Team brass hex nuts with vibrant rat tail cord to make Cheryl Owen’s urban jewellery

What you need...

• Brass hex nuts, size 2BA x 38
  
• Beads, square, turquoise x 2
  
• Gold jump rings:4mm x 4, 6mm x 43
  
• Gilt spring ends with loops x 10
  
• Gold lobster clasps x 2
  
• Eye pins x 2
  
• Earwires x 2
  
• Turquoise rat tail cord
  
• Pliers: round-nosed, flat-nosed, chain-nosed
  
• Wire cutters
  
• E-6000 glue
  
• Masking tape

instructions

1. Necklace - 1. Place four hex nuts in a row, straight edges touching, then join together by linking them with 6mm jump rings. Repeat to make a total of four rows. Use the photo as a guide to arrange the rows diagonally to create a diamond shape, butting the straight borders together. Attach the nuts using 6mm jump rings.
   
   2. Cut 1.1m of rat tail cord in half, dab the ends with glue, then leave to dry. Using the picture as a guide, insert one cord through the second from bottom hex nut on one side, then repeat on the other. Slip a hex nut onto both sets of cord, then add glue to the four ends and insert each one into spring ends. Leave to dry. Fix a 4mm jump ring onto both sets of spring ends. Fix a lobster clasp to one end and two 6mm jump rings to the other.

2. Bracelet - 1. Cut three 30cm lengths of rat tail cord. Dab one end of each with glue, then insert into spring ends and leave to dry. Add a 4mm jump ring to every loop of the spring ends, then thread another 4mm jump ring through them all. Secure to your work surface using masking tape.
   
   2. Plait the cords for 7cm. Thread a hex nut onto one of the outer cords, then continue plaiting, adding four more hex nuts on so that each side has five in total. Continue weaving until it’s 18cm long, then remove the tape.
   
   3. Dab the cord ends with glue and insert them into spring ends. Leave to dry. Add 4mm jump rings to all the loops of the spring ends and secure onto another 4mm jump ring as before. Add a lobster clasp on one side and two 6mm jump rings to the other.

3. Earrings - 1. Join five hex nuts in a row using 6mm jump rings. Fix another 6mm jump ring to one end and attach to an eye pin threaded with a square turquoise bead, finished with a wrapped loop hung onto an earwire. Repeat to make a pair.