The perfect Little Black Dress necklace

It's the ultimate classic which every woman should have in her wardrobe; the Little Black Dress! It flatters in all the right places, is easy to accessorize, and it never goes out of fashion.
This tutorial will show you how to make the perfect necklace to go with your Little Black Dress.
It's a triple strand design, and due to the different lengths the neclace will hang around your neck comfortably. The shell beads with poppies combined with the black seed beads give the design a vintage Oriental feel. You'd be surprised how a necklace with so many beads can be so light!

What do you need for this necklace?

• Oval shell beads. These beads have an attractive, colourful print of poppies. For this necklace you'll need 21 shell beads in total.
• Filigree beadcaps, gold tone to frame the shell beads. You'll need 42 pieces in total.
• Black seed beads, size 4 mm. The size of these rocailles is somewhat irregular, so I'll specify how many you need in terms of the total length. You'll need a total of 84 cm, plus 18 additional seed beads to use as spacer beads between the shell beads.
• Hook clasp. I have used a clasp in a golden colour.
• Crimp beads to finish the three strands.
• Coated metal wire in a golden colour, also known as Tigertail.

How do you proceed?
The most important aspect of this design is the balance of the materials. As you can see, the design is made up of 3 three separate strands of varying lengths. The middle shell bead of each strand is situated exactly at the center, but each strand has a different consistency.

Strand 1 (the shortest, inner strand): 5 shell beads, 10 bead caps, spacer beads and two sections of 14,5 cm black seed beads.
Strand 2 (the middle strand): 7 shell beads, 14 bead caps, spacer beads and two sections of 14 cm black seed beads.
Strand 3 (the longest, outer strand): 9 shell beads, 18 bead caps, spacer beads and two sections of 13,5 cm black seed beads.
The photographs show the construction of the shortest, inner strand.

1. String one shell bead, string a beadcap on either side of the bead and add a black seed beads. String 5 shell beads together in this manner.

2. String the black seed beads on either side. Each section needs to be 14,5 cm long.

3. String a crimp bead, thread through the clasp, push the thread back through the crimp bead and through some of the seed beads. Flatten the crimp bead. Repeat the procedure at the end of the strand. Make sure the finish of the necklace isn't too loose, but not too tight either.

4. Once the crimp beads are closed up, cut off any excess wire.
5. Now make the second strand in the same manner. The middle strand has 7 shell beads, and two sections of 14 cm black seed beads. Once again, finish with a crimp bead. Make sure the second strand doesn't fall inside the other strand but on the outer side.
6. Now you can make the final strand. The third strand has 9 shell beads and two sections of 13,5 cm black seed beads. This strand needs to be on the very outer side of the design. The photograph below shows the final finish of the necklace at the clasp.

7. By working with strands of different lengths the shell beads will hang nicely around your neck, approximately at the height of you collarbone.

The necklace is finished!