Gothic Jewelled, Tulle and Lace Choker

I've always wanted to make one of these since I came across the above image of a 1916 Lanvin tulle necklace. Here though in this design I'm aiming at a fusion with the Edwardian pearl choker so beloved of that era's Royalty and Actresses. The pearls also get around the difficulty of gathering the ruffled section of the choker in an even and more secure way.

I'm a self-confessed hoarder of fabric, particularly vintage and antique lengths of lace but I'm using all modern pieces in this choker.

For the jewels, I'm using my hoard of recuperated jewellery, i.e. lots of discarded bits from relatives and finds from jumble and yard sales as well as flea market pieces and charity shop purchases. So many people seem to want to get rid of brooches, earrings and necklaces, whereas I keep everything. I have a memory and a place and often a person, which accompanies every piece I have and as old jewellery was often glued rather than clawed, my finds and hand-me-downs can always be used as 'spare parts'. To this end I can never understand people who throw or give away their finery but as the old proverb goes it's:

'An yll wynde, that blowth no man to good'

so I'll keep quiet and press on.

I designed this choker to be made up of a ruched layer of fabric - For my initial picks I chose embroidered tulle, antique metal lace and hat aka millinery veiling from my hoard to make the main body of the choker. (See next step for quantities).

In addition the choker is centred on a piece of grosgrain ribbon reminiscent of the simple chokers worn by ballerinas, as the only form of jewellery that was assured of remaining in place during highly energetic ballet movements!

In the end, I chose the embroidered lace tulle, which is brand new, sold here in fabric shops for fashioning the lace tops of camisoles and for embellishing the front sections and hems of hand-made slips. You can see an example of similar on-line lace that would work very well for this choker here:

Chantilly Eyelash Edge Lace

Rose Wedding Appliqué Embroidery Lace

Birdcage hat veiling would make a great choker, (and be very similar to the Lanvin model) it is commonly sold here in haberdashers and fabric shops. Here are some on-line examples:

9" Birdcage Bridal Veil Netting French

Russian French Veil Millinery Birdcage Veil

My silver metallic lace, which I deemed not stiff enough for this style of choker is from the 1920s and is part of a flapper dress but here are some modern on-line equivalents, which are much more substantial:

Silver Trim Lace Metallic Scalloped Antique Vintage

Metallic Silver Lace Trim for Bridal, Costume or Jewelry

You will need one statement piece for the centre of the choker. I chose one earring from a set of cameos I had bought from a charity shop in Scotland. I don't have pierced ears so unfortunately couldn't wear them with the pendant. Without the cameo I would have chosen another single earring, a centre piece recuperated from a modern chain belt or a fancy vintage button, such as the ones I have in the photo above.

A selection of glass and/or crystal beads and/or buttons

1 length of coloured satin or grosgrain ribbon to make the central band of the choker.

A couple of hook and eyes.

A length of ribbon or hat veiling to form a faux bow at the back of the neck.

Equipment

I'm hand sewing this with a fine needle and cotton thread but you can of course use a machine. However with delicate vintage lace and bird cage veiling sewing with a machine maybe somewhat challenging!

Pins

Tailor's chalk

Ruler

Iron

Damp cloth

The first and most important measurement is your neck size.

A choker should fit snuggly to the neck and you should allow around 1" hem allowance at either end of the central ribbon so to as allow space for the ruffles of the choker fabric and to make a solid base on which to attach the hook and eyes.

My piece of regal purple grosgrain was recuperated from a Christmas parcel, so I had my neck measurement 13" - 33cm plus 2" - 5cm seam allowance and enough left over to accent the faux black bow and ties for the back of my choker.

My length of black grosgrain ribbon and ready made parcel bow for the faux bow and ties were both recuperated and at 21" - 54cm the length of ribbon plus the parcel bow, was perfect for making a squat Gothic bow and a good length of tie.

My blue embroidered tulle which was to be the main ruffle of my choker measured just over 2 yards - 2m but this sort of lace is really cheap here in France and very easy to obtain but you can simply make do with 1 yard or even less and still have a sufficiently ruched effect.

Start by ironing all your fabrics.

Use a thick towel on your ironing board or table, and use a press cloth, this avoids crushing the motifs and embroidery on the lace and also avoids any chance of scorching the fabric.

I have a steam iron set to 'silk' but as a couple of these pieces are very delicate I'm using a damp press cloth. Even if you are using a robust cotton or linen lace, without a press cloth, you run the risk of catching, snagging and potentially tearing the netting or lace on the tip of the iron.

Marking

Measure and cut the central grosgrain ribbon.

Using pins or tailor's chalk mark the temporary selvage, at the exact measurement for your neck. This may change when you have made the ruffles as their thickness will add to the inner dimension of the final choker.

Take your ruching material the ruler and pins, mark out the sewing lines you will need to follow: for the main ruffle, which is gathered together to include a row of pearls, firstly mark the centre line with a row of pins for clear identfication.

Position the grosgrain ribbon chosen for the centre of your choker on the ruffle fabric, in my case this is my embroidered tulle.

Place the centre/statement piece of jewellery on the ribbon in line with the pin marking the central line of the ruffle and then measure 2" - 5 cm either side and mark the position with a pin on the main ruffle - this to avoid ending up with a pearl too near to the centrepiece. (see image above)

The rest can be organised as the choker is assembled in the next steps, as this being the creative part, allowance should be made for the aesthetics of the piece to develop as the choker is built up.

Pin a length of ribbon of the same width as the choker band to the ruffle, do not worry if it isn't long enough to fit the whole length of the ruffle, as it can be moved forward as the sewing progresses.

I found the easiest thing to do as I pinned this sewing guide was to mark the places where I would put the next pearl with a particular coloured pin. If you don't have these coloured pins, then thread small beads onto a normal pin.

You could mark up in advance a whole raft of particular coloured pins to denote the placing of the pearls but I just kept moving the same pin as I progressed. I also believed that as I was gathering/ruching up the fabric as I went along I thought it better not to have too many pins involved.

Take a length of thread at least 3" - 8cm longer than the double length of your choker ribbon and run it through the needle to make a double thread. Make a knot in it large enough to secure the first bead.

With a pearl ready threaded onto the needle, start to make a line of medium sized running stitches from the end of the main ruffle fabric following the line of the ribbon as a sewing guide.

When you come to the marker pin add another pearl and remove the pin, measure forward two inches and mark with the same pin.

Continue until you get to the first pin or tailor's chalk mark made 2" - 5cm before the centre line - place your final pearl for that side of the ruffle.

Carry on sewing past the central line and place next pearl at the previously-marked pin or chalk mark.

Continue as before measuring and replacing your special marker pin to the end of the complete ruffle fabric, all the while gently drawing up the thread and thus ruching the fabric and making a 'string' of the pearls.

Remove the sewing guide ribbon and the two pins either side the central line on the fabric but leave in place the row of pins that marks the centre point of the ruffle.

Pin the ribbon proper to the ruffle, so that the pearls sit neatly up against the top of the ribbon.

Sew down the top of the choker band to secure it to the ruched fabric, making sure the pearls are all in line.

Then, sew the bottom of the choker band to the ruched fabric.

As you can see I added a frame of pearls around my cameo made of smaller beads than the ones used in the ruching and 2 pearl buttons. I also added an amethyst glass heart and a glass diamond, secured in place with a tiny glass bead.

Try on the choker to check the selvage allowance. I found that mine had hardly changed

Once you have ascertained this you can now go ahead and neaten the ends of the grosgrain and attach the hook and eyes in the correct place

Faux Bow

Make up the bow - I was lucky enough to find a ready-made parcel bow, actually I think it was for a wine bottle as I have quite a hoard of Christmas items like this given me by my Aunt and many of the bows have elastic on them.

Add the accent coloured piece of grosgrain that matches the central band of the choker.

Sew the bow to the ribbon ties..

Sew one side of the knot of the bow to the back of the choker. When the hook and eyes are closed, this will cover the join.

Sew on the hook and eyes.

You are ready for the ball.

If you make this please post photos, I'd love to see them and if you have a backstory about the fabric and jewellery pieces you used, do share them too!

All the best from Normandie, Sue