At the weekend I found a tutorial for making a 'statement necklace' (or 'bib' necklace as it's sometimes called). I've been eyeing them up in the shops for ages, but some of them are horrifically expensive, and knowing how quickly I can go off jewellery, I didn't want to spend a fortune on one. I decided to follow the tuturial and have a go at making one myself. I spent most of Sunday, and part of yesterday working on various styles of fabric roses from another tutorial I found ~ more about that tomorrow.
This morning, with the weather outside looking like this ...
... I rushed through my morning chores, checked Gorgeous Girl was fine and happy, then set to work. I have to say that this was one of the most enjoyable projects I've worked on for a very long time. Because I had a selection of fabric roses made and ready to be used, and lots of jewellery pieces from my recent dabbling into jewellery making, everything was to hand. I printed out the tutorial, and just arranged things until I had a design I liked, then started sewing. The tutorial itself suggest using a hot glue gun to stick things to backing fabric, but I preferred to sew and then glue. You could easily do this project without sewing.
I've used flesh coloured felt as my base fabric, the only thing I'm sad you can't see much of is the gorgeous lace that I used on top of the felt. You can see it in 'real life', but not from the photos.
While I was making it I wondered if I'd actually wear it, or if it would be nothing more than a decoration on Ruby, my mannequin. Once it was finished I knew that yes, I will wear it and I will be rather proud to tell people I made it myself. If you want to make a statement necklace, then take a look at this tutorial. [you can make this.com]. It's really well written and has lots of photos to help make things as clear as possible.
Don't forget, this is your last chance to enter the giveaway. It closes tomorrow morning (British Time). I intend to pick a name out of the hat first thing in the morning. Details can be found by clicking on the link marked 'March Giveaway' (underneath the header photo above). If you do not want to enter the giveaway but want to leave me a comment anyway, simply mention that you don't want to be included ~ I won't be offended.