J.Crew Inspired Necklace and Bracelet DIY

I saw this idea on Engineered Style, and she found it on Tatertots & Jello, where you can find the full tutorial.


Here’s the picture taken by Jennifer of the J.Crew necklace.

And here’s my version.  

The cool thing is that you could use any kind of chain or any color beads that you wanted, but I opted to keep it simple this time around.  I debated whether or not to add the fabric flower.  I like the necklace better without, so I'm going to make Bridget a headband out of it.

Making jewelry is definitely not my forte.  I was optimistic at first, but standing in Michael’s (your home away from home, Mrs. T!) for at least a half hour, not being able to decide what to buy or what I needed, brought my confidence down a little right off the bat.  Well, it also didn’t help that I had a sleepy baby in the cart who kept dropping her bottle on the floor.


My real problem with making jewelry is that you’re working with such little pieces.  I get frustrated with tiny, intricate things like that.  But all in all, even for someone without the patience or fine motor skills for jewelry making, this was a pretty easy DIY project.  However, according to the tutorial, it only takes 15 minutes, which I think is a bunch of malarkey.  It took me three evenings to make both the bracelet and necklace.

Here's how the bracelet turned out.

I wore the bracelet yesterday will my all blue outfit.

Here are some things I learned:

• Don’t skip the gluing the knot step.  I skipped it the first time around when making the bracelet, and by the end, the knot was already starting to loosen, so I went back and glued both knots.
• Wait to make the necklace into a loop until you’re done beading.  It’s harder to keep the thread taut otherwise.
• I just used regular thread that was close to the color of the chain.  I don’t know what the difference is between that and embroidery thread other than maybe regular thread is thinner.
• I didn’t know what tools to use, but I bought a super cheap little starter kit of two mini pliers (round nose and flat) and wire cutter.  The pliers were too small to close the chain links, so I defaulted to the normal size pliers in my husband’s toolbox to do that part of the job.  Having a needle and needle threader thingy (technical term, obviously) makes life easier, too.
• The clasps on my bracelet are not bendy like the chain...I broke the first set of clasps, but luckily, I bought a four-pack.