Beading help

February 21, 2012 1:41 PM

Beading/jewellery/craft people, can you help me work out how to make this necklace?

So I need some help with a necklace project I’m working on.

The necklace will have five strings with many small beads that will hang around the bust line. Those five strings need to be tied onto a single string of beads which hangs around the neck.

Here is a picture to show you what I mean: http://imgur.com/G41Nq

Is there any way that I can tie multiple strings of beads smoothly and invisibly onto a single string of beads?

(A jump ring or a “bar” will not give me that neat, smooth look, I think.)

posted by peter1982peter to sports, hobbies, & recreation (3 answers total)

How small are the beads, how big is their bore and how fine of a thread/filament are you working with?

If the beads are large enough that you can fit five strands down the first single main line of beads, dropping four of the lines out when they hit the point you want for individual strings, then gathering back together to return to the main line, that can work. Though I explained it clumsily.

That depends on the bore of your beads, though. Too tight and the necklace won't flow naturally. Plus it's a huge pain to string then.
posted by rewil at 1:51 PM on February 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

HI Thanks so much for the response, I am yet to purchase the beads but with design considerations I can't imagine I will be able to fit all 5 strings through the top row. I am hoping there is some kind of knotting almost macramé technique I can use.
posted by peter1982peter at 3:28 PM on February 21, 2012

You could use a crimp bead to attach each strand to the main, and slide a bead on that main strand down over that crimp bead to completely hide the join. Maybe a spot of glue too, to back it up. This also obviously depends on the beads you choose. You can also possibly use a bead reamer on just the few beads that will need to cover a crimp, depending on the composition of the beads.
posted by pajamazon at 8:10 PM on February 21, 2012 [1 favorite]