Saturday, August 11, 2018

Buttercup Bracelet - Rose & Mossy Green


BUTTERCUP BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Khaki Iris" (2031)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Khaki Iris" (2031)
  • SuperDuo beads "Ruby Luster"
  • 4mm round stone beads "Unakite"
  • 8mm round stone beads "Unakite"

I bought these pretty pink and green stone beads from Aura Crystals a few years ago and I just happened to have them in both sizes that this bracelet pattern calls for. I checked their site and they no longer sell these beads but, if you do a Google image search, you'll find quite a few bead sites that sell them.


This pattern is by Teresa Morse and you can buy it HERE in her Etsy shop. This was my first time making the pattern and I expected to have to make mine shorter than the pattern instructs because I usually do with most bracelet patterns. However, I ended up having to make it the full length (the center motif plus three of the small motifs on each side of it) and it just barely fit my 6-inch wrist. Teresa must have a very tiny wrist because mine is unusually small and I had to use two jump rings on each end and a large toggle clasp to make it long enough to fit me. If I had added another motif on each side, it would have been much too long. If you have a 7 1/2-inch wrist, or larger, make four motifs on each side. 


I highly recommend using a toggle clasp with this bracelet because of the weight of it. A magnetic clasp would not be secure enough. If you go to Teresa's Etsy shop, you'll see that she also used toggle clasps on all three of her examples.

The pattern says to use 4 yards of thread (I recommend FireLine because this is a heavy bracelet) and to make the bracelet by starting in the center of the thread and then work your way out from there to make each side with each half of the thread. I get frustrated enough just having a short tail getting in my way while beading so I decided that I really didn't want to have two yards of thread dangling as I worked. So, I started by making the center motif at the end of the 4 yards of thread in the usual way (leaving just enough of a tail to weave in) and the right side as instructed. I added a clasp loop at the end of the first side with my working thread then wove my way back through the work to add the other side. Even by doing that, I ended up with almost two yards of thread left over. Three yards would have been more than enough for my size bracelet with enough thread to do some extra reinforcing too.

To make the pattern as per the instructions, you will need seven 8mm round beads, sixteen 4mm round beads, 70 SuperDuos and about 3 yards of FireLine. The bracelet is almost an inch wide.

Teresa doesn't mention whether she uses Toho or Miyuki seed beads to make this bracelet. I used Miyuki beads and my motifs cup a little and the 8mm beads tend to pop up out of the motifs. I plan to make this pattern in a few more colorways and I will try using Toho beads and see if the motifs come out any flatter. 





13 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I was planning to make this bracelet with 'tiger eye' stone beads, but I can't decide what color of SuperDuos would be right.

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    1. I would have to see them to suggest a color other than black perhaps. Or, just use a metallic color that goes with the seed beads that you're going to use.

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    2. I would like some brighter color. For example, there is 'Yellow Copper Picasso', but it looks different in every online shop, and I don't have any local shop to see how it realy looks. Have you ever used it?

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    3. Yes, I have Yellow Copper Picasso and it's not at all a bright color. It's a very dark shade of yellow. It would go well with something rustic-looking. Do you know of a photo of the tiger eye beads that you have so that I can get a better idea of the colors in them?

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    4. See what you think of these Gold Shine Yellow Sun SuperDuos: Aura Crystals

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    5. No, my stones are not that bright at all. More like this:
      http://www.crystalage.com/online_store/tumble_stones_tigers_eye_295956.cfm

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  2. This color combo is fantastic! I don’t think I have any Ruby Luster SuperDuo but I will get some now. They pick up just enough red/pink from the Unakite to make the beads pop.

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    1. I wasn't sure how well the SuperDuos would go with the Unakite beads until I made a sample. The SuperDuos are a little more pink than the pinkish/peachy color in the stone beads. But, once they were stitched side-by-side, the differences seemed to disappear. My advice when it comes to matching colors is to just go ahead and try things because you just never know for sure until you do.

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  3. That's a stunner all right! Can't wait to see what other colorways you've come up with.
    -Barbara H.

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    1. Thanks, Barbara. I've already made three more and I'm waiting for the sun to cooperate so that I can take photos of them.

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  4. Hi Linda, Thankyou for showcasing my Buttercup BraceletThat's very interesting that this came up so small, I have a far from tiny wrist, and it fits mine fine. Myuki beads are slightly smaller than Toho, which I did use, So if you want to add that to your blog to help others that would be great. My tension is very tight, so I really am surprised it came up so small.
    I love the colours with the unakite.

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    1. Hi Teresa. Since I posted this, I've made three more of these but with Toho seed beads. They came out the same size as this one and I haven't been using a tight tension. I will be blogging about them over the next three days. Just out of curiosity, what size is your wrist? My wrist measures about 6 inches and my bracelets came out just under 7 inches long including the jump rings and clasps.

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