The Martha Stewart Show

Mesh Necklace

The Martha Stewart Show

Kristin St. Clair crafts a stylish, one-of-a-kind necklace using wire mesh ribbon.

Mesh Ombre Necklace

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WireLace ribbon gives this necklace a distinctive, luxurious look. The how-to comes from TV crafter Kristin St. Clair.

Tools and Materials

Beads or pearls
Scissors
Monofilament
WireLace
Size 15 knitting needle
Electrical tape
Size 9 double-pointed knitting needle
Thin-gauge wire
Metal cone end caps
Jewelry pliers
Jump rings
Lobster claw clasp
All-purpose permanent adhesive

Mesh Ombre Necklace How-To

1. To create ombre effect, select four strands of different color 5- to 6-millimeter beads. Length of strands will depend upon desired length of final necklace.

2. With scissors, cut filament in each strand. Separate lightest color beads into four equal portions and separate each remaining color into eight equal portions. The lightest color will be at the center of the necklace, with the beads getting darker toward both ends.

3. Begin stringing beads on 0.01-inch gauge monofilament using the following formula for each strand ("A" represents the lightest color and "D" the darkest, with fractions referring to amounts of beads separated above):

1/8 A - 1/8 B - 1/8 C - 1/4 D - 1/8 C - 1/8 B - 1/8 A

4. Make a total of four strands. Be sure to leave about six inches of extra monofilament at each end of each strand.

5. To secure beads firmly on strand, feed end of monofilament around and back through each end bead. Repeat for first and last bead of all four strands.

6. Unroll a yard of 6-millimeter WireLace, and using a size 15 (10-millimeter) knitting needle, expand each end of the WireLace into a tubular shape.

7. Line up the four strands of beads and using electrical tape, tightly tape one end of each of all four strands to one end of size 9 (5 1/2-millimeter) double-pointed knitting needle. To prevent snagging on WireLace, make sure tape completely covers all ends of monofilament.

8. Insert knitting needle into one tubular end of WireLace and feed all four strands of beads through.

9. Remove tape, detaching strands from knitting needle, and then center strands in the WireLace. Tie knots in WireLace and monofilament at both ends of necklace where beads end.

10. Determine desired length of necklace and fold ends of WireLace into small loops. Using a small hook of fine-gauge wire, pull each WireLace loop through a metal cone end cap. With jewelry pliers, attach jump rings to each loop and attach lobster claw clasp to one jump ring.

11. Trim any extra WireLace and monofilament hanging out of end caps and squeeze a drop of all-purpose adhesive into each end cap to secure loops.

Resources

Beacon Quick Grip permanent adhesive available from most crafts supply stores. WireLace available from wirelace.com. Freshwater pearls, crystal beads, findings, and general beading supplies and tools available from Fire Mountain Gems.

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The Martha Stewart Show

Mesh Necklace

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