Designed and written by Fernando DaSilva
References:
By the late 1930’s, Chanel’s necklaces had grown from single-strand chokers and sautoirs into bibs. In the early 1990s, Karl Lagerfeld occasionally paired Chanel haute-couture with over the top beaded jewelry. Currently, I have observed a comeback of the bib necklace, probably boosted by the opulent and luxurious jewelry worn on the movie “The Great Gatsby.” Those were some of my influences to create this piece.
Inspiration:
I wanted to showcase the latest and newest products that we added to our Dazzle-it! line. The products are the main inspirational source for this design. I wanted to create something to be paired with a day dress and I wanted it to turn people’s heads. It needed to be something with a “zoom zoom zoom” about it.
The Divas Who Could Pull This Off: Carmen Miranda and Erika Badu.
The Creating:
The bib section was designed first and then I created a triple twisted Kumihimo cord to use as the structure. The cord needed to be strong enough to sustain the “cascade” of beads. I combined our fantastic Lovely Knots braided cords with a satin aquamarine cord. I think it is much more interesting than other types of Kumi and it speaks louder to my style. It has texture, depth and by using two different sizes of cords together I made it three dimensional.
I also wanted to display one of our newest end caps. Multi strands cords can be glued-in so the ends are impeccably finished.
The biggest problem for me was deciding on the right material for the back section. After experimenting with a variety of materials, I finally decided that the piece was calling for something light and airy and the satin ribbon became my final choice. It also brought a French romantic edge to the piece that works perfectly with summer luncheons, brunches and lazy delicious sunset cocktails. It’s ultra chic but at the same time simple.
Technical info:
Bib section was created with:
blue and green dyed agate round beads, sizes 6, 8 and 10mm
light blue neon glass round beads sizes 6 and 8mm
head pins and 7.5x8mm nickel color bead caps
Kumihimo section was created with:
2mm white and turquoise Lovely Knots cord and 3mm rattail aqua blue cord
Pliers used:
round nose, bent nose and flush cutters from our Japanese Pliers collection
Also: BeadFix gel by Beadalon was used to attach cone ends.
The Guessing Game
Several weeks ago I posted this picture of the design in progress and asked our Facebook friends to fill in the blank: Working on a new piece – a bib style necklace held by ______________.
The winning guesses are:
“Maybe Kumihimo with two colors of lovely knots and tassels” by Jennifer Hunt
“by beautfiul Dazzle It Grass Green and Aqua Blue Satin Cord!” by Deborah Daniels
” held by a kumihimo braid made with Chinese knotting cord” by AC Beads
Your excellent guesses made you winners. You will receive a signed copy of my new book “Lovely Knots – An introduction to Chinese Knotting” accompanied by 2 small spools of Dazzle-it lovely knots braided cord.
Please send us a personal message with your mailing address to [email protected].
Thank you so much. I am so excited to have won. Thank you again.