FAB Lace and Button Necklace

FAB Lace and Button Necklace

What makes this necklace so FAB is the price! You can make this necklace for $5 or less depending on where you get your materials and if you already have suitable glue at home – like most good crafters already do. What also makes this necklace so FAB is the versatility and endless design options. Depending on what lace and buttons you used they will completely change the look of the necklace for any occasion. This necklace is defiantly a statement piece and can be dressed up and dressed down.

Things you will need:

• Lace or Lace Trim - $.039 a yard
  • I found this great lace trim at my local fabric store at $0.39 a yard I bought 5 yards but for this project you would only need about a half.
• Buttons - $1.00 a pound
  • If you live in the Boston area Windsor Button in Downtown Crossing sells buttons by the pound. I love that store and can always find cute things but if you don’t live in the area and don’t have a local button shop, Ebay always works for me. The only problem is that the buttons I always like are from China and take awhile for me to get.
• Satin Ribbon - $1 for a roll
• Foam Brush - $0.50
• Felt - $0.25 for a 8 ½” x 11” sheet
• Gorilla Glue $5.00
  • Get the Gorilla Glue that dries white and 2x faster but be careful and use very small amounts of this glue because it expands when it dries and looks like foam – a little goes a long way!

Optional:

• Mod Podge - $4.00 for 8oz

Things from home:

• Scissors
• Plastic Wrap
• Place to hang your lace to dry
  • I hung mine on a needle in-between two small end tables.
• Needle / Thread / Sewing Pins
• Iron

Step 1:

Take out your lace and roughly trim out a flower or in my case roses and leaves. Cut off the excess until you get your desired shape. This step is super easy because it is just like cutting out a picture in the lace.

Step 2: Optional

I say that this step is optional because if you are using a thicker more durable lace is I think you could skip this step. But if you are using a thin lace like I did using Mod Podge will really help with stability without making the lace super stiff. Layout your plastic wrap and put your cutout pieces of lace down. Using your foam brush put a good coating of Mod Podge on each side of the lace. I had thin areas of my lace cutouts and wanted to bulk them up so I added additional roses to those areas with Mod Podge. Find a good place to hang your lace and it should be dry in around 30 minutes.

Step 3:

Cut a half circle out of felt. My half circle is about 5” across but make yours as big or small as you want. I then covered my felt with left over lace and used the scalloped edge to overlap the hard edge of the felt. Holding the lace on top of the felt I then stitched them together.

Step 4:

By the time I had stitched my half circle of felt and lace together my lace had dried enough for me to work with it. Place the 2 pieces of lace over the half circle and pin them into the place where you want them to be. Check yourself out in the mirror make sure the necklace is sitting in the right place. Once you have adjusted the lace into the correct positions stitch them on to the half circle.

Step 5:

Measure the approximate amount of ribbon you will need to tie your necklace on. Make sure you give enough length for a bow and for the necklace to lay on your chest they way you want. Once you have cut your ribbon stitch one end to the end of your lace and then fold down the other end and press it with an iron. Fold the already folded end again and again press it with the iron. After you have your ironed edges of your ribbon sew on buttons on each side of each end. Using this technique will make sure that the ends of your ribbon will not fray and look messy plus it is a cute accent.

Step 6:

Arrange the buttons onto the center of the half circle and start to glue them down. Maybe someone out there knows of better glue but I am pretty happy with the results I get with Gorilla Glue. The only major issue I have with it is that it expands when you use it so you have to be very careful not to use too much.

Let the glue dry and when it does you have a lace and button necklace that will turn heads. It will look posh but the price tag won’t break the bank. LOOK BEAUTIFUL AND ENJOY!