Ending the Weekend With Another Necklace

I had to stop sewing and focus on packing and getting ready for an upcoming trip. I can't stop and not do something fun in the meantime, right? So, to fill in my hobby time, I'm making some necklaces. Here's the last one for today.

I found this sliding glass pendant at a local bead store in Oakton. It's a teal foil (depending on where the light hits it)with black running through it. This is the base colors I worked with. I used glass beads (black, teal, clear teal, clear grey), clear Swarovski crystals, and silver spacers.


Here's my bead board with the beads laid out. I used a nylon beading thread to temporarily string the beads and check for bead distribution, sizing and length. This bead board is a life saver. I can easily measure the length of my necklace that I'm working on.


I measure the length of my bead wire to accommodate the necklace length plus I add an additional 1-1/2 inches to each end for the lobster claw clasp and end ring. Before I string my beads on a wire, I attach the clasp to one of the wire. You can see that I add a seed bead between the clasp and the silver crimp. I also leave some wire on the clasp to allow it to move freely. I use my crimping tool and crimp the silver crimp tight on the wire. This end is now secured and I'm ready to start loading the beads on my wire.


My wire is fine/thin enough to feed into my necklace. I start at one end and feed the wire along the nylon string that's temporarily holding my beads. This is pretty easy to do and I don't lose any beads in the process of stringing.


I have to make sure that the initial beads are threaded over the double wire around the clasp area. After that, I can start pushing my bead wire through the necklace. Depending on the holes in the beads, I can typically thread anywhere from 5 to 20 beads at a time.

Once the beads are threaded on my bead wire, I can then pull the nylon thread from the necklace.


For finishing the end ring, I use the same application for finishing the clasp. At the end of my necklace, I add a silver crimp, a seed bead, and the end ring. Then I feed the wire back through the seed bead, silver crimp, and some beads from the main necklace. I pull the wire slightly taut, but allow the end ring to move freely on the wire. I proceed to crimp the silver crimp piece. I trim the wire close to largest bead on my necklace and tuck the end into the large bead.


So, here's my finished necklace back on the bead board. I love this bead board. It has measurements (number with a circle) with zero starting at the bottom center and increments in inches to left and to the right of the center. For example I can see at 5 inches, I have a black bead on the right side and so there should be a black bead on the left side. This is a great way for me to check if my design is even on both sides and if I'm missing a few beads in my pattern.


I've included a close up of the sliding pendant. I use the silver spacers (on each side of the pendant) to keep it from moving too freely around the necklace.




I have to redo the matching bracelet I made. I thought I had a brilliant idea of using a stretch nylon cord for this. I had some issues with tying the knot right and trying to hide it within the beads as well. It looked terrible. I'll end up restringing it on a bead wire and adding a clasp and end ring.

I have to mention a little ooops that I did last night when I temporarily strung this necklace. I tied a knot in the nylon cord so I could run to the powder room mirror to check the length. Well, on my way back through the kitchen...there was a crash of beads hitting the wood floor. Oh crap! I lost half of my necklace on the kitchen floor. Yes, the knot came loose. DH instinctively ran from the family room and got on his knees to start collecting the loose renegade beads. Between the both of us, we were able to find all but one bead.

So, what is the learning lesson with this hobby? I found a hand mirror with a folding base (at the dollar store) that sits on my table where I do my beading.

I hope to have some pictures to show the length and what the necklaces look like on me.

Another Beaded Necklace

It appears this is the weekend for beaded necklace postings. Since I sew a few black garments as well as purchase a lot of black RTW clothes, I thought how appropriate to make some black necklaces. Here's an 18 inch necklace I made. My color theme for this necklace was black and bronze. I used large black round beads with a little sparkle (doesn't show up too well), black/bronze glass beads, small bronze beads, and gold spacers.



Here's a close-up of the necklace and beads.


I find that having an inch of smaller beads closer to the clasp allows me to hold the clasp open long enough to put my necklace on. I know, that's a silver lobster claw clasp. For some reason, I didn't have a gold lobster claw clasp in my bead stash. Not to worry, my hair will cover the back of the necklace.

I am currently working on new necklace with a small pendant slider. This one will not have any bronze beads in it. I need to remember to take pictures during the process. I have to find my tabletop tripod to set my camera on. Kind of hard to take a picture when both hands are working on the necklace.

I'll be back....

My Other Hobby - Beaded Necklaces

I have many hobbies and interests. I enjoy giving my right brain a good workout. A lot of my hobbies are self-taught (excluding watercolor painting...yet another hobby). Here is one that I wanted to share with you. I enjoy making simple beaded necklaces.

I typically start with a central bead, pendant, or collection of center beads. I then incorporate smaller beads with similar colors and/or different textures. This would include my main colors from the central bead or pendant and incorporating shiny and matte texture beads. I prefer working with glass beads and yes, my necklaces can get quite heavy. That's why I incorporate a lot of smaller beads towards the back neckline. To help lighten the load. Also, my hair covers the back part of the necklace, so I am less worried about the design towards the back.

Here's a close-up of the clasp area. I tend to leave the bead wire a bit loose back here. On my first necklace, I had pulled the wire too close and too tight, crimped it, and one of my glass beads shattered near the clasp. Too much pressure.

Here's a side view of the necklace. Notice I gradually go to smaller beads towards the back.



Here's a close-up of the front beads. I could have incorporated a lot more color into this necklace, but I wanted to keep the focal point on the front square beads and to keep the necklace bright and cheerful.



Just like my sewing stash, I have a bead stash. Beads are readily available at local stores and come in different styles and colors. Thank goodness beads are really small and I can easily store them. How do I store them? You'll have to wait for another post.

Happy Friday!