In a move away from subtle and hard jewellery making, I was inspired by a statement necklace I purchased one summer in Tuscany from a local weekend market. A collection of beautifully handmade textile jewellery displayed on a table in a small market square in the heat of the day, stared up at me, and I was moved to buy a black cord necklace like none I’d seen or considered buying before. It soon became a favourite in my jewellery collection and an essential accessory for particular outfits too.

Handmade and bought in Tuscany from an outdoor market

I began to research different knots and how to create statement jewellery as well as where to buy the appropriate cords to make them with. I bought a selection of different strings too in order to practice the techniques and understand the scale differences and textural qualities. The biggest challenge with the thickness of the cord, is of course how to finish the ends and what jewellery finding to use in order to join the two ends together. Having my own example on hand helped, certainly, but being an English speaker, living in Italy and trying to find an item I didn’t know the name of, while also living through a pandemic and a transitional period after Brexit; all these things added to the difficulties of finding what I needed.

Cord comes in all different textures, colours, materials and structures. The cost of them varies dramatically and for some of them, it’s honestly difficult to understand why. However, I began making samplers and soon made my first statement necklace and decided that a beautiful handmade zipped case was the perfect way to keep it in great condition and to present it nicely. As the necklace is two-tone, the fabric I used for the case followed the same style. I added tabs to the end of the zipper too in the same fabric which works wonderfully.

Needless to say the recipient was delighted and I look forward to my next commission and my next design using any of the cords I now have in my collection. To commission your own, please contact me via info@kellylouisecreations.com.