Week 14 - learning how to make a Tatty Devine necklace

If you ever go to a Street Feast event that Bob's Lobster is trading at, you will most likely see a girl wearing Tatty Devine's famous lobster necklace.  Whenever I see her, I always think how cool her style is and that I could never pull it off.

I think that that's probably why I've never bought anything in the past from Tatty Devine.  I love the brand, the colours and the identity of the jewellery.....but, I just don't quite fit with the style somehow.

That being said, I still love.....the brand, the colours and the identity and so I was keen to go to one of the necklace workshops regardless, because I just thought it would be frivolous and fun (which I always need more of), plus,  I would get to make a lovely necklace in the process.

Turns out, I was totally right.  What a pleasure it is going to the Tatty Devine store on Brick Lane - its just a barrage of colour and playfulness with delightful things to look at every which way you turn.

A small group of six of us was seated round a charmingly but fastidiously laid out table that was covered with tools, instructions, bowls of things, pots of stuff, mountains of coloured perspex tiles and not forgetting the jars of love hearts, dolly mixtures and jellies. It was a cascade of cute girliness.

The class was led by Charlotte, a girl who is quite clearly, the embodiment of the Tatty Devine brand: a shining, joyous and colourful ball of energy who could not have been more helpful or enthusiastic during our two-hour bunting necklace workshop.

Everything was all laid out for us and the first thing we had to do was decide on our 12 coloured bunting tiles that would form our necklace.  Now obviously for me, the eternal procrastinator and lover of colours, this could have been an endless and fruitless task.   However I decided to be utterly  decisive and went in there with confidence.  I kept it simple but chose, what I thought was an excellent colour palette.

We then had to start linking our tiles together with jump rings.  This is quite a fiddly process using two pairs of pliers, but once you get the hang of it, its fairly quick.  I would alternate between adding the next jump ring and eating a jelly heart (or seven) to make it last a little longer.

After the body of our necklaces were done, it was then time to add on our chains - this bit was a little more complicated than before as it was just a bit more fiddly measuring our chains, cutting each side and then fixing them to some tiny jump rings on the ends of the necklaces.

After a quick once over from Charlotte and a rub down with a cloth, we were done.  Not only was I left with a really pretty, lovely-looking piece of costume jewellery,  I also made it myself and can actually make more if I wish.  I've got to actually remember that yes, I'm learning all these wonderful things over the course of the year, but its going to be really, bloody useful to put everything into practise.  If I want to start making some necklaces or terrariums or leather clutch-bags I can and I should and I shall!