In this post we are talking about focal pieces for a necklace. I recently had an experience where I made a necklace and the focal just didn’t look right. No matter what I did. I ended up remaking the necklace several times over a 6 week period. In the beginning, I used this crescent moon connector as the focal. It’s quite a large heavy piece. Funnily enough, I actually set out to make the necklace with this piece in mind because I really liked it but when it all came together, I changed my mind.
I also changed my mind about some of the beads I used, and the wire. Pretty much remade the whole necklace several times.
Watch the video or follow the instructions below. The layout diagram for the components is at the bottom of the post.
The problem was that the focal was too heavy for the necklace and I couldn’t find anything that I liked. What I did was make the focal from three diamond shaped connectors. I connected them with jump rings.
Lay the three connectors out in a heart shape as shown below.
Fold the top left connector over so that it’s sitting on top of the lower connector. Connect both the top and bottom loops together using the 4mm jump rings. If you haven’t used jump rings before you can use this technique.
Now repeat for the other side so that all three connectors are joined using the jump rings.
Cut a piece of the wire and make a wire wrapped loop with two loops using this technique.
Thread on the following beads using the layout diagram below.
Make another wire wrapped loop.
Before you attach the centre component you need to make the large components as they are all attached in the same process.
Cut a piece of wire and make a wire wrapped loop with 2 wraps. Thread on the following beads using the layout diagram below.
Make another wire wrapped loop.
Open a 4mm jump ring and thread it onto the top loop of the right connector. Close the jump ring. Repeat for the top loop of the left connector.
Add a 4mm jump ring to each end of the centre component and one end of the large components.
Open another 4mm jump ring and thread on the 4mm jump ring of the centre component, the 4mm jump ring of the right side of the connector, and the 4mm jump ring of the large component. Close the jump ring.
Cut a piece of wire and thread it through the teardrop. Leave a tail of about 5cm (2”). Bend the wire up on either side of the teardrop and pinch it with your pliers so that both wires are pointing up.
Cross the wires over and wrap the shorter piece around both wires twice. Cut off the end and tuck it in. Make a wire wrapped loop with the longer wire, making sure that the wraps come down and meet nice and neatly with the first loop. Both cut ends will be on the back.
Attach it to the bottom centre loop of the lower connector with a 4mm jump ring.
Open a 4mm jump ring and attach the leaves. The top leaves are attached to the right and left hand loops of the top connector. The lower leaves are connected to the jump ring that joins the upper and lower connectors. As the leaves are single sided be careful that they are facing the right way.
Cut a piece of wire and make a wire wrapped loop with 2 wraps. Thread on the following beads using the layout diagram below.
Make another wire wrapped loop.
Repeat.
On each side attach the small components to the large components with a 4mm jump ring.
The rest of the necklace is made up of chain.
Cut two pieces of chain 10cm (4”) long. You should have a 5cm (2”) piece left.
Open a 4mm jump ring and thread on the end loop of the small component and the end link of a 10cm piece of chain. Close the jump ring. Repeat for the other side.
Onto the headpin thread on a 3mm ball and a desert sun bead.
Make a loop in the top using this technique.
Open another 4mm jump ring and attach the loop of the component you just made and the end link of the 5cm (2”) piece of chain. Close the jump ring.
Open the 6mm jump ring and thread on the end link of the extender chain and the end link of the left hand side chain (if you are left handed thread on the link of the right side of the chain). Close the jump ring. You can see the 6mm jump ring. This is where the clasp will do up into for normal wear. You can, however do it up into any of the chain links of the extender.
The last thing to do is attach the clasp. Open a 4mm jump ring and thread on the end link of the remaining chain and the loop of the clasp. Close the jump ring.
This is a layout diagram for all three components.
The necklace and earrings I’m wearing in the video are the Raspberry Drop ones from this tutorial.
The bracelet I’m wearing is the snail shell bracelet which is also good for practicing your wire wrapping.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will have a play with different components and connectors to make your own focal.
REMEMBER TO PIN THIS FOR LATER!!
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October 31, 2023
Hi, my name is Carol Karl. I live in little old New Zealand. My family and I strive to live the most ‘real’ life we can – by that I mean that we eat real food, we live real lives and just generally be our most authentic selves.
