I’ve been wanting to try my hand at big chunky nautical jewelry all summer. C’mon, it’s just a piece of rope. I wasn’t gonna buy one and besides, I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. So channeling up some boy scout knot-tying seemed like fun.
That being said, we’re full on into apple-bobbing season and I finally got around to making one. Procrastination!
And here’s how I did it…
Started out with regular clothesline from the hardware store and a couple of 1/2″ steel bushings that fit the cord perfectly. The rest of the supplies are from the craft store, some bleached hemp cord and a few jewelry findings.
I went with a Turk’s Head Knot and followed this video tutorial from SelfMadeSailor. It took a few freeze frames and some head scratching to figure it out but then it all started to come together nicely.
Look, I’m making one too!
To assemble the necklace, I just looped up 10 strands of hemp cord for a length of 7″ for each side of the necklace and added a clasp and jump rings on one end.
The other end, I stitched and glued to the ends of the Turk’s Head knot. No need to be too neat about it cause the metal bushings slide over the seams to cover any loose ends. Kinda clever, huh? Yeah, I think so too.
OK, that’s it. Come back tomorrow for more nonsense.
Hi! I love this necklace so much, thank you for sharing it! I’m attempting to make one of my own, and can’t for the life of me find the “metal blushings” you used. In fact, nothing close even comes up when I google the term. Where did you get yours?? Thanks
Alyssa
Hi Alyssa,
Bushing is just another word for spacer. Basically, you can use any type of tube. I was thinking that a decorative bead would work just as well. I bought these in the hardware store that were by the nuts and bolts section. It just needs to fit the end of the cord easily.
It’s cool that you want to make one. I made a couple of others for friends and used a thinner cord which was rather elegant too. Have fun with it!