Chocs away!

String handmade polymer clay beads onto felt cords to form Ellen Kharade's sweet treats!

Ellen Kharade, MJ Designer

Wool fibres are available in various shades; this design would work equally well in pastel pink and blue, or hot colours such as magenta, red and purple

This unusual necklace uses cords of felt to string large polymer clay beads in delicious shades that look good enough to eat! The strands are handmade from wool fibres, using soap, water and friction to create a durable, dense fabric. Forming cords is a great introduction to felt making, and if you'd like to take it further, try making other jewellery components such as beads, which would make a great addition to this set.

Necklace

1. To form a felted cord, pull off a long length of ginger wool top, roughly 2cm x 50cm. Wet the fleece with hand hot water and rub up and down the length for a few minutes until the fibres lock together and no longer move. Gently roll the length of wool by hand over a bamboo mat until it becomes more sausage-shaped and holds its form.
2. Continue rolling until the felt has thickened and shrunk slightly, then rinse in hot water until it runs clear. Roll the cord a few more times to regain the sausage shape and put in a warm place to dry out overnight. Make two other cords from amber and terracotta wool top in the same way.
3. Roll out a ball of tangerine polymer clay, roughly 2cm in diameter and make a hole in the centre with a knitting needle. Spin the ball on the needle to widen the hole, making sure that it is big enough to thread onto a felt cord. Leave the bead on the needle and roll out a long thin sausage of green clay.
4. Lay one end of the green clay length near the hole and spin the needle between your fingers so that it wraps around the bead. Press gently onto the ball to make sure it adheres well. Repeat to make 13 beads in total, varying the size and colour combinations and bake in an oven following the manufacturer's instructions.
5. Trim the amber cord to 42cm and thread on five clay beads. Cut the ginger cord to 49cm and add three beads, then snip the terracotta cord to 56cm and decorate with five beads. Hold the ends of all three cords and stitch them tightly together with strong thread.
6. Take the thread through the widest end of a silver cone end and out the other, pulling the felt cords inside at the same time. Pass the needle through a jump ring and back through the cone and cord several times until it becomes secure. Repeat for the other side then add a caribiner clasp to one of the jump rings to complete.

Earrings

1. Roll out a ball of yellow polymer clay and make a hole with a darning needle, just large enough to pass a head pin through. Roll out a long thin sausage of tangerine clay and wrap around the bead in a spiral. Repeat to make another matching bead and bake according to the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Thread a matt orange bead onto a head pin, followed by a clay ball and another orange bead. Trim the end of the pin and curl the end over into a loop with round-nosed pliers. Attach an earwire to the loop, then repeat to make a pair.

Bracelet

1. Roll out nine beads from polymer clay, varying the colour and sizes of the balls and wrapping thin sausages of contrasting clay around them. Bake in an oven according to the manufacturer's instructions and allow to cool.
2. Cut elastic cord long enough to fit around your wrist plus another 2cm. Thread on the clay beads, alternating with small orange beads. Tie the ends of the elastic together and push through one of the clay beads to hide the knot.