DIY // African Infused Fabric Necklace

It is so exciting to be an editor here at OH Everything Handmade. Bettina and the other editors have been doing such a fabulous job sharing beautiful DIY projects and today, as my 1st project, I want to share a project that has a bit of my home through our Ankara fabric.

Fabric necklaces are so much fun, super easy to make and has versatile wear. It is also a very unique project because the parts that make up the necklace can be turned into other jewelry pieces like earrings and rings.

List of things you need:

• ~ measuring tape
• ~ scissors
• ~ thread in the same color as fabric
• ~ buttons or other embellishments
• ~ sewing needle
• ~ ribbon in choice color
• ~ 1/4 yard of fabric
• ~ fabric pen (optional)

Steps:

1. Cut out circles in various sizes from the fabric. To help, you can take any round object in your home, place it on the fabric and trace around it with a fabric pen or if you feel you have a steady hand, you can cut it out freehand

2. Cut out as many circles as you please. I cut a total of 5 in various sizes

3. Along the edges of the circle, begin to fold and sew along. Make sure to have the duller side of the fabric facing you.

4. Sew all the way around

5. When you arrive back the your starting position, gently pull the thread. This will cause the fabric to create folds along the edges. Be careful as you pull the thread to prevent breaks

Tip: Start to create the folds as you sew along before getting to the end to make it easier to create folds at the end.

6. Now you should have a cute looking pouch. Make a knot to finish up

7. Repeat steps 3-6 for all circle cut outs

8. This is the fun part! Here you get to decide how you want your final necklace to look like. You can arrange all of them side by side, stack some on each other or create layers of a deep V design.

9. Sew on buttons or embellishments on the hole formed in the middle of the pouch.

10. Sew where each pouch meets each other in your design

11. Cut out 2 pieces of 9″ ribbon and sew on the top edges of your necklace

12. Viola! All done! Now go strut your stuff.