Bracelet of the Day: Duo Bobble Band - Golden Olive

DUO BOBBLE BAND (LIZBETH BAND)

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Gilded Marble Black" (11-1706)
• 3mm druks "Jet Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Golden Olive"
• Magnet clasp

I made the bracelet a while back and, due to the unusual gold color of the SuperDuo beads, found it hard to find any earrings that would go well with it. The obvious solution was to make some matching earrings. However, it wasn't easy to find an earring pattern that would work with the odd shape of the gold SuperDuos that I'd used in the bracelet. Plus, I wanted a pattern that called for 11/0 seed beads so I could use the same "Gilded Marble Black" seed beads that I used in the bracelet. I also needed to work in some matte black beads in some way. I didn't think that I had a suitable pattern in my collection so I did a Google image search for ideas and patterns. It may have been on Etsy that I came across a photo of some earrings that were made with exactly the same type of SuperDuos as the gold ones I had used in my bracelet. And, although she had made a few changes, I recognized it as Deborah Roberti's "Maya Earrings" pattern, which I did have.

UPDATE 1/24/18: A free pattern is now available and the new name for this pattern is "Lizbeth Band". Visit THIS post to download the free pattern.

I was hoping to use more of the gold SuperDuo beads in the earrings, and have black as the accent color, but there was no way to make that work because of their fat shape. I had to use regular tapered SuperDuos in black for all but the four center ones. The gold ones worked perfectly in the center.

To make everything fit, I had to change the number of seed beads in the four sections of netting around the earrings. I used eight in each section instead of seven. I also had to omit two of the three seed beads in the corners and only use one there or the earrings would warp. Thankfully those little changes did the trick and everything fits together nicely.

When I make beaded earrings, I try to add an 8/0 seed bead at the top whenever possible to attach a jump ring through. So, I did the loop at the top of my earrings a little differently than Deb did hers to accommodate the large bead.

I'm also kind of fussy about having neat-looking netting on my beaded projects. Sometimes there's not much that you can do to keep the beads lined up nicely but I've figured out how to do it with this pattern. The trick is to constantly shape them and smooth them out as you go around through them each time. And, on about the third time around the earring, they will finally cooperate and sit nicely. Pull the thread firmly through the netting but not too tight. I find that the tip of my embroidery scissors is handy for pushing stubborn beads into place. 

MAYA EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Gilded Marble Black" (1706)
• 8/0 seed beads "Matte Black" (401)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Golden Olive"