Sweetlime Inspired Pompom Necklace

Whilst flicking through a copy of Marie Claire, I saw a gorgeous statement necklace by Sweetlime. It had everything: colour, texture, metal, textile, beads and a real ethnic, world traveller feel.

It was £365. Trust me, if I had £365 to spend on a necklace (or a couple of thousand, having looked at all the lovely things on their website) I would be making a huge order!

My version

Thanks to my stash, I was able to make my own version of Sweetlime’s ‘Pom Pom Madness’ necklace. This took me almost a day to make which proves that Sweetlime’s expertly crafted jewellery is worth the money (if I could afford it!)

Source: sweetlimeuk.com via Kei on Pinterest

And here is the original from Sweetlime (isn’t it lovely?) Sweetlime source parts of their jewellery from all over the world and a percentage of all their sales goes to the Salaam Balack Trust, a charity that runs 24 hour shelter homes in India (read more about it on their website, here). So you get karma points with your unique jewellery!

As you can see, there are several differences, especially when it comes to the beads. I was trying to stick to what I had, and ended up only spending 50p on an extra bead (the blue glass one with the red swirls) from Big Bead Boutique because that’s all I needed!

I didn’t have any nice ribbon and despite trawling the internet and high street alike, couldn’t find any embroidered ribbon at all! I ended up using embroidery thread to weave a friendship bracelet style ‘ribbon’ instead.

Okay, you’ve probably had enough of my rambling, right? Right! On to the tutorial :)

This is a great weekend project!

You’ll need*:

1 x 25mm silver bead

2 x 15mm round yellow beads

2 x 12mm oval turquoise beads (I used scarab beads from an old necklace)

2 x 12mm face/head/skull beads

2 x 22mm tubular beads

2 x 18mm blue oval beads

5 x 5x8mm cylindrical round beads

10 x 5mm round beads

Various colours seed beads or similar

2 x round silver charms approx 17mm diameter

5 x 25mm diameter or smaller pompoms (7 if you want something closer to Sweetlime’s necklace)

2 x 30mm long tassels OR embroidery thread; see tute for how to make

Approx 30 x square pieces of fabric, 15mm square

3 colours embroidery thread OR embroidered ribbon

5 x 3mm split rings OR 3 x 3mm plus 2 x larger**

Crimps

Beading wire (I used .012 dia)

* Bead sizes are approximate, slightly bigger or smaller would still work--use your judgement!

**I could’ve done with using two larger for the ends of the necklace, but was sticking to what I had! If using ribbon, definitely go for two larger ones!

Tools:

Wire cutters

Flat nose pliers

Round nose pliers, darning needle or small hole punch

Scissors

Needle and thread, if using ribbon

Fray stopper or similar (I didn’t use this, but should have)

Alright, now you’ve got through that huge list of beads, go and make a cup of tea!

Refreshed? On we go!

To make tassels:

Use the ‘fork method’ used to make small pompoms.

Wrap embroidery thread or similar around the prongs of a fork, several times, until the tassel-to-be looks thick enough.

Wrap another length of thread around the bundle of thread several times, between the top two prongs, and knot to secure.

Slide the bundle from the fork and cut the loops on the longer side. I decided to separate the separate threads in each piece of embroidery thread, too.

To make the necklace:

1. Cut a piece of beading wire approximately 8x the diameter of the pompoms. Wrap the centre of the wire around the middle of the pompom and secure tightly with a crimp (flatten with flat nose pliers to close). The pompom should not be able to come free of the loop of wire.

2. Add small beads to both lengths of wire until you’ve beaded approx 1.5 inches. Slide a crimp onto the end but don’t close the crimp yet.

3. Thread the ends of the wire through a 3mm jump ring and slip back through the crimp to create a loop around the jump ring. Close the crimp and repeat steps 1-3 for the other pompoms, adding them all to the same jump ring.

4. Cut 2.5 inches beading wire and add to the pompom jump ring using a crimp, as in step 3.

5. Make holes in your squares of fabric. I used round nose pliers for this, but a darning needle or hole punch would probably be better. (The pliers were to hand!)

6.. Thread around ten squares of fabric onto the length of beading wire. Pull the first few over the top part of the jump ring in order to hide it from view.
Add the beads for the bottom part of the necklace: two of the round 5mm beads plus one of the 5x8mm cylindrical beads. Create a loop at the end and secure with a crimp.

7. Now cut a 5 inch length of beading wire and create a loop one end around a 3mm jump ring. Thread on approx 1.25 inches of small beads, then add the pompom section of the necklace before threading on another 1.25 inches. Finish off the end with another crimp and 3mm jump ring.

8. With a 14 inch length of beading wire (longer if you’re using larger beads) start by connecting a 3mm (or larger) jump ring and thread on the beads for the necklace, starting with one of the tassels. It might help to lay out the beads as you want them to sit on the necklace.

9. When you get to the first 15mm yellow bead, thread on one of the jump rings from the pompom section.

10. Add 10 fabric squares, your large silver bead, and another 10 fabric squares, before sliding on the other jump ring of the pompom section to completely connect it.

11. Continue threading on the beads and finish with a 3mm (or larger) jump ring and crimp.

12. If using embroidery thread as I did, cut three lengths of embroidery thread, approximately 75 inches, thread halfway through the jump ring at the end of the necklace and knot so you have six lengths of thread approximately 37 inches long.

If using ribbon, cut two pieces approx 14-16 inches or longer, depending on how long you want to wear the necklace, and stitch through the jump ring on either side. Seal the opposite ends with fray stopper to finish, and you’re done.

13. Braid the embroidery thread. I won’t go into how to do this as there are plenty of friendship bracelet tutorials out there! 

After braiding 8 inches, I plaited 5 inches, tied in a knot and trimmed off the ends so they were even.

14. Tie the plaited end in a bow to finish the necklace.

15. You’re done! Celebrate, and go take a well-deserved nap.

I’m dead pleased about how this turned out. It isn’t identical to the original but good enough. I really love ethnic styled things and Sweetlime’s shop is an absolute dream!

If you like the idea of Sweetlime's products and charity-supporting ethos, but can’t afford their usual products, they sell a charity bracelet for £10 (plus £5 shipping in the UK), £5 of which goes the Salaam Balack Trust.

Will be linking up at the fabulous parties listed at the bottom of the page!