How to Make a Beaded Lariat Necklace

Making your own jewelry can be extremely rewarding. You can come up with great designs, have one of a kind pieces that always get compliments, make gifts, and over time you may even find an outlet to sell your jewelry. Starting with a beautiful simple piece that has a ton of options is always good. The lariat necklace is just such a piece. You have lots of options, both while wearing it and while making it. This article will cover the simplest forms and a few variations to get you started. The most important things to remember are to have fun and to enjoy making your beautiful new jewelry.

To make the lariat necklace you will need nylon coated wire in a color that appeals to you and will go with your chosen beads, crimp beads (most commonly in silver tone or gold, but can be purchased in black as well), beads of your choice, scissors, and a pair of crimp pliers.

Choosing your beads can be a fun part of the process. Don't stress if it feels hard. You can make the necklace as fancy or as simple as you want. You could use mostly one color of seed bead and add a few freshwater pearls, crystals, or other accent beads to make your finished product. It is truly up to you and you can decide what you want to use. You can use your favorite gemstones (in bead form), your favorite colors, and you can decide whether or not you want to use acrylic beads (plastic) or glass. No matter what your choice you can make a beautiful piece to fit your style.

You will want to determine how long you want your necklace to be. A lariat can be knotted in the front, made to string through itself or wrapped around the neck with the ends hanging. Because of all of these options you want your lariat to be at least 26 inches, but it is often best to have it longer. Whatever your chosen length cut your wire 6 to eight inches longer.

Next you will begin the process. You will start with one end of your wire. String a crimp bead onto the wire. Add your endmost beads. This can be three seed beads, a tear drop bead or top drilled bead, or a bead that you are willing to let get turned on its side. Then run your wire back through the crimp bead. You should have a wire that is really long (for your necklace) and one that is about two inches long on the other side.

Crimp the crimp bead. To do this take your crimp pliers in one hand. Press the crimp bead as close to the other bead as possible. Place the crimp bead in the last notch (the one closest to the handle) and press. This will flatten your crimp bead into a moon shape with one wire on each side of it. Next turn it on it's side and place it in the first notch (the one farthest from the handle) and press. This will flatten the two sides of the moon onto themselves. It is a good idea to then place the crimp bead at the very tip and tighten by gently pressing. Be careful not to press to hard or you will break the crimp bead. If you break it, or if you don't have a wire on each side then finish breaking it off of the wire and start over. When you are done, test the crimp to make sure it isn't going to move. You want this to be really secure because this is what's holding your piece together.

The next few beads will fit over the large wire and the small one. This helps to tuck the ends in. These beads are particularly important. They should be accent beads (or smaller beads mixed with accent ones). These are the ones that will hand down when the lariat is done. String the beads onto the wire. Maintaining a pattern can make the finished piece much more eye appealing.

Finishing the piece is a little harder then starting it. You will string the crimp bead and then your end bead. You now need to fold the wire over and reinsert it through the crimp bead and a few beads in front of it. Pull it all tight by pulling the end as tight as possible. Then crimp the bead the same as before.

If you have a lot of heavy beads or a really long lariat then using a drop of glue on the crimp bead is a good idea. I prefer Bead Fix as it is the only glue I have found that dries quickly and doesn't change the colors or leave an odd film on the beads. You can use super glue carefully so as not to get it on the other beads. You can then use a crimp cover to make the crimp look more like a bead. I like the looks of the crimp itself but it doesn't always go with the design and some people don't like them.

Other options can be to make several strands and to wear them together. You can also make a lariat with a fringe or tassel finish (directions included below). Or you can make a loop to run your lariat through, this option makes it so one end hangs down while the other is used to hold the necklace on. This works really well with a heavy or large focal bead at the end of the one lariat (directions included below).

Fringe or Tassel Finish-This option is a little more complicated then the original design, but can be done with a little patience. You will need your original piece of wire, as well as a number or fringe or tassel wires. It is a good idea to make these pieces about six inches long (finished length will be three to four inches). One of the Fringe pieces will come from your main wire, the others the wires you attach. Cut enough for each side. String a crimp bead onto the main wire so that it is high enough up to leave a full Fringe length below it. Gently add each of your fringe wires into this crimp bead. Leave on inch at the top (where the rest of the necklace is) and the rest of the length down where the fringe will be. Crimp the bead. Each of the fringe strands will be finished like the end of the original piece in the directions above. If your fringe is really heavy it is best to add a good sized bead next to your crimp bead on your main wire (over all the ends of your fringe wires) and then a second crimp bead to give it extra strength. String your necklace as usual. When you get to the other end string your crimp bead, your next bead and the final crimp bead and then add your fringe wires and crimp each of the crimps. Finish each wire of the fringe. This takes a little planning and being careful to make sure the main wire has enough length left to finish the necklace. This piece can have a great look and can take a simple lariat necklace to a whole new world.

Looped Lariat-Another option is the looped lariat. This one has a loop on one end. When worn it has a lot less wearing options. You simply put the one end through the loop instead of knotting or wrapping it. It is one of the simplest variations and it has a great finished look (especially when down with pearls and seed beads). The end you start with will be the same as in the original directions. String all beads as usual. Add your crimp bead and string enough additional beads to make the loop. Then run the wire through the crimp bead and the beads above it. Pull tight. The loop made should be large enough to fit the other end through it easily. If you need to add more beads, carefully pull the end and do so. When you are sure the loop is a good size for your necklace pull tight and crimp the crimp bead.

You have a lot of design options for lariat necklaces. They look particularly lovely when using small beads such as seed beads or small spacer beads and then larger more flashy beads. Your options can include glass beads including lamp work beads, pearls, crystals, and shells. If doing the loop method you can include a large focal bead or a pendant on the one end (just make sure your loop is large enough to allow the piece to fit through). You can also use magnetic beads or hematite beads (which are also magnetic) to add a difference to the piece. Placing these at intervals gives the piece even more wearing options. Make sure you place them close enough to hold the necklace (three fourths of an inch or less is a good measure).

No matter what you do, remember to have fun. If at any time you are feeling frustrated it is best to set it aside and come back to it. Using a beading board will let you plan out your patterns and hold your beads should you need to leave it for a time. Have fun making, wearing, and giving lariat necklaces!