Sea Glass & Chain Medley
Designed by Kristin Burgess

Ring in the beginning of March with this yummy Spring mix.  The Sea Glass has arrived in rounds and other shapes including chips, pendants, nuggets, coins and more!  This double strand includes a twisted brass vintage chain and our tiny mother of pearl color enhanced shell.  Since it's March, and my favorite color,  I had to add just a hint of green.  Also check out the brass box beads which have a inner circle that you can fill with any bead around 5mm in size.  Great project for even a beginner beader!





This project is great for all levels!  Stringing and crimping are involved with this project.   The necklace measures 24 inches.    This vintage chain is a great quality with an interesting twisted design and enough comes in a package to add a second strand.   This necklace stays in our Trend Alert of royal tones with a slightly brighter green to pack a punch for Spring!

Step 1:

Precut 16" of softflex and attach to chain end using a 2x2 gold crimp.  
String this pattern onto the softflex wire...1 seed, 1 coin shell, 1 seed, 1 green nugget, 1 seed, 1 brass box bead (once through the first hole pick up 3 seeds to fill unit the go through exit hole), 1 seed, 1 large sea glass coin, 1 seed, 1 topaz round, 1 seed, 1 coin shell, 1 seed, 1 green nugget, 1 seed, 1 brass box bead (repeat filling as noted above)...and so on until 6 large green sea glass nuggets have been added then 1 seed, 1 filled brass box bead, 1 seed...  With this pattern strung now we can crimp off to the chain again.

Step 2: 

The chain fills the back of the first strand in this necklace.  The chain section for this part measures 12" so you will want to shorten the attached chain to this length using the wire cutters before crimping the far side off.   Optional:  Use gold crimp covers to cover the crimps.

A second strand of chain can be added to turn this single into a double.  By simply opening up the end link on the remainder piece of chain you can attach it to the finished strand.  This second strand should measure about 24&1/2 inches.  This piece is a bit longer so that the chain strand will hang just below the "softflex" strand when worn. 


Step 3: 

Attach the second strand by using that ring just opened to include the
finished strand 1 inch past the center of the back of the necklace. 
The same is repeated to attach the second side.  This will leave 2-3 inches of single chain centered in the very back.  This single strand makes the necklace more comfortable and also saves on chain for another project!  Be sure to close the open rings tightly.  Use the "swing-the-door" open method to effectively open and attach any "open seemed" jump ring.  When "closing-the -door" be sure there are no gaps showing on the ring and also you will want to give the wire connection on the ring a good pinch with the flat nose pliers to harden that area.  This will prevent the ring from opening up and make the necklace that much stronger!

Use leftovers to make a sweet pair of earrings or strung bracelet to match!