Art, day13

[kerravonsen]

I got to beading this time at last! I sat down this evening listening to 8th-Doctor Big Finish "The Time of the Daleks" and did this:

Comments

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

Nice work!

[kerravonsen]

Thanks!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Very nice! Is it for you?

I love beads. I should find out how to make necklaces.

[kerravonsen]

Very nice! Is it for you?

No, I can't wear the earrings, since I don't have pierced ears. I think I will give it to my sister for Christmas. It's been a while since I've given her some jewelry.

I love beads. I should find out how to make necklaces.

Yes! It isn't hard. Come, come and join us (gives mezmerizing stare...)

When I first started making necklaces when I was a teenager, I used a needle, ordinary thread and hook-and-eye fastenings, like with this one:


I was completely untutored at that point.

Let's face it, at its simplest, all it is is taking a bunch of beads and stringing them on string. (Then again, you could argue that all clothes-making is is cutting out bits of cloth and sewing them together...)

If you want to make jewelry which has a bit more "finish", you need a bit more equipment:
- fastenings, loops, crimps etc (collectively known as "findings", I don't know why). These make necklaces easier to fasten and finish.
- if you want to make earrings, you also need the earring fastenings, "head pins" (that's a length of wire with a flat end, so you can thread beads through it and have them stop)
(like the earrings in this one:)
- long-nosed pliers, the narrower the better, for bending wire into loops, opening loops, closing them again, attaching certain kinds of fastening etc.
- wire-cutters (to cut the wire used for earrings)
- small, sharp scissors to cut thread with
- beading needles (they're very fine)
- thread (polycotton, not cotton, it breaks too easily)

One of my Cunning Tricks is to use tatting thread (the stuff they make lace with) which gives you a very thin cord which is stronger than ordinary thread. It is of course too thick to go through a needle, so I stiffen up one end by painting it with clear nailpolish. That's what I used for the necklace in this post.

Of course, things cost money, and you really have to shop around, because if you get beads and findings from your average retail craft store, it gets expensive. I remember one time I went into a store and came out having spent $70 on a handful of beads. Beware of places where they have a price per bead, it really adds up! If you can, find a wholesaler who sells them by weight, that's usually a better deal. Though larger beads tend to get sold per-bead by everyone. And of course second-hand shops can be a good source of beads, just look for the bead necklaces and cannibalize the beads. The chunky black necklace above was a mixture of cannibalized beads and bought ones.

Doing a quick google, it looks like http://beadbazaar.co.nz/ is a reasonable place to shop in your neck of the woods; they sell beads by weight and have findings, not just beads. And they seem to have lots beads, I started drooling... 8-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's a great bead site, and some very good tips too, esp about the thread and not having to use a needle. I need to find out how to attach the fastenings, all the techniques. I own a lot of bead necklaces, and it would be fun making my own. :-)

Another thing I plan to do is make macrame chokers with beads in them. I recently acquired an old book from the 70s and some of the twine they use in different colours.