Tuesday Crafts: DIY Philip Lim Inspired Tassel Necklace

Tribal necklaces are everywhere.  I love this trend – such a great way to accessorize a white button down shirt or a classic shift dress.  I saw this necklace on net-a-porter and liked it.  It’s Philip Lim.  It’s $275.  I thought… Time to get crafty!
I wasn’t such a fan of all that gold combined with the black, so I opted to make a (mostly) metal-less version.  Here’s how it came out.  (The boyfriend is out of town, so you will have to deal with my not-so-great photography skills.)

What you’ll need:  A scrap of black fabric, 2 feet of leather trim and 6 cord tassels (I bought both of these items at MJ Trim – you can order ’em online,) glue gun, black cord (I used theatrical cord which I bought at the hardware stuff… so cheap for a huge skein of it,) 2 metal caps, 2 small1 large jump ring, and a clasp.
Start by cutting out a shape from your fabric.  Should be about 6 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.
Then cut out three pieces of leather trim.  one should be as long as your piece of fabric, the other two should be about 4″ long.
Glue one end of one of the small pieces of leather trim to the piece of fabric.  (You are going to make a loop.)
Glue the other end to the back of it, and pinch like so to set the glue.
You now have a loop.  Repeat this on the other side.
Decide where you want your tassels to go.  Lay them out like so.
Coat the back of the large piece of trim with glue, and carefully place it over the tassels.  If necessary, rearrange the tassels while the glue is still hot.  The main part of your necklace is now complete.
Slide a piece of cord (around 10″ or so, but test it out to see what fits best on your neck,) through the loop of your necklace.
Tape the two ends of cord together.  Apply a bit of glue to the top of the cord, and squish the taped cord into the metal cap.
Attach a jump ring to the cap.  It will look finished and pretty like above.
Attach your clasp to one side, and your big jump ring to the other side.   Voila, you’re done!
The end result!
And your done! It looks prettier in person, but my photographer, the boyfriend, was not around to take a photo.  But you get the point.  I’m wearing mine tomorrow with my favorite purple DVF dress.
P.S. To make this look even more like the real deal, (if you are into it,) just glue your tassels into metal caps.  Attach jump rings to the caps, and sew them onto the trim.  I personally prefer a lil less metal, but this small alteration will make yours look exactly like the Philip Lim version.

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