Tutorial Tuesday: Rope Necklace (and bonus belt!)

Today’s DIY is inspired by the annual spring nautical trend. I love nautical style, and I’ll have a post tomorrow to attest to that fact. Rope is a classic nautical element, and you may remember that I recently linked to this tutorial for a knock-off of an anthropologie rope necklace. Mine is similar, but I took things in a different direction with the bow and the chain. I had a lot of leftover rope, so I made a simple belt with the rest of it and included the instructions for that, too.

Materials:

Thick cotton rope, at least 6 inches
Needle
Thread
Chain (36″ total, or two 18″ lengths)
Chain fastenings
Bauble (earring, fancy button, brooch, etc)
Jump rings
Pliers

For belt:
Several feet of rope
Two large wooden beads with holes big enough to fit your rope through

Methods:

1. In order to prevent your rope from untwisting, you need to bind off the ends with thread. Thread a needle and put it through the piece of rope near the end, then wind it tightly around the rope several times before knotting it off. Cut it evenly about a half inch from where you just bound it off. Do the same to the other end.

2. Wind your rope into a faux bow. You could also tie it into a bow, but my rope is very thick and this makes the knot at the center of the bow too large.

3. With a needle and thread, sew your bow together at the center.

4. I was planning to leave my rope bow plain, but then I decided that I liked the looks of this vintage pin at the center. It’s just pinned on, but you may have to sew on a button or vintage earring.

5. I started with 36 inches of chain, which I cut into two lengths of 18 inches each. Loop each 18 inch length through the bow loops.

6. Add jump rings and chain fasteners to the ends of your chain and put on your new necklace!

Bonus Time:

I had about 6 feet of rope left, so I bound off the ends as I did for the necklace, and strung on a couple of wooden beads. Then I added some knots at the ends and randomly through the rope. Now I have a nautical tie belt that I can loop around my waist several times.

Looking for more tutorials and DIY projects? Check out my What I Made page!