Freeform Peyote Collar/Neckpiece

I finished this necklace, finally, at 5:54 PM on Thursday (2 days ago)  - but didn't get a chance to take photos until just now.

Here's a photo of the neckpiece on Bessie Mae, my faithful sidekick mannequin:

I am so incredibly proud of this piece - I just hate that the gorgeous green sections in the back don't show. For that matter, the clasp is so pretty, I wish it was visible, too!

I went through a 3-week or so long period where I wasn't that thrilled with the piece - back before it was connected together, and before the embellishing.

Reminder of how it looked un-embellished:

This is actually the back of the finished necklace, and if you look real hard you'll see a few stray threads showing, because the beads just got so full during the stitching process that they wouldn't accommodate even one more thread pass during the embellishing - but it's the back, and after I cheated that first time and let the Fireline cross over a bead instead of passing through it, it got easier to do it a few more times. It won't show!

The sea of peyote just looks so plain - but I absolutely love the finished, embellished result:

During the embellishing process, I was able to add all the lovely gemstone, pearl, and glass accent beads that I had initially intended to work into the piece as I stitched, but it was too much trouble! I used embroidery techniques to create this deeply textural embellishment, which I envisioned as a series of twisting, turning, vine tendrils, snaking their way across the landscape of the piece.


Some close-ups of the embellished necklace:

 Here is the clasp:

And the clasp on the mannequin:

The necklace is comfortable and fun to wear, and I am pondering what to do with it. I have no where to wear it, and may put it in my Etsy shop. Maybe. Not sure I could actually part with it!


More about the creation of this piece - which was designed and created for my first Head-to-Head Challenge.