When I first discovered
the incredible world of making my own jewellery, I spent hours
scouring the net for new techniques to try out and discovered seed
beads. I immediately decided this was what I wanted to do and bought
everything I could lay my hands on... quite a few years later and the
majority of them are still sitting in a box untouched. I sometimes
add to them with some pretty new colours that I won't use either, but
ultimately, I don't have the patience to spend hours creating a whole
design in them.
During the few months
that I did attempt to create something with them, I became obsessed
with beaded beads, and spent many a happy hour tying myself up in
knots. I did manage to create one design for a simple bead though,
so I thought I'd share it with you today.
They're really simple
and quick to make up, but I've never written a pattern before, so I
hope I haven't over complicated it and you can follow along...
Ingredients...
12 x 4mm beads.
(anything will do as long as you can pass the thread through 2 or 3
times)
12 x drops. (Mine were
made with miyuki 3.4mm drops)
40 x size 15 seed
beads.
Nymo or similar thread
2 x beading needles
To start, take a 3 foot
length of nymo and thread a needle on to each end.
Pick up 3 x 4mm beads
and let them drop to the middle of your thread so you have an equal
tail on each side. Pick up one more 4mm bead, thread the right needle
through right to left and the left needle left to right to make a
ring.
Pick up one 4mm bead
with each needle, then one more and thread right needle right to left
and left needle left to right to make a loop above the first.
Repeat again, to make 3
loops.
Add one bead on each
needle, and pass the right needle from right to left on the bottom
bead and the left from left to right through the bottom bead. This
should form a cube. Pass around the beads until the two threads are
opposite and keeping your tension tight, tie a knot to keep the
shape. There are usually a couple of spots where the beads aren't connected to 3 others, so weave around until you have a nice solid cube. Try not to go through too many times though as you need to leave space to get the needle and thread through again later on.
Next pick up a drop,
thread through to the next 4mm bead, pick up a drop and thread
through... keep going until you have 4 drops as in the picture and
exit through a drop. (the pink is what will be the centre hole in the
finished bead)
Pick up 5 size 15 seeds
and thread through the next drop. Pick up 5 and thread through the next drop, continue until your bead looks like the picture below.
Flip the bead, threading through so that you exit on a 4mm bead, and
repeat starting with the 4 drops and then 4 sets of size 15's until the bottom is the
same as the top.
Pass through 3 size
15's, pick up a drop, pass through the 3rd size 15 on the
bottom from right to left, back up through the drop, through the 3rd
seed on the left hand side, through the size 15's on the right and through the drop. Pull tight
so that the size 15's are drawn in to the centre making an 'X' with
the drop in the middle. I've spread this picture out a bit so you can see the thread path, but yours should be nice and tight!
Repeat 3 more times,
until there is a drop in the centre of each side of the bead.
To finish, tie a knot,
add a drop of glue and weave the tail through a couple more beads and
snip.
Phew... I hope you
managed to understand all that! I don't envy those of you who write
patterns regularly!
These are really
addictive to make, I loved them with semi precious round stones, such
as moonstone and garnets and pretty AB coated drops, and they make
great bracelets with a whole stack of them strung together.
I hope you enjoyed
reading, and that you'll have a go... I bet you can't make just one!
Caroline
