Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Playing with my beads...LiriGal's Netted Crystals Bracelet

I don't actually know the name of this pattern and I have no idea where I found it either. I can't find it on LiriGal's site or blog so I must have found it on Pinterest. This is all that I have:
I haven't seen a photo of what it's supposed to look like so yesterday decided to give it a try and see what I'd get. Luckily it does say to use 11/0 seed beads and 4mm fire polished beads.

I love the design. It reminds me of cathedral windows. However, I can't figure out how to keep it from coming out all wonky. I thought that the beads I used might be making a difference so I tried four different types. Here are my four samples:

The silver sample isn't too bad. Those are Miyuki Duracoat Galvanized "Pewter" (D4222) beads which are a little smallish and not very shiny. They're not matte but they have a slightly rough surface.

My second sample (center right sample) has Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461) seed beads, which are pretty much average in size and shiny. It came out a lot more wavy than the silver one.

At that point I was starting to think that smaller beads might work better so I tried the Miyuki "Olivine" (458) beads next (center left sample). They're very small for 11/0's BUT, they're also very shiny and slick. The results were the worst of all. That gave me a clue though so for my last sample I used matte metallic beads. They're Miyuki "Brown Bronze Matte" (457P) and that sample (bottom sample) came out the flattest of all of them. I still don't like how the edges of the bracelet curl up a bit though and I'd rather make the pattern with regular shiny metallic beads.

Here's a side shot so you can see more easily how wavy they are:

This would make such a pretty little cuff bracelet (it's about an inch wide) so I'm going to keep working on it to try and find a combination of beads that will allow it to lay flat but still keep the lovely design. I think I'll probably need to use some 15/0 seed beads in a few places perhaps. I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to give this a whirl.

The two kinds of 4mm fire polished beads that I used are "Alexandrite Celsian" (in the silver sample) and "Pink Coral Moon Dust" in the other three samples.

Here are links to LiriGal's sites:

Liri's Gallery of Beaded Jewelry

Lirigal on Etsy

LiriGal's Blog


UPDATE:  I found out where the pattern came from. It's by Michelle Skobel and you can buy the pattern HERE. This pattern also goes by the name "Stacked Sparkle Bracelet" and was published in Bead & Button Magazine in April 2010.

I have a pretty good idea why I had so much trouble with my samples. LiriGal used a different number of seed beads in her netting in a couple of places which is why I got those pretty little arches that you don't see in Michelle's version. But, I think it's also why my samples came out wonky. The Bead & Button article does have a tip about using loose tension, which might also make a difference.



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