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How to Make an Illusion Pearl Necklace

Custom-Made for You in Any Design

Making a freshwater pearl layered necklace will be a slightly involved project, taking 2-4 hours to complete. A good half of this time will be spent coming up with the design you want. This is an intermediate / advanced project, and requires some more complex supplies as well.

The first step is to gather your supplies. You will need:

• Predrilled freshwater pearls. The size is up to you - you may want to use lots of small pearls scattered across your layers, or a few large ones floating along your collarbone. Perhaps you want to make a design with graduated pearls and beads. It is up to you!
• Stiff fine wire for stringing - you need something that will hold its shape when curved into a circle, but fine enough to go through the drilled holes in the pearls. "Tiger Tail" is a material often used for these types of necklaces if you don`t mind the wire being visible. Stiff fishing line is also an option.
• Pliers with a cutting edge.
• 2 Clam-shells.
• Crimps (between a dozen and thirty or more depending on the complexity of your design).
• A pigeon clasp.

Start your necklace by deciding what necklace length you want each layer to be, and cutting your wire or tiger tail into the correct lengths, adding one inch to each length for manipulation. (Usually three layers is a good starting pint for a first project.)

Run one end of each wire through a crimp, then a clamshell. Loop the longest strand through one side of the pearl clasp and feed it back through the clamshell into the crimp. Crush the crimp with the pliers, and trim the ends of the wire. Close the clamshell over the crimp and cut ends.

Hold the necklace up to your neck, and adjust the lengths until they look right. Use the pliers to put a slight bend on the loose ends of the wires to indicate where the other half of the clasp should be attached. Mark the center of each strand.

Lay out your design, and start threading each strand, using crimps on either side of each freshwater pearl or set of pearls and beads. Don't tighten the crimps until your entire design is in place. It is handy to work on a flat board with a nail in it - you can hook the clasped end over the nail, and likewise the bent ends on the other end of the strands. This lets you place your pearls (and beads) accurately.

Once everything is in place, tighten the crimps on either side of each pearl, leaving just a hint of wiggle room. Join the pearl strands at the other end by sliding them through a crimp, then a clamshell, and looping the long strand around the second half of the clasp as before. Thread the end back through, trim the tails, crush the crimp and close the clamshell.

Your design can be random and lacy as a snowflake with a scattering of small white pearls, or you can custom design groupings of pearls and beads spaced by crimps. These pearl necklaces take longer to make, but are loads of fun and yield themselves to any type of formal or casual occasion.