Cut Out + Keep

Diy 'Akela' Necklace

Inspired by the Akela necklace at Anthropologie - but no way i'm paying $40 for it!

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/diy-akela-necklace • Posted by katcar~

I saw this necklace and loved it, but i hated the price tag. I'm a jobless teenager, do they really want me to pay $40 for a necklace?? It looked simple enough, so i came up with my own rendition! :)

You will need

Project Budget
Almost Nothing

Time

0 h 45

Difficulty

Pretty Easy
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Description

I saw this necklace and loved it, but i hated the price tag. I'm a jobless teenager, do they really want me to pay $40 for a necklace?? It looked simple enough, so i came up with my own rendition! :)

Instructions

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    Get your cloth, flip it inside out, fold, and sew a tube about 1/2 inch thick. Then, take the tube and flip it right side out. This might take a while, but it's the hardest part of the project, i promise! You might need more than one of these (I used 3).

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    Tie a knot about three inches from one of the ends, then slide a bead into the tube and down above the knot. Tie another know, and it should look like the picture.

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    Do that as much as you like, and just repeat the process. Remember that your beads don't have to match - they won't be visible. They should just be around the same size. Here are some of the random beads i used!

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    When you get close to the end of a tube, leave about 3 inches again, and then put one bead in. Don't tie a knot over the bead this time.

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    Take your second tube, and tie a knot with the end of the first tube and the end of the second tube. Then you can trim so it's not visibly very different than the other knots.

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    Keep going until you want to stop; you can decide how long you want the necklace. Mine ended up looking like this. Not very fabulous, but it's not done yet ;) When you're done beading and knotting, sew the ends together to get the necklace shape.

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    Now we're going to make the flower(s). On the original necklace, they're just flower shapes cut out of cloth bunched together and added onto the necklace like beads. I didn't feel like making it like that. I mixed the techniques of Stacie G. and maize hutton and came up with this: Use a running stitch on a scrap strip of matching fabric. Scrunch up as you stitch along.

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    Using your candle, burn the edges. Mine turned a weird brown colour, which i was not expecting haha, but that's okay.

  9. Shape it into a flower, and stitch it in place. Then you can sew a bead into the middle. I used a wooden bead that looked like a cheerio and matched the colour of the burned trim.

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    Sew the flower over one of the knots from tying the two tubes together. Then you're done! Enjoy your new statement piece :)