Pearl Snow Baby Necklace
Designed by Kristin Burgess
Hurray the Snow Babies have arrived! Delicate and soft in nature, you won't need much to make them shine! Try them as a pendant strung together with our seed pearls for a beautiful instant gratification gift this season. Be sure and order soon as these little treasures are sure to fly....or tumble out the door fast! The NEW size of Swarovski rondelles add just enough sparkle to spice up the freshwater pearls. After the project is finished, the leftover crystal spacers you have are the perfect size to make a dainty pair of earrings to match!
This project is great for all levels. Stringing and a very small amount of wirework and knotting is involved. This necklace is 17 inches long. It can be made longer by adding 2-3 inches of chain to one side as an extension that the clasp can work with.
Step 1: Thread your Snow Baby of choice onto one head pin and form a
coiled loop at the top using the Round Nose Plier. Cut away the
extra headpin with the wire snips. This makes a bead an instant
pendant which will be threaded on after stringing 8 inches of the
seed pearls....
Step 2: Remove the Griffin Silk from it's package and take completely off of it's card. With your hands you will want to prestretch the silk to remove as many of the kinks as possible. This is important as you want the silk to cooperate with you as you work and for it not to get tangled or tie itself in funky knots as you are stringing along. If you find this difficult on your hands, you may want to iron your silk on a low heat which will help remove the kinks as well. With you silk nice and limp, build up a chunky knot on the tail end of your silk (furthest from needle).
Three knots on top of each other is just thick enough. Trim any small tail after your knot and now thread on one knot cap. Take the needle attached to the silk and enter the knot cap so the knot ends up inside the cup (you will be bringing the needle into the 'clam shell' mouth so the hook will be on the very end facing away from the silk). *Do not shut the knot cap yet as later a second strand will be added.*
Step 3: Start by stranding the smallest of the seed pearls. You will want to use the entire strand of pearls(16 inches) and it is the later addition of the clasp that brings the necklace to it's final length of 17 inches. After the first 8 inches, strand on one Swarovski rondelle, then the pendant, then another Swarovski rondelle. This forms the center of the necklace. Strand the rest of the pearls (the last 8 inches) to complete this strand. Once the strand of pearls has been transferred to the silk you will want to thread on a second knot cap for this far side. This knot cap is strung on from the back so your needle will come out 'the mouth' of the
'clam shell'. If you have strung this second knot cap on properly the hook will be facing away from the pearls. It is these hooks that we will later use to attach the clasp to the necklace. To finish this strand, use your awl to chase a triple knot down into the clamshell. Be sure you build knots on top of each other and not next to one another as you don't want the knot to come out of the clam shell. If two are next to each other, a third knot can join the two sometimes. As long as the knot is significant enough so that it stays in the clam shell then you are all set. Do not cut you silk but thread it back down into the clam shell and out the clam shell hole (headed toward the beads) to set up for stringing the second strand of pearls!
Step 4: This second strand of pearls runs just below or outside the first strand. String on 38 of the pearls, then one Swarovski Rondelle, 5 pearls, one Swarovski Rondelle, 5 pearls, one Swarovski rondelle, 5 pearls, one Swarovski Rondelle, 3 pearls....you should be right near the center now :) Thread your needle through the rondelle/pendant/rondelle that made the center on the first strand. This keeps the two strands together and also keeps both from draping/covering the centerpiece. For the second side of the second strand you will mimic the first side... 3 pearls, a rondelle, 5 pearls and so on until you reach the clasp and have run out of pearls! Thread the needle through the clam shell so the needle comes out the mouth. Build up the triple knot and chase it into the cup again using the awl. Once the knot is tight in the clam shell you can trim the leftover silk away.
Step 5: Add a small dab of clear nailpolish to the knots inside both clamshells. The nailpolish acts as a glue and is a nice extra percaution to make this piece even stronger and more secure. Once you have added a small dab to both clam shells, close them shut using your fingers and/or gingerly use the thin line pliers. To add the clasp use the thinline pliers to curl the hooks on the clam shells into loops. Carefully swing these loops sideways to feed on the hook (side one)and eye (side two) clasp. A hook on one side will be added and the figure eight to the other side to make a complete clasp set.
NOTE: For added length or to make it adjustable, add the hook to one side and 2-3 inches of a fine chain to the other side. The chain should be fine due to the dainty nature of the piece but the links must be large enough to accomodate the hook clasp. I suggest using a few inches of one of these styles if you want to add length/exstension to the necklace ( style 1, 6, 14 or 32 in the sterling chain section on our site).
