…with no knots! This easy leather necklace design uses sliding cord adjusters that simply glue on to the ends of the cord. Push the ends closer together to shorten the necklace. Pull the ends away from each other to lengthen it.
My example is with 2mm olive green Greek leather, but you can use any round cord except rattail with this technique (rattail is just too slippery). Just match the size of your cord to the inner diameter (ID) of the cord end. The cord ends are available in four sizes and four platings: gunmetal and antiqued brass, copper and silver.
- Measure your cord. My technique: take your desired finished length and add 12″. For my 18″ necklace I used 30″ of leather.
- Center your beads or pendant. (I used 5 silver plated leaves. To keep them in place, I just flattened their loops slightly with my flat nose pliers.)
- Slide a cord end onto each end. Make sure that the bottoms of the closed tubes are pointing towards the center of your necklace.
- Glue the cord ends into the opposite open adjuster tubes. Make sure the cord touches the bottom of the tube, and be sure to clean up any glue drips before they dry. I used Eco-Glue because it works with both metal and fabric. Tenax is another good option, especially if you don’t like waiting!
That’s all there is to it! Too easy, right? The only problem you might encounter is the cord not fitting the cord end. Since most types of cord, and the ends themselves, may vary in diameter +/- 10%, this is a fairly common problem, but a simple one to fix. Try mitering (cutting at an angle) or rolling the ends to make them a tad thicker or thinner. ~ Cindy
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