DIY Suede Lariat Necklace

I bought myself the sweetest necklace on Etsy to go with my faded denim shirt. It brings out the cowgirl in me :-)

I am not a button-down shirt kinda girl but I just love the look of a faded denim shirt with jeans, the front tucked in with a worn leather belt. You'll have to use your imagination on the tucked in with jeans part. This manny is so skinny that I couldn't get my jeans to stay up!!

The lariat style necklace is a hot trend right now and I especially like it in suede with beads.


When I find something new I love I immediately want to share it with my daughters and girlfriends. When it was about 5 days before my 60th birthday party, I had an AH HA moment. I could cover my daughters and girlfriends all in one shot. I made 18 of these necklaces as party favors for my sweet guests.


I went to good ole' Walmart for the supplies. They had real suede cording but it was either a large spool, more than I needed, or the pieces were cut too short. I opted for the faux suede that looks so real, I couldn't tell. It comes in four colors for about $4. The other colors that I used up are black and brown.

There weren't any beads that I liked at Walmart. I found the wooden beads and silver tone beads in packages at JoAnn's and after using my 40% off coupon, they too were very reasonably priced.

The supplies you will need:

faux or real cord with a length of 60"

assorted beads

Other helpful tools to have are:

a measuring stick or tape

an iron and ironing board

When you unravel the cord from the card, it is wrinkly. You will want to iron it out so that your necklace hangs right.

I measured a 60" length and then with a hot iron laying down, I just ran the cord under it and it smoothed the cord out perfectly.

It is just a matter of choosing your bead combination and stringing them on both ends and tying a knot in the cord. Depending on the size of the bead, you may have to tie a double knot. It is your preference whether you leave a long or short tag on the end of the knot.

It was fun to come up with 18 different different combinations of cord color and bead style. Because I waited till after my party to do this DIY, I don't have pictures of the others to show you!





Now that your lariat is made, you might want to know all the different ways you can wear it. It is quite a versatile necklace.


My favorite necklace right now and way to wear it is this black blingy beaded one. You just double the necklace first, then put it around your neck. Loop the loose end with the beads through the other end and it drapes down your neckline.

Here is the same style in a lighter color....

Or start by wrapping the necklace from the front to back, crisscrossing in the back and then bring both ends back around to the front.

I find that this style moves and ends up choking my neck! I have a solution! When you bring it around to the back, loop it in a loose knot and then bring back to the front. It helps it from slipping all day.

For a longer version, simply loosely tie it in front.

For a girly, cowgirl look, try this bow style....

...and if you don't mind things up around your neck, this is a funky way to wear it....

Just start in the back and wrap around twice, finishing in the front with a loop over.

I wear my necklaces with a variety of tops and styles. You will find that they go with a lot of your wardrobe.

They are easy, use minimum supplies and are inexpensive to make.

And once you make one, you will want one in every color!

AnnMarie xoxo



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