18 ways to wear a 100-inch rope

[SunSeeker]

You inspire me to make one of these 100" ropes! ..may be a silly question, but is it a good idea to include a clasp?

 

[Tucs]

Hello SunSeeker, I am not an expert (that's why I ask the experts here!) but I think you need a clasp if you want to be able to wear it in a "choker" look, with lots of loops that are smaller than your head circumference. My suspicion, though, is that the clasp might make it harder to do the braids, perhaps it would show in the braid? But perhaps skilled pearl braiders would know how to get around that problem.

My pleasure, HappyHuku

 

[gemini-one]

I'm new and this is my first forum post. Had to say Thanks SO much for sharing this braid tute. My 2 sisters and I received 100" inch strands from our mother this past Christmas and where them for our lunch dates. Can't wait to wear the braid strand to our next get together. Awesome!

 

[la_corsetiere]

And thanks for bumping this post (and welcome to PG!), gemini-one! Must try some pearl-braiding today!

 

[gemini-one]

Thank you la_corstiere. I'll be braiding my pearl rope for lunch with my sisters this Friday. Can't wait to share the style with them.

 

[GemGeek]

Don't forget to take pictures, or have someone take one of the three of you!

 

[JerseyPearl]

Bumping this great thread.

 

[lmgarden]

Wow, wow, wow... More ways to wear my rope! Thanks for the bump, JerseyPearl!

 

[rascalsally]

Great ideas! I have a few sets that I can link together to form a longer rope. I'm going to try the braiding and see if I can hide the extra clasps on the underside. Thank you so much for posting! Very creative!

 

[Tamarinda]

This is absolutely inspired. Amazing!

 

[lisa c]

Here it is again!

 

[Winehouse]

I have one that has been in my jewelry box for years & never knew how to properly wear it! Thank you for the ideas! I’m going to practice & use one for the office Christmas party!

 

[Rhea Pearlman]

Thank you so much everyone! I will look into taking some tutorial photos of the braided and twisted styles. They are both basic braids (like braiding hair), with a slight difference in how I do them for the tight braid or the "nautical" braid.

Almost all the styles are fastened with a ribbon in the back except the really long ones. It is so hard to work with the rope if it is just looped around your neck and you are feeding the slack through the loops trying to get them just how you want it. I CAN get it around my head 6 times just looping it but it's a nightmare the get the loops looking nice. Much easier to arrange it how you want and secure the ends with ribbons- of course then you are limited to even numbers of loops. If you have a clasp in your rope you don't have this limitation because you can tie the clasp ends right into the ribbons. Plus, I didn't demo this here but you can put the bow in the front as part of the look. I also love the idea of fastening with a brooch as well but don't want to scratch the pearls- I thought maybe I could make some kind of elastic fastener that I could then clip the brooch onto without the metal touching the pearls.


This rope is not heavy at all since the pearls are only 5.5-6mm. Anything will be chokey for me if I wear it tight up on the front of my neck, but I'll deal with it if I like the look. Otherwise, I'll wear it looser. This is another nice thing about fastening with a ribbon, you can use the ribbon to extend the length in the back so it's never tighter than you want. The 8-loop style of this rope doesn't actually go all the way around my neck, but with the ribbon I can add a few inches in the back.

If you loop it several times and the long loop is heavy and starts to pull, the short loop can pull up against your neck and start to feel like it's choking you- this is ANOTHER reason to fasten with a ribbon or clip if possible, you can attach the ribbons just where you want them and they won't slip. I'll post some pictures later of what I mean.

Ohh! So you make your loops, anchor at one end, and braid the 'free' ends of the loops! I'd never have thought of that

I do finger loop braiding with loops of yarn. I wonder whether that would look nice using strands of pearls. Guess I have a reason to keep collecting strands from garage sales, to try with. I've never thought of combining strands before.

 

[Alipearl]

How did you do 8 & 9? I have a rope strand too. It's 164cm total length but don't think mine it so versatile. Would love a tutorial here.

 

[lisa c]

After I braided my 100” rope from back in the day, I decided 120” is going to be more useful, but I haven’t done it, expanded any of the ropes. It’s still theoretical.

 

[lisa c]

Well, I couldn’t figure it out, too large a file maybe. Both ropes are 100”, ~slightly to the small side of 4.5 to 5.5mm, mostly smaller, offround (formerly called potato)pearls. Braided strand is a warmer pink than the unbraided strand. Both strands are dyed pearls, but are aging Really well, without any pampering. Amazing!