https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/simple-pleat-necklace • Posted by Wei X.
I love pleats... in moderation. Some tips before you get started: ☽ Choose lightweight fabrics as they’re easier to pleat and easier to wear ☽ Trim the length of your pleats after sewing them onto your necklace (not before...) ☽ Don’t sew the fabric too tightly onto the necklace cord, otherwise your fabric can’t be repositioned to lie flat later on when you’re wearing it
I love pleats... in moderation. Some tips before you get started: ☽ Choose lightweight fabrics as they’re easier to pleat and easier to wear ☽ Trim the length of your pleats after sewing them onto your necklace (not before...) ☽ Don’t sew the fabric too tightly onto the necklace cord, otherwise your fabric can’t be repositioned to lie flat later on when you’re wearing it
First, gather all your materials - not pictured is the button you will need for making part of the closure, as well as the thin sewing thread used to hold the pleats together later. The 3 strips of cotton are each 2 inches wide. The shortest piece is 8 inches long, the mid piece is 10 inches long, and the longest piece is 12 inches long. In terms of the embroidery thread, I chose contrasting colours, but feel free to use similar colours to the fabrics you chose :)
First, fold the cotton cord in half and make a knot for the button closure, and then make knots all the way around. The "knots for pleats" circles in the picture mark where your pleats are going to sit between - so before you finalize those, hold it up to your neck and check a mirror to see if they’re indeed where you want them to be.
Next, you can start pleating your fabric strips. The thread I used contrasts with the fabric colours - this is helpful later on when you’re removing them. Basically what you’re doing here is folding it into a series of ‘steps’, and making a stitch to hold down every ‘step’ all the way down the centre.
Repeat the pleating step with the other two fabric strips as well.
Then you can position all the fabric along your necklace to figure out which colour goes where, and which pieces are overlapping where. Using embroidery thread, stitch your pleated fabric onto your necklace cord. I’m using the “oversewing stitch”, but feel free to use another stitch that you may prefer the look of. Remember to remove your original pleating thread (dark blue one in this case) once you finish with and knot off the embroidery thread. I just made a little cut in one of the stitches and then teased out the rest of them by using the back of my needle.
Repeat this process with the rest of your fabric pieces, and there you have it - your very own Simple Pleat Necklace.