08 February 2010

Valentine's Ideas #6

Here is something you can make for yourself this Valentine's Day.  It's beautiful, it's romantic, it's frilly - all things I adore this time of year.  And what's better, I had everything I needed; I didn't buy a single thing extra for this project.  Kind of like clean-out-your-fridge lasagna?  This could be called the clean-out-your-closet necklace. ;)  This project was inspired by this post over at Craftaholics Anonymous!

Here's what I used:

an old pearl choker circa 1980
velvet ribbon - black and cheetah print
an old damask pillow sham
button
scissors
needle and thread

And here is what I did:

I wanted my necklace to be a little longer, so I extended the pearl choker to 38 inches using the black velvet ribbon.  This will also allow me to wear it a little shorter/longer depending on my mood (I did not make a closure for the necklace, I am just tying it on for versatility). After measuring equal lengths of ribbon for each side of the choker, I sewed a folded edge on one end of each of them.  And then I stitched the ribbons directly to the fixings on my choker.  I got lucky and they happened to be about the same width as my ribbon, so it was very secure when I was done.  

Here comes the fun part.  Using a stencil (pre-drawn or even a cookie cutter would work), I drew and cut 2 slightly different sized flowers from my pillow sham (which has this lovely vintage look to it).  I layered them and puckered them in the middle ever so slightly, stitching tiny pleats in the center in the shape of an x or a +.  Doesn't matter, lol! (Small confession - I really hate giving tutorials *blush*)  This will give your flower a little dimension and sturdiness, as flat flowers tend to be floppy.  Next I made the center of the flower - I used velvet cheetah print ribbon.  I ran a stitch along one side of the ribbon and gathered it tightly until I had a circle, kind of like making a yo-yo. Then I secured that with a few stitches.  I attached my ribbon center to the top of my 2 fabric flowers, and pulled it all together using a spare button... by the way, am I the only one that saves those extra buttons that come with shirts?  Cuz some of them are really nice!  Lastly I stitched the whole flower to one side of the necklace, where choker meets ribbon.  And voila!  Something to make me feel lovely.

Enjoy!!!

Linking up with other great ideas at...



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10 comments:

Sarah said...

Okay, so I was totally admiring your look yesterday and just figured you had gone shopping. Way to go!! That is such a beautiful necklace! You paired it with the perfect top as well. I'm bowing to you right now..haha.

Linda@CraftaholicsAnonymous said...

Lei,
That is SO gorgeous! LOVE it! Thanks for sending me a link! I'm putting it in my future reader feature file :)
best wishes,
Linda

Anne said...

love it...so cute and definitely needs to be copied by me.

Danielle @ Transforming Home said...

Love it! I will absolutely make this..

Danielle

Company EIGHT said...

LOVE it, Lei!! I'm featuring...come grab a button!

shabbyscraps said...

gore~ gous!!!
xoxoxo Tiffany

Yvonne said...

That is beautiful. Thank you.

Joyeful said...

This is just gorgeous, Lei! I am so in love with it!!

Christy said...

I am a sucker for accessories- so this idea has me drooling! LOVE IT!

Expressions by Heather said...

Love it!

Thank you so much for stopping by the Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family link party, and adding this to the page! Don’t forget to stop back tomorrow to see which links from last week are featured, and to add your new links!