fibre with plants so if something sounds really exciting it’s weaving with my own naturally dyed and hand-spun mohair yarn!
Summer accessories as a gift
Making a woven necklace isn’t great just for yourself but it’s also a lovely handmade present to give someone special! And you don’t need to stay with the pendant, you can also make woven bracelet, earings or even a weaving kit! Just throw the easy handmade tools together with some beautiful yarn and you have a creative present!
There are also some great ways to decorate your woven necklace. First way is obvious – the endless colour palette and yarn thickness you can choose from and make beautiful combinations just to your taste. Then there is embroidery – cross stitching or casual embroidery on the finished woven base. There are so many embroidered designs you can try from botanicals to abstract style. And of course – wax and glass beads! I have chosen this techniqe for today’s tutorial so more on beads bellow!
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If you enjoy crafts, DIYs and easy creative ideas – pin this project to your Pinterest boards for later!
Woven Necklace Tutorial
You’ll need:
A: Loom
- recycled cardboard box for the loom
- marker
- ruler
- cutter
- glue
B: Weaving
- yarn of your choice
- weaving needle (bent)
- wax and glass beads
- bead needle
- fishing line
- jewelry supplies – golden loops and golden chain
- embroidery floss
If you enjoy crafts, DIYs and easy creative ideas – pin this project to your Pinterest boards for later!
Instructions
Preparing the loom
Find an old cardboard box and draw a rectangle of 20 x 30cm. Within this rectangle draw another one 3cm from the sides and 5cm from the top as shown on the image. Cut the small rectangle out with the cutter and then the large rectangle as well. You will have a lovely frame to use for weaving! To finish the loom cut two more cardboard pieces out – two strips of 20 x 3cm. These will help you to lift the warp threads off of the loom frame so you can easily weave the weft threads through. Use glue to stick the two strips to the loom as shown. Lastly, mark the top and bottom edges of the cardboard frame 0.5cm apart and cut the marks with the cutter. These marks will hold your warp thread nicely in place. And your loom is done!
Weaving
To dress the loom with the vertical warp thread choose a strong (usually quite thin) yarn and begin by making a small knot. Place the knot into a cut mark as shown and then lead the yarn into the mark on the opposite side of the loom edge. Place the yarn through the mark going backwards and then bring it back to front through the mark next to it. Then lead the yarn to the opposite side across the loom to attach. Repeat this until you have dressed the loom as wide as you’d like your woven necklace to be.
Once you’ve dressed the warp thread, it’s time to begin weaving with the horizontal weft yarn. To make this process easier and faster use a plastic weaving needle with lifted tip. Choose which yarn you’d like to use for the necklace texture – thin, thick, hand-spun with knots, different colours and both natural or synthetic materials. The choice is yours! After you’ve prepared your weft yarn (you won’t need too much since we’re only making a small woven necklace), place one end of the first row yarn through the weaving needle head. Weave through the warp yarn one direction up and down to secure the weft yarn in place and return back swaping the warp yarn for down and up. Continue until you reach the desired height of the woven necklace, changing the yarn if you want to create variety in texture. Every time you change yarn make sure to weave the end through the warp yarn to avoid cutting the ends later on. This will help to keep the woven piece nicely intact.
Removing and decorating the woven necklace
After you’ve finished weaving your necklace, you’ll need to remove it from the loom. You can easily do this by cutting the warp thread at the edges of the frame, making allowance to tie the knots. Again – making knots on the warp thread will keep the piece nicely in place. Take a couple of warp yarns and tie a knot closely to the weft yarn, repeat this until there are no loose warp threads.
The last step is to decorate your woven necklace! I have chosen beautiful glass and wax beads available in most craft stores or tailors’ shops. The beads come in different shapes, sizes and colours so you can be as creative as you like! The key tip here is to use the fishing line to attach the beads to your woven necklace! Fishing line is amazing because it’s transparent and you can attach the beads without any visible threads all over the place, drawing attention away from the weaving and the beads.
If you enjoy crafts, DIYs and easy creative ideas – pin this project to your Pinterest boards for later!
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