I have a wedding commission to make, a seven stranded Swarovski
crystal beaded choker. I have never strung beads before, but have
figured out my own way of doing it which I feel has a clean and
strong finish.
Let me run the technique by those of you experienced in this area.
Of course the worry is will the knots loosen and unravel… I
do not have any of the usual components to hand, French wire, crimps
or Jewellers cement. What I have done is this, I have used a silver
bead with a large enough hole to add a jumpring to, to attach it to
my clasp.
This bead is my French wire, loop or what ever you want to call it. I
have wound Nylon beadstring around the bead twice and then I have
knotted it adding 10-15 additional knots down the body of tread. Then
I cut it and then added my Crystal beads, they sit over each knot
snugly and perfectly!! Couldn’t believe my luck!! Then I added all my
beads to the measurement required, then I wondered how do I finish
this off securely and cleanly???
I left enough access tread at the end to tie on my silver bead, I
tied it to the body of work neatly with tiny knots and then with my
needle I treaded it through the next bead and tied it there twice
and then did the same thing with another four or five beads then I
treaded the rest of the access tread through some more beads until
there was no tread left. My question to all experienced stringers out
there is, do you feel this will be secure?? I feel it is, but you are
in the know not me… Next question…what should I
charge for beading one string of beads? I need to string seven 13 and
a half inch lengths.
I feel pretty good about my accomplishment, it looks really neat and
if I do say so myself…it looks pretty damned professional.
I would really appreciate your feedback and advice.
I have wound Nylon beadstring around the bead twice and then I have
knotted it adding 10-15 additional knots down the body of tread.
Then I cut it and then added my Crystal beads, they sit over each
knot snugly and perfectly!!
I think the silver bead will cut the nylon thread over time, but the
question is how much time. I have used nylon thread for weaving
silver-lined beads many times and there is always a problem.
Actually, last year I sold about 90 of a particular bracelet. I got
back 3 for repair. The three were the ones I had used silver-lined
beads in. These were the only ones to break. It is the metal lying
against the thread inside your silver bead that will wear the thread
and cause the nylon to split off into tiny fibers that look like
frayed hair.
I recently made a necklace on a thin size beadalon which I knotted
as if it were thread. I put a little crazy glue on the knot and left
it inside a larger holed bead. You can’t even tell. It came out very
neat and there was no crimp to hide.
On price, I have known people to charge by the hour (twenty dollars
and hour) or by the inch (one dollar per inch).
Good Luck
Kim Starbard
p.s. I am traveling to Ireland for my 10 year wedding anniversary
this month. I hear it is particularly beautiful there and I can’t
wait.
Thanks so much for your reply. I just stumbled upon that very finding
yesterday, I was worried about the silver beads cutting into the
thread, so I tested the strength by pulling really hard holding the
thread with my pliers, and sure enough it cut through. The beads I was
using where pretty sharp on the inside edges. So I have decided to
use silver sealed jumps from some really good quality chain I have.
The edges are smooth and round and its working great. I have moved on
from nylon thread to dental floss now, I ran out of thread and the
floss is wonderful!! the flat kind you can buy, and its impossible to
get a knot out of it, so its pretty secure especially when I’m
adding so many knots. Plus the floss has a transparency and neatness
that the nylon had not.
Very nice of you to get in touch, and thanks for your help.
... I have moved on from nylon thread to dental floss now, I ran
out of thread and the floss is wonderful!! the flat kind you can
buy, and its impossible to get a knot out of it, so its pretty
secure especially when I'm adding so many knots. Plus the floss has
a transparency and neatness that the nylon had not.
Japanese monofilament is good to use with crystals. It’s extremely
strong, invisible, and the piece is made secure by going through the
beads until you can’t anymore. It’s mostly for woven pieces but may
be useful in your project rather than using so many knots. The
problem with knots in anything other than thread is that they can
cause unwanted kinks in the finished piece. If the floss is doing the
job, though, then that’s a good discovery. The only floss I know
about is solidly white.
I learned about this monofilament recently in a
crystal-jewelry-making class, where the teacher supplied it for the
first class. I asked several times whether the pieces needed a knot
(What? NO KNOTS?! – it was hard losing my thread-head), but after
trying it, yes, the stuff worked like magic. You couldn’t see how the
crystals were connected and the finished pieces were very flexible.
And NO GLUE! She did allow a knot or two but only if it could be
hidden (inside a ball of crystals for example), and the knots weren’t
needed for it all to hold together securely. And the crystals didn’t
cut it! It seemed stronger than the different nylon-type stringing
materials I’d tried. I especially like the “Super Strong” brand
monofilament. It’s probably available from many places, but I found
it at Toho Shoji here in NY. Here’s their website address, Tina, in
case you or anyone else is interested in ordering some: http://www.tohoshojiny.com/8main/cord-mono-top.htm. There’s also Toho
beading cord at http://www.fusionbeads.com – haven’t tried this
brand but it looks like the same type of material.
Good luck with your 7-strand necklace! I look forward to seeing a
photo of the finished piece.
The primary reason for knotting between beads (pearls/crystals) is
of course, #1, security from the strand breaking and beads flying
everywhere. The #2 reason is scratch protection and prevention.
Crystals rubbing next to each other will scratch over time and become
dull.
“Thanks” for getting in touch, I take your point about Crystals
rubbing together and how over time they may dull. I have my strands
added to a seven strand clasp which leaves some space between each
strand, so there shouldn’t be too much rubbing going on. I have also
added knots between each crystal for the first six beads at each end,
then I have cut the thread and needled the access through further
beads until you cant see hide nor hair of the thread.
“Thanks so much for your input” its very helpful to get feedback and
guidance, from those of you stringing professionally for some time.
Have a great day !! And “thanks again Betty”
xx Tina, in Midleton Co Cork, Ireland
Where it is a soft sunny and balmy day. Hey! we have a summer this
year !! I cant believe it…