Hi Floaty Folks,
Ive been meaning to do a tutorial blog for a while now and just never seemed to get around to it, but last week I did as I was making a necklace for the new collection over on my page,
Floating Vintage Designs.
So without further a do here it is in pictures and Short sentences, I hope you enjoy and it inspires you!
This is the Necklace finished.
Start off gathering your tools together, if you are anything like me they might be shattered around your desk, I am not usually a neat worker. You will need for this your Flat nosed pliers, round nosed pliers and your cutters. My Pliers are Ergo by Beadsmith.
Next think about what beads you would like to include and gather them altogether. It sometimes helps to have them all in one container so you can see at a glance which one will work together and which ones not so much. If like me you sometimes get stuck with which colour go together, this is a good place to browse for inspiration.
Design seeds.
Then think about which "hardware" you will use. Bead caps, cones and spacers will add detail and interest. Decide which metal you will use and gather together what you think will go well with the chosen beads. For this I have chosen to use Antique bronze to add to the Boho vibe.
Start to build up your design on your bead mat before threading, here you can see I wanted the two bigger green beads at the top and I worked my way down from there. Having the beads laid out like this beads you can make changes easily and also add other beads in.
I continue to build up the design adding in caps and spacer discs swapping beads where needed.
Once I had my design fully laid out, I decided to thread it. For this design I used 0.45 tigertail in bronze. Ever at this stage once threaded you can still make changes, then re-thread.
I have decided on my final design and now it is time to close each end. to begin with thread on a bronze crimp bead. Here I am using 3mm bronze.
Take a bronze wire guard and thread onto the tiger tailup through one side over and down through the other side, make sure the second side also goes through the crimp bead.
Once both sides of the thread are through the crimp, push the crimp upto the guardian. Take your Flat nosed pliers and Press the crimp between them as hard as you can to secure. You can also get special Crimp bead pliers, I do have a pair but I find them findly and not always necessary as I use crimp covers 99% of the time.
Using your cutters cut off as close as you can the excess thread. Repeat the above steps on the opposite side to secure both ends.
At this point your necklace should look like this, secured each end with the wire guardian sticking out ready to add to and finish off.
Take two eye pins. Here I am using Antique bronze around 5cm long. When opening a loop on an eye pin always open towards you like a door, do not open by pulling apart as this will distort the shape.
Add on the opened Eyepin to the end of the Wire guardian and close.
Thread onto the eye pin your remaining beads. Here I have used a cone as my first bead, the cone will hand down and cover the crimp and the wire guardian. You could miss out this stage and have just continued threading all the beads onto the wire but I did it this way to add interest and movement.
To finish and secure the ends of the eye pin, take you round nose pliers, grip the end between the points and turn the pliers towards you to close the loop tight.
it should look like this. If the beads feel lose, manipulate the wire until it is tight.
At this stage your necklace should look like this.
To finish I took some rolo chain, I added on each side by opening one link attaching to each side onto the loop made in the eyepin. At this point I wasnt quite sure which clasp to use. If Chain isnt your thing, you could have carried on the beading a little longer to make an all beaded necklace. When making an all beaded neclace do bae in mind weight, will the necklace be too heavy. to combat this use lighter beads such as resin, acrylic or wood.
I finally decided on a side hook clasp to finish. Hook clasps are easy for the wearer to fasten themselves.
Ta-da! the finished necklace which has now gone to its forever home!
I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial if there is anything you would like me to improve on or include in my next tutorial pop a comment on the end or message me on my facebook page.
Thats all for now folks, until next time take care!
Love
Mrs. Floaty x
