Colors of the Wind

With the Native American trend infiltrating almost every piece of your wardrobe, from ikat skirts to fringe moccasins, what better way to differentiate from the fad than with Lee Angel's beaded collar necklace? The delicate bead work juxtaposed against a tough metal chain keeps the antique piece looking decidedly New World. Pair it with a maxi dress to feel like an Indian princess or leather pants and a jean jacket for a show-em-who's-chief vibe. There couldn't be a better piece to tie you over during those late night summer pow-wows.


What You'll Need:
Chain link necklace
Approximately 1 yard embroidery floss
Assorted seed beads
Head pins or jewelry wire
Scissors
Flat nose pliers
Superglue

Spread your necklace in one row, making sure all the links are flat and facing the same direction. Take the embroidery floss and tie a double knot at one end of the necklace; snip off the knot tails. Put a dot of superglue on the knot to hold the floss in place. Begin looping the floss around the top of the chain, pulling tightly. After about three loops around the first link, move on to the next. When you reach the end, tie another knot and dot with glue. I found that weaving the floss through the chain first helps hold the links in place while you attach the beaded pins.


If you have head pins, which have a metal stop on one end to keep the beads from falling off, begin stringing your seed beads on in whatever pattern you choose. If you are using wire like moi (because I had it handy and didn't want to waste money), take the flat nose pliers and coil the wire tightly around them a few times to create a stop on one end. Depending on how full you want your necklace to look, make between 40 to 80 beaded pins. I believe mine has near 70. Don't feel daunted, the beading goes quite fast! Finally, attach the beaded pins by coiling the long end tightly around the bottom of each link. Snip off the extra wire, and use the pliers to flatten the sharp end of the coil down.


xx,CC