The other day, I was getting ready to rush off to an appointment when I decided I wanted to wear a new glass pendant I had made but hadn’t had time to add to a necklace design yet. The shirt I was going to wear would look nice with it. However, the shirt had a collar, so I needed to either make a very long necklace or a choker style. With little time to spare, I immediately decided to make a short necklace so that the pendant would rest directly where my collar opened. Not only does this design take just minutes to make, but it can be worn with shirts that have collars, which normally require a 30 inch or longer necklace.

You’ll need:

approx. 18 inches of cord (I used wax linen.)
*choice of pendant
scissors
ruler
hook & eye clasp

*I created this for a fused glass pendant, but you could use a lampwork bead or even a charm for your collar necklace.

1. To ensure that the 18 inches of cord is the right length, start by measuring your neck with the cord. Remember this is a quick project, so accuracy isn’t that crucial. Hold one end of the cord towards the back of your neck, and hold the middle of the cord at the center spot of your neck where you want your pendant to rest.

2. Double the length of cord you just measured on your neck, add two inches, cut, and set aside for later.

3. Now get your hook and eye clasp out. I had an eye in my bead tray, and I quickly made a hook to go with it. You can either make your own hook and eye clasp, or you could use a jump ring and spring ring clasp. Pick something you have handy to save time here.

4. Get the cord you measured in the first step, and fold over the end of the cord about an inch.

5. Tie an over hand knot, and trim off any excess cord to create a loop on one end of the cord.

6. Slip the other end of the cord through your pendant, bead, or charm.

7. Fold over the other end of the cord about an inch.

8. Tie an over hand knot, and trim off excess cord to create a loop on the other end of the cord so that you have a loop on both ends of the cord.

9. Add your hook to one loop, and the eye to the opposite loop to finish your necklace.

I literally made this in about five minutes. While this quick necklace doesn’t look that great by itself, the cord is barely noticeable when you are wearing a shirt with a collar. I think the linen, hemp, or leather have a nice, ethnic look. However, if you want to dress it up for a pretty lampwork bead, ribbon or rat-tail would be a nice choice.

Here's the actual collar necklace that I made using a fused glass pendant.

Here's a printer friendly copy of this file.

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