How to make a necklace from Ngwenya glass

Recycled glass necklace

A friend brought back some recycled glass beads as a gift for me from – Ngwenya glass – in Swaziland.

Some of those beads were strung onto a piece of net to make – this – necklace. There were three leftover beads and I’ve been waiting to use them.

Right now, no actually for a while now, I have been going mad for all things tribal inspired. Might be because I’m from Africa. It’s the riotous colours and bold shapes that appeal to me. For all the vibrancy and impact of African influences they are never, ever tacky or gaudy.

This necklace is so dead easy to make. You would have to substitute the glass beads used in this DIY for long rectangular or cylindrical beads. A whole bunch of long slim beads with a single spacer bead would look fabulous. Here’s how to make this necklace.

Red areas are where to make knots

You need: –

• 3 or more long beads that thread at one end
• 10 or more spacer beads
• 1 metre of waxed cord rope

NB!! The holes in your beads must be big enough for the waxed cord to fit through them.

To make: –

Lay out your beads on a table to get a sense of how many spacer beads you want to use. Line your beads up in the order you want to thread them. Knot the end of your waxed cord and thread one spacer bead. Make another knot to hold the end bead in place.

Then add your beads to your waxed cord. When you have added all your beads, use a mirror to check how long you want the cord to be at the back of your neck. When you are happy, allow that length and then tie a knot at each end of your beads to keep them in place in the middle of your cord. These knots stops the beads sliding around.

Allow the exact same length for the waxed cord at the other end of your necklace and add the last bead at the end. Place a knot on each side of the last bead to keep it in place. And that’s it! Your necklace is complete.

You can find more ideas to hopefully inspire you to make your own accessories on the Greenie Galleries by going back to the top of this page. And do share your ideas and items on the Greenie Dresses for Less facebook page. 

Till next week.

Greenie.