While shopping online illegally at work I came across a set of awesome beaded necklaces at Old Navy. The prices are great but I'm only "window shopping" due to an upcoming vacation so I figured I'd try my hand at some beading. Walmart had a pack of 18 strands of black and gray glass beads for $4 and the cone spacers 4 for $2. This ended up making 2 necklaces. I might go back and get some packs of different colors and try for a longer version.
Materials:
10 strands of glass beads
Beading wire or string
Cone spacers
Jump rings
Chain
Beading pliers
Scissors
Tip:
To make the cone spacers' top hole larger, use the round nose pliers to gauge it.
1. Leaving the beads on the original strings, thread the beading wire through the strand. This is much easier than picking them up one by one. Cut the original string and pull it out so the beads are only on the wire.
2. Thread 4 strands at time. This will reduce the amount of ugly knots you'll have to hide. At the end add 1" for every strand. This will be the string hidden under the cones. 4 strands of beads = 4" at each end of the wire. Cut and knot. I used the pliers to pull the knots as tight as possible.
3 and 4. Layout your beads flat and at every bend between bead strands, use the pliers to crimp the bend. This is helpful if you're using wire as it holds its shape and the strands get trickier when you're using 10 of them.
5. Thread another short piece of wire through the crimped ends. Thread this short wire through the cone.
6. Use the pliers to pull the loops through the cone top.
7. Hook a jump ring through the loops and through your chain. Pull the wires tight so they are barely visible above the cone.
REPEAT STEPS 5-7 FOR OTHER END. My chain is 18" long but you can easily make yours shorter (don't forget to add a clasp) or longer to better match the inspiration necklace.
No comments:
Post a Comment