Multi-strand Knotted Turquoise Necklace Tutorial

Why We Love This Tutorial:

For those who missed out on the class! We love this technique as it is so easy and quick once you have the technique mastered. You can make as many strands as you like…  this turquoise design has five strands of approximately 60cm long each. Whereas the design we made in class had three strands of varying lengths. In terms of what beads to use, the only rule is that the hole is big enough to accommodate the 0.8mm cord that we will be using. And that means most beads will work just fine – you may have some trouble with freshwater pearls (their hole is usually around 0.6mm). But most gemstones and glass beads should be fine. We’ve used a mixture of beautiful Turquoise Magnesite gemstone beads, crystal beads and glass beads in this design. But have a scroll to the bottom to see the design we made for the class – it contained a mixture of carnelian gemstones, glass and crystal beads.

Beads and Materials You’ll Need:

• Note: we have only used one strand of each for this necklace, with leftovers at the end.
• Mixture of Turquoise Beads* – Try to keep most of the beads in the 6mm to 8mm size range. We have also used some slightly larger nuggets that are about 20mm long.
• Glass Beads – we’ve used some frosted 8mm round beads, plus some grey stardust glass pearls.
• Crystal beads – we’ve used some 6x8mm antique grey crystal rondelle beads and some antique grey rectangle beads*
• 0.8mm Nylon Cord approx. 20M – we’ve used black
• Side closing clamshells x10 – we’ve used silver
• 8mm jump rings x2 – we’ve used silver
• Toggle Clasp or clasp of your choice
• *We haven’t directly linked to some of the products used in this tutorial as they are not standard product lines and may not be available in the future. You can absolutely substitute with other similar beads, which is why we have linked to the category as opposed to individual items. 

Tools You’ll Need:

• Flat Nose pliers x2
• Scissors (for cutting tiger tail – never use pliers for this!)
• Lighter (optional)

Method:

Step 1. Make a bead soup of your chosen beads in a bowl.

Step 2. Cut two pieces of 0.8mm cord at approx. 1.5m each*, then tie them together at one end.
*note: The amount of cord you use will vary depending on how long you want your necklace.
If you are doing a necklace of varying lengths, the first may be 1.5M, the second 1.3M and the third 1M.
But I like to adjust as I go, so I tend to start each of the strands off at 1.5M and just cut to size. A little wastage but far less stress!

Step 3. Cover the knot with a side closing clamshell. Close the clamshell with flat nose pliers, making sure not to squash it too hard – we want it closed, not flattened. We have used the side-closing clamshells as two strand of nylon would struggle to fit through the tiny hole on a normal clamshell.

Step 4. Then, thread a bead onto one of the strands. You may like to use a lighter to slightly melt the ends of the cord so that the beads slide over more easily. It is not necessary, however may make your life a little easier!!

Step 5. Tie an overhand knot using both strands after the bead. (It doesn’t need to be super close to the bead, a little gap adds to the effect.)

Step 4. Keep adding beads in this manner. It does not matter which strand you thread the bead onto. Try to add beads in a random manner, there is no pattern here!

Step 5. Once you have reached your desired length, tie one last knot and cover it with a side-closing clamshell.

Step 6. Repeat this process to make multiple strands.

Step 7. After you have made three strands (or more!) use a jump ring to attach the clamshells together on each end. Then attach a clasp to this jump ring.

And that’s it!

Here’s another design that we made for the class: