Proenza Schouler's rope jewelry makes a bright and bold fashion statement. You can easily recreate these these bracelets and necklaces for super cheap!

I first came across this line of jewelry on HonestlyWTF.com. They did a DIY version of Proenza Schouler's Rope Necklace.

Check out my fun photo shoot in an alley near the office! Thanks to Wade and Karen for helping!

Step 1: Inspiration

Doesn't this image just make you want to go to the beach!?!?

Step 2: Materials

Climbing Rope - I bought mine from REI. You can buy it by the yard which is great!

Mason Line - I bought this package on Amazon, you get a lot of colors for really cheap

Twisted Rope and Paracord - I didn't use the twisted rope or paracord in this necklace, but you can substitute this for climbing rope

Polished Rocks and Jewels - you can buy these at a bead store or online.

Scissors or Exacto Knife

Glue Gun

Lighter

Step 3: Cutting Rope

As you cut the cord for various pieces of your necklace you will need to melt the ends of the cord to prevent it from fraying.

One of our interns, Sam, make an awesome video explaining how to make the perfect melted cord ends. Basically this is how it breaks down:
1. Wrap the end of the cord in electrical tape
2. Cut of the end of the cord cutting through both tape and cord
3. Put flame under cut end of cord, avoid touching the flame to the cord

Step 4: Glue Rope

You will need to hot glue every contact point of two pieces of rope. Make sure you use a generous amount of glue so the rope sticks together. Don't worry if it gets messy it will be covered by the colorful string.

I found it easiest to use rubberbands to tie the rope together before I glued it so I could see how the final result will look. I recommend you use rubberbands to make a mock up of the entire necklace before you glue it.

Step 5: Knotting Details

Use mason line to put the colorful details on the necklace. The beauty and fun of making this necklace is you have creativity to add any details you like. Trying to replicate the necklace exactly is no fun.

Spiral
One of the defining characteristics of Proenza Schouler's necklaces is the spiraling string around the climbing rope. This is really easy to do. Just continuously tie knots with the mason line around the rope and the spiral will form naturally.

Wrapping
To cover up the glue that holds the rope together wrap the mason line around all contact points. You can also wrap the line around sections of the rope instead of doing the spiral detail.

Step 6: Position Pieces

Once you finish putting all of the detail on your pieces of rope, lay the pieces on the table and figure out the final positioning.

Finish it off by gluing all pieces together and wrapping mason line where necessary.

Step 7: Adding Rocks and Jewels

For the finishing touches tie on your polished rocks and jewels. You will want to use a non-fraying string for this. I also used super glue to reinforce the string connecting the rocks.

9 Comments

manderw

11 years ago on Introduction

Wow, these are pretty wild! I can see little girls especially loving them. Might have to keep these in mind for Xmas future...

bluemoon6

12 years ago on Introduction

figured out the spiral and the necklace came out great--made it with a little thinner rope for the first one ---and make the necklace so you could lenghten it or shorten it with the knot system they use on bracelets--couldnt believe what they charge for the real thing onl ine!!!! Wow!!! thanks for sharing--and by the way--they look the best with a printed top--even if the ropes are a totally different color--cant figure it out but they do!!!!

12 years ago on Step 7

need a little more detail --on how to do the spiral??? dont understand where to tie the knots on the cord??