DIAMONDS AND PEARLS
- 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
- 3mm bicones "Black" (Chinavoski)
- 4mm druks "Bronze"
As you can see, I ended up making the "Diamonds and Pearls Bracelet" with black bicones. I hope that you can get a sense of how elegant and pretty this bracelet is because I had a hard time getting good photos of it. Black beads are very difficult to photograph because they're so dark. Although I thought the green bicones that I used in my sample were pretty, I have more outfits that will go with a black bracelet than a green one. I also knew that I had more than enough of the black ones because I bought several strands of them from Beadoholique's Chinavoski bin. I didn't realize it until I started making this that these black bicones are a bit smaller than most of the other 3mm Chinese bicones that I've got. They're more like the size and shape of Swarovski 3mm bicones in that they're rather short and fat. The Chinese ones are typically the same measurement in length as they are in diameter. The measurement for Swarovski bicones is based on the diameter and they are a bit shorter than that in length. So, 3mm Swarovski bicones are 3mm in diameter but only about 2.75mm in length.
Anyway, since the black bicones I used were smaller than the green ones, I had to add some extra motifs to my final bracelet. With this pattern, you have to make sure that you make an even number of motifs because every other one is embellished. I started with 4 yards of Nymo B thread, which probably would have been plenty if I hadn't missed adding a couple of picots on the edge and had to weave back to add them. I decided to start a new thread when I got near the end because I was afraid I'd run a little short and my thread was also starting to look a little frazzled. In case you've forgotten, or haven't read my last post about this pattern, I make mine with one needle instead of two. Besides changing the clasp loops a bit, I also reinforced each picot as I added them along the edges. All I did was weave back around each one one more time before proceeding. I do like to reinforce most of my beadwork, even when a pattern doesn't say to do so, but with this pattern most of the stitching ends up getting reinforced automatically when you add the embellishment later.
As I mentioned in my post about this pattern on Wednesday HERE, it was created by Janice Chatham. As far as I can make out, the special issue which included this pattern is no longer available from Bead & Button Magazine. However, there is a free pattern available HERE.
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