Portia Lawrie

crochet, DIY, jewelry, Tutorials

DIY: Chain & Crochet Statement Necklace

Ever since I first tried this technique, I’ve been wanting to have another play around with a slightly different incarnation of it. A couple of weeks ago I came across the perfect chunkier chain in a charity shop for a measly 50p and came up with this….

You will need:

  • Chunky chain (to cut into sections)
  • More chain (for the necklace part)
  • 2 x Jump Rings
  • Embroidery Floss
  • Crochet hook (needs to fit through the links in your chunky chain)
  • Wire cutters
  • Pliers

1. Cut chunky chain into equal lengths, depending on the width you want your finished piece to be. I used 6 lengths in the end, all 2″ wide
2. Follow the same technique as this post. Crochet into first piece of chunky chain (ignore the pink one in the photo! For the purposes of this tute just imagine the green/blue one is the first piece)
3. When you get to the end, tie off leaving a long tail
4. Thread the tail with a needle
5. Whip stitch the next length of chain to the line of crochet you just did and tie off. Then crochet your next colour into that piece of chain, tie off, and slip stitch the next piece of chain, and so on. (Just keep adding rows of chain and crochet like this until your piece has reached the desired size)
6. Blob the tied off ends with some glue
7. When it’s dry, cut off all the loose tails
8. Add some jump rings to the top row of chunky chain
9. Add a chain with a fastener to the jump rings and you’re done!

I THINK I’m done with this technique for now, but I can’t promise it won’t crop up again….it is slightly addictive….!

DIY, jewelry, Tutorials

DIY: Simple Fishook Earrings

Ah, man! I have been laid low with a chest infection (and fever for some of it) for the past 10 days or so. I’m only just starting to come round to some level of feeling functional. I’m very bad at being ill. I tend to drop like a ton of bricks and completely zone out. Usually I get over it quite quickly; but this little bout seems to be dragging on and on. I blame the weather. I am literally so cross about our weather right now. It’s actually snowing outside as I type this. It’s friggin’ April for goodness sake! I think our bodies can only fend off winter illnesses for so long then they will eventually succumb. We neeeeed Spring!

Anyway, that’s the reason for the lack of posting around these parts lately! So today I thought I’d share a quick tutorial that’s been sitting in draft for weeks. (It was part of the whole TV/Challenge thing I’ve been involved in. I made half a dozen pairs of these and they all sold. STILL waiting for them to finish editing the pilot at the moment. So no news yet!) These literally take 5-10 minutes to make.

You will need:

  • Beads for your drops
  • 2 x jewelry head pins (gold or silver)
  • 0.8-1mm gauge jewelry wire (gold or silver)
  • Wire Cutters
  • Round nosed pliers

To Make:

  • Thread your bead(s) onto your headpins
  • Snip off the excess wire leaving approx 6-7mm; and create loops at the top using round nosed pliers
  • Next cut 2 identical lengths of wire. Anything from 2-4″ in length depending on how large you want your finished hooks to be
  • Clamp BOTH pieces of wire at the same time between your round nosed pliers. About 1cm OFF centre; and bend the wires over the nose of your pliers to create the “hook”
  • Using round nosed pliers, add little loops the the longer ends.
  • Add the drops you made a minute ago, close up the loops, and you’re done!

See?! 5-10m minutes max 🙂

DIY, how to, jewelry, Tutorials

DIY: Candy Set

Now, before I launch into this “how to” I have one word for you.  Buttons.  I once made a version of this using old vintage buttons and crystal drops. (Long since lost sadly) So if you have a healthy button stash at home you could create the perfect sewist themed accessory using the same process!

This is another one of the items I made when I was challenged to remake a bag of cheapo costume jewelry into something a bit more, well, tasteful, I guess! I’s a simple way to jazz up a plain chain necklace or bracelet…..A beady charm bracelet and matching necklace. I think it turned out cute, at least….


You will need:

1) Open up your jump ring and slip on a bead (or button!) (To open a jump ring, grip it on both sides with pliers so the opening is in between your sets of pliers. Then simultaneously move one set of pliers away from you and the other set of pliers towards you. This opens up the jump ring without distorting it’s circular shape. If you try and prise it open left to right, it’ll get all bent out of shape. Just tellin’ ya!)
2) Slip on a link of your chain
3) Close up your jump ring (as for opening but reversed 🙂
4) Keep adding beads/buttons in this way; alternating from left to right. So if you lay your chain flat as I have, the 1st bead is added to the right side of the 1st link. The 2nd bead is added to the left side of the 2nd link, the 3rd bead is added to the right side of the 3rd link and so on. (This creates that “cascading” effect in the finished piece rather than having all the bead hanhing side by side from the base of the chain when you wear it)
5) If you want to add in some bead drops then you can make some using headpins. (Se how to here)
6) Add them to your chain, alternating in the same way as you did before.

Now go raid your button stash!  😉

DIY, how to, jewelry, refashioning, repurposing, Tutorials

DIY: Crochet Chain Necklaces

I’m a bit in love with this technique. It’s popping up all over the internet and I really love the contrast of hard metallic chain with soft yarn. You could make a whole bunch of these to complement or contrast with your wardrobe colour palette. (Do you have a wardrobe palette?! Colours that tend to creep into your wardrobe time and time again?) The customization options are endless….

Anyhow, all you need here is an old chain necklace, a crochet hook that fits through the links in your chain, and some yarn of some description. I used embroidery cotton because it suited the size of my chain and I already had some in my stash. But you could use silk for a bit of luxury; and on chunkier chains you could use delicious merino knitting yarn. Yum! All we’re going to use here is a single crochet stitch. But you could experiment with double/treble crochet or even some of the more decorative crochet stitches… If you’ve never crocheted before, (although I know alot of you do!) trust me, it’s easy to learn; and you’ll be totally hooked (excuse the gratuitous pun, totally intended!!)

1. Start as with any basic crochet; with a slipknot/loop on your hook. Then pass the hook through the first link in your chain.
2. Yarn over the end over your hook as pictured
3. Pull through the chain link so you have 2 loops on your hook
4. Yarn over your hook again and pull through the 2 loops you had on your hook. First single crochet done!
5. Repeat in all links of the chain, right to the end.
6. Cut the yarn so you have a short tail. Open up the loop you have left on your crochet hook and pass the end of the yarn tail through it.
7. Remove your hook and pull the yarn tail  tight so the “knot” sits snug against your chain.
8. At both ends of your chain you’ll have a yarn tail. Put a small blob of superglue on both knotted ends. You want it to run a little bit onto the yarn tail too.
9. Once the glue is set hard, snip off the yarn tail, et voila!

My chain didn’t have any clasps so I added a little extender chain, a clasp, and a little drop at the back. But if you’re working with a necklace that you already have, of course you don’t need to worry about that part.  I also decorated my necklaces with some little bead drops that I made by threading the beads onto jewellery head pins and making a little loop at the top. Great little tute here for making beaded drops…

As you can see, you can create loads of different variations. I was limited to using the materials and colours that were in the pile of jewelery I was challenged to remake. But imagine these with turquoise, cerise, red ; chunkier chain in matt black, pewter, gold; and any manner of drops. Basically, just let your imagination go mad!

If you do end up making these, PLEASE let me know! I would LOVE to see what you come up with!

jewelry, silver jewelry, tv

Sooooo, what have I been up to…..?


The eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted in the pictures of my previous post, that I appeared to be doing a “show and tell” of some jewelry pieces. The show is by no means about jewelry making but for this particular episode part of my challenge was to turn a tangled mass of beaded necklaces and bracelets into items that were a bit, well, nicer. I’m not a jewelry maker. Let’s be clear. Although I have dabbled a bit in the past (as a teenager I used to make simple little earrings and sell them in a friends shop) this particular challenge pushed me out of my stitchy comfort zone and really had me thinking on my feet and learning new skills as I went along. And while this blog is not a jewelry blog; it is a blog about what I get up to in my daily “making” life. And, well, this is what I’ve been up to for the past couple of weeks! The jewelry in the picture was OK. But the idea was for me to resell this jewelry for a profit. As it was, there was little or no profit to be had. I’d be able to sell the jewelry as it was at a bootsale sure. But I had bigger ideas! In order to eek as much profit as possible out of the jewelry that I had, I decided to break it down into raw materials and use them to create handmade pieces that were one of a kind. Essentially adding value to basic materials by investing time, a bit of skill and in some cases the addition of new materials…….

One trend that seems to be emerging here online and in the spring/summer preview shows is the addition of yarn or ribbon woven or crocheted into chunky chain. While I didn’t have funky chunky chain, I adapted the trend to suit the chain that I did have. I used embroidery floss crocheted into chain to add a pop of colour and then created drops from the beads I had harvested. The overall effect is more delicate and has an almost Egyptian feel to it. I really love this effect and have a “how to” planned for next week. So stay tuned for that. The necklaces on the left and right have been sold (yay!) I’m planning on getting some chunkier chain and making a couple of these for myself. The drops aren’t really my style so I plan on making some that are simple chain and yarn combos. Less fussy if you like. It’s a quick and easy way to make a fun accessory that you can customise to suit any colour palette. Simply choose an embroidery floss that complements the colour of the outfit you’re accessorizing and you’re good to go…

These birds nest pendants are so simple to make too. I cut up a little stretchy pearl bracelet and used the beads to create half a dozen of these. The chain and wire etc can be bought cheaply on line and they take about 20 mins to make. (I still have some of these left if anyone’s interested! £12 each). I would love to claim this idea as my own, but sadly no! These are all OVER the internet right now. Just google “birds nest pendants” and there’re a proliferation of tutorials to choose from. They look great with real turquoise or jasper beads that mimic the speckled effect of real birds eggs too….

These pendants were a bit more in depth. The pendants clasps and jump rings are all made from real silver. I coiled and manipulated 1.2mm sterling wire into various shapes and hammered them flat for a more artisan/handmade look. I added glass bead drops using beads from a necklace I cut up and hung them on buff natural leather thong. The ends of which I secured using sterling silver wire. In addittion to these I made a whole batch of hammered silver tiny drop earrings. The plan for these was always to try and sell them into a local gallery/gift shop on our High Street that specialises in handmade gifts and homewares. They’re not actually to my taste, but they fit really nicely with aesthetic of the shop, which was my aim. I’m happy to say that the gallery owner bought the lot!! Double yay!

Handmade hammered silver clasps and natural leather cord….

More natural leather cord here. This time I made multi strand necklaces threaded with tibetan silver noodle beads and round beads. I sold all but one of these. I could have sold more if I’d have made more in the buff leather., darn it! I actually really like these. They’ve got quite a tribal feel to them don’t you think? I’m not one to wear much jewelry ironically. But I might make an exception with these….

Again, this isn’t really my taste, but the challenge was to work with what I had. I do really like the result, just not on me, lol. Don’t those pastel beads remind you of the candy necklaces you used to get in the pick and mix section of your local sweet shop? I think the pastel shades contrast well will the silver drops. I have a “how to” lined up for this one too. I keep thinking that this design would work really well with vintage buttons in place of the pastel beads, don’t you think….?

Lastly I made a whole batch of fishook earrings like these with glass bead drops. These sold like hotcakes! So simple, so quick to make; and f I can work out what I’ve done with the photos, there’ll be a “how to” next week on these too!
The last couple of weeks have challenged me to think creatively in terms of working with what I have and bringing the best out in materials that at first glance seem pretty unspectacular. I’m realising that challenging myself in this way is something I get a real kick out of. It’s why I enjoy refashioning so much; and why I love taking unloved bit’s of furniture destined for the dump, and looking for the potential in them rather than the faults. I’m starting to realise that it’s a big part of who I am creatively. Taking something and reinventing it, giving it a new lease of life, is immensely satisfying.
But by far the most gratifying element of this whole process has been something different. The fact that other people will look at something you’ve made and think it’s good enough to hand over their hard earned cash for. If I’m honest, I’ve always lacked in confidence in one way or another. I’m very self critical, and this applies to everything I make too. It’s never occurred to me to sell the things I make before because they never seem good enough to me. But apparently they are; who knew?! It’s weird, because if it hadn’t been for the filming of this pilot, I doubt I would have put myself out there, to have my “work” scrutinised and ask someone to buy it. But I did, and they liked it, and they bought from me. I cannot overstate what a landmark moment that is for me. The gallery have even suggested we can have an ongoing relationship if I want to come up with a collection where I’m not working within the constraints of a cheap bag of costume jewellery! There’s this weird sensation creeping over me as a result. Could it actually be confidence in my own abilities?! At the ripe old age of 38, perhaps it’s about time, lol! 😉