necklace | Crochetology.net

Here’s the necklace to go with the Cotton Lover’s Bridal Purse. Motifs are crocheted separately and then sewn onto the necklace strap. So some pretty good sewing skills are necessary to successfully complete this project! How you arrange and sew the motifs onto the strap is crucial to how the finished necklace will look and sit around the neck.

Your choice of pearl beads and clasp is also very important. Genuine freshwater pearls will be gorgeous, or perhaps Swarovski crystals. Choose a clasp that has weight to keep the necklace in place.

SKILL LEVEL
Intermediate
Warning: Sewing Skills Needed!

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Necklace length may be adjusted by adjusting number of rows. The finished item shown measures approximately 14 inches without the clasp
Large flowers measure 1.75 inches in diameter.
Smaller flowers measure 0.6 inches in diameter.

YARN
Cannon Mercerized 4-Ply Cotton Thread size 8
OR any crochet cotton thread size 10, size 8 or light fingering (4-ply)
Choose White or Natural

CROCHET HOOK
Aluminum Crochet Hook size 3/0 (2.20mm)
OR size required for gauge

GAUGE
25 sc = 4 inches

TERMINOLOGY
Pattern is written using US crochet terminology.

NOTIONS:
Sewing needle and thread of matching color
3 pcs Pearl Beads – 10mm
6 pcs Pearl Beads 0 5mm
Gold clasp with pearl

DESIGN NOTES:
The necklace strap and flower motifs are all crocheted separately. The flower motifs are then sewn onto the strap.

INSTRUCTIONS
NECKLACE

MOTIF #1 The Flower with Curly Petals (Make 3)

Ch 4, sl st in 1st ch to make ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in ring, sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in 1st sc, *ch 2, dc in next sc, ch 1, 6 sc around stem of dc, sc in next sc, rep fr * to make 6 petals ending the last rep with sl st in 1st sc to join.

Rnd 3: Ch 1, working from behind the petals, make a sc in ring through the space in the centre of the first petal, *ch 3, tr in same sp, ch 3, around same stem make (4 dc, 2 hdc, 2 sc), sc in space in centre of next petal, rep fr * to make 6 petals ending with sl st in 1st sc to join. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

MOTIF #2 The Three-Petal Flower (Make 6)

Ch 3, sl st in 1st ch to make ring.

Rnd 1: *Ch 2, 3 dc in ring, ch 2, sl st in ring, rep fr * to make a total of 3 petals. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

NECKLACE STRAP

Ch 4.

Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch fr hook, sc in next ch, 3 sc in next ch, ch 1, turn.

Row 2: Sc in each of next 2 sc, 3 sc in next sc, ch 1, turn.

Rep row 2 to desired length, making 0.5 to 0.75 inch allowance for necklace clasp. Fasten off.

Necklace should sit just above the collarbone. This is approximately 14 to 15 inches. I think that this is the best size of necklace for this particular design. The flowers are large and have weight and may droop if the necklace is too long. Take your own measurements for the best fit.

Also, choose a good clasp with some weight. I used gold plated silver clasp with a pearl. This clasp matches the pearl-beaded flowers and has ample weight to keep the necklace in place and prevent it from turning about.

BLOCKING
Lightly starch the flowers and especially the strap to straighten and untwist the strap. Starching also stiffens the material and protects it from dirt.

ASSEMBLY
Arrange the flower motifs on the strap as shown in the photographs. This is just my proposed arrangement. You can try your own arrangement. In the necklace shown, I wanted a rather asymmetrical arrangement.

When you’re happy with the arrangement, sew the motifs onto the necklace strap. Sew the 10mm beads to the centre of large flowers and the 5mm beads to the centre of small flowers. Sew the clasp to the ends of the necklace.

Some notes about Sewing the Motifs:

The strap will curve around the neck which means that if you should position the motifs on the strap on a flat surface, they will need to be placed a bit closer to each other, overlapping a bit, to compensate for the increased distance between the motifs when the strap curves.

Don’t sew the motifs flat, particularly the large flowers. Let the petals pop up freely. If they are starched stiff, then they will hold their petals and not droop.

Arrange the smaller flowers in a non-linear way on the strap. This means you don’t need to sew the smaller flowers all at the centre but can sew some of them at the petals. I arranged the smaller flowers such that they gently curved up towards the right side and gently curved down towards the left side.

Focussing on natural and neutral colors for the past few months, I turned back to bright colors recently, in particular, for some crocheted flowers. It was also the opportunity to use the multi-color threads in my stash.

I’m quite surprised at how well the multi-color threads worked out. One way I used them is in combination with lighter solid color threads for the flower center.

Another way is to use a combination of different multi-color threads, for example, variegated orange and variegated red with berries in variegated violet.

Following these simple rules for combinations, I made several crochet jewellery. Many of them are all-fiber jewellery, that is, they contain no metal findings or plastic or stone beads. There are, it seems, quite a number of people who have allergies to metal and therefore can only wear fibre jewellery.

The strap for most of the crochet jewellery are based on patterns I’ve just learned to make from the Swimsuit #3 issue of Duplet magazine. I usually work the straps in natural, beige or other light or neutral color. I also crochet any number of flowers and berries, focussing more on the flowers themselves rather than on their arrangement on the necklace (or bracelet).

Only later do I arrange the flowers, berries and leaves on the strap, every now and then wearing the necklace to see how the flowers lie around the neck. The weight of the flowers affect the appearance and comfort/wearability of the necklace, especially when I lean forward and move around. Often, I need to add extra crocheted flowers and berries to complete the piece.

Here is a necklace that I made using a metal button.

Summer flowers necklace in green and yellow

I like the color combination of this necklace, and didn’t expect the green and yellow multi-color thread to work so well. The flowers and berries are all made with the same thread but the flower centre uses a thread of the same hue but lighter than the color of the strap. I think that lighter color gave the necklace a kind of focal point. I’m very happy with the result and have also discovered that the color combination is very flattering to the skin.

Here is a similar design using the same combinations of threads but this time using a crocheted berry for button. I have also decided to add a couple more flowers and berries around the necklace to make a more asymmetrical design.

Green and yellow color combination

This necklace uses a lavender color strap and flowers in red and orange variations. The berries are in violet multi-color thread. I used violet to match the hue of the necklace strap. I also love the result of these color combinations!

Violet is the focal point of this necklace.

Usually, I try to choose a hue as focal point and reflect it in other parts of the necklace. The focal color need not be the most dominant color in the piece but it’s role is to balance the visual design of the piece.

For the green and yellow necklace, I realize now that the hue I used as focal point was beige although the dominant colors are green and yellow.