Hemp Jewelry Designs

In response to a poll I ran a few weeks ago, a few people wished to know how to start a piece of jewelry.

I will explain how to start a simple hemp jewelry piece.

First thing you must do is to figure out how you want your piece to look. Choose your knots you wish to use and what kind of jewelry you want to make, ie necklace, bracelet and so on.

Next you will need to decide on how much cord you need.

Then you will need to decide on which closure you want. The most simple on is tied ends, which is what I am going to use here, as I have not gotten any instructions on other closures you can use yet.

Once you have all of that decided, it is time to start your jewelry!

Since I am going to be using tie ends, I am going to take all my cords and make an overhand knot approximately 3-4 inches from the end of the cord.

I have something that looks like this:

The ends on top of the knot are going to be used to for my closure. And the pieces on the bottom of the knot are going to be used to create my piece of jewelry.

This is the most simple way to start your hemp jewelry piece.

Happy Knotting

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Cowry shells, a popular item for hemp jewelry. It seems to me that they are awkward to work with when using with hemp jewelry.

The only way I have found to use them is to put craft (or even crazy glue) on the knot bearer cord and on the back of the cowrie shell to hold it in place.

You can also just thread your cord threw the split at the top of the shell, to make a hanging pendant sort of speak. I have one hemp necklace that I used that way.

I hope that helps answer any questions. Good Luck and happy hemping!!

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I learned to do macrame online and from books. Some things I learned on my own, that the books or online instructions didn’t tell me. So I thought of some things that I had not written in my other posts about making hemp jewelry that I thought I would write here in one post. Some tips on how to make your hemp jewelry great!! Of course it is a matter of trial and error, but doesn’t hurt to learn from others’ mistakes or findings either!

First of all, realize that your first knots are not going to be perfect! It takes practice.

Ok, on to some tips:

• One of the most important things I have found is to anchor your cords! I use T-pins or push pins to hold down my knots that I have already have made. I use tape to hold down the knot bearer cords. These need to be tight, or taunt and secured. That is the only way to get uniform knots…well that I have found!! Some people use their feet to hold the cords, but I have NO idea how they do that!
• Make sure that when making a half knot (and more importantly a square knot) that you begin the knot on the same side! That will keep the knots uniform. FOR EXAMPLE: I always start on the right hand side of my piece of jewelry. SO, if I am making a square knot, I start with the knotting cord in my right hand, make the half knot, then use the cord in my left hand and make the half knot…one square knot done. NEXT square knot, I start with the knotting cord in my right hand again. If I do not, then the knots are not going to look right!!!
• Don’t worry at first if you have enough cord or not, learn the knots and then when you are satisfied with your knowledge and go to make your jewelry you can concentrate on cord length.
• It is better to have too much cord than not enough cord!!! Hemp is cheap, I even sell hemp twine, natural or colored.
• Make sure your knots are pulled tight. But not too tight that is squishes the knot bearers in a weird position. I know, that one is hard to picture, but I have done it.

That is about all I can think of now. I am sure I will come up with more soon.

Please, if you have any questions, contact me, I will be happy to help if I can!

Good Luck

Peace!!

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