Thursday, August 4, 2016

Belle of the Ball Earrings

Last night I made two pairs of these earrings that I blogged about yesterday HERE. I re-made the pair with the green druks and used a smaller druk at the top of the earring. I think they look better proportioned with a 4mm druk instead of a 6mm bead.


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
  • 3mm druks "Opaque Green Luster"
  • 4mm druks "Opaque Green Luster"
  • 6mm druks "Opaque Green Luster"


Next, I tried using fire polished beads and I like them the best. They're just the right shape to fill the spaces in the beadwork nicely. Although I like the druks too, the 6mm druk sticks out a little too much because it's so round. 6mm fire polished beads don't seem to pop out quite so much.


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold & Smoky Topaz Luster"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold & Smoky Topaz Luster"
  • 6mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold & Smoky Topaz Luster"


I did end up tweaking the number of seed beads that I used in some of the steps. There's not much point in me mentioning how many I used exactly because you may need to use more or less depending on the combination of beads that you're using. Some druks and fire polished beads are larger than others due to the finish and the manufacturer. Seed bead sizes can also vary. The "Light Bronze" seed beads that I used to make the green earrings are actually quite a bit smaller than the "Dark Bronze" ones even though they're both Miyuki.

I suggest using 6 pound Fireline and a size 12 needle to make these earrings. Fireline is fine enough to get through the tiny seed beads many times. If you don't do any extra reinforcing of the beadwork, the earrings will come out quite soft and flexible. I wanted mine to have a little more body so I reinforced nearly every step and then went around the perimeter three times at the end. They're still slightly soft but they feel a little more sturdy. There are two steps where you will definitely need to adjust the number of beads if you're using Miyuki seed beads. They're steps 13 and 15. The tutorial says in both of those steps to pick up one 15/0 bead to fill the gap and it will take two Miyuki beads to fill that space.

The free "Belle of the Ball Earrings" tutorial can be found on THIS site.




12 comments:

  1. This version is good! Somehow with both 6mm beads was 'too big', now center of gravity is bottom and it is pleasant. And as always, your colour choices are lovely!

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    1. I made a bunch more color samples last night. I'll post them once I've made some complete pairs.

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  2. I agree, the smaller beads look much better! I like the look with round faceted beads, that was my first thought when I saw the pattern. Thanks for making these versions, now I know exactly what to expect when I bead the tweaked pattern (although of course I'll be using different colours).

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    1. I wish I could see your color choices. Do you post your work on Pinterest or Facebook?

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    2. I haven't beaded in a long time, but I'll link you here if I make this! It will probably be black and red or grey. I post jewellery experiments on my personal Facebook and there are some on my Pinterest, but only one published (neat) pattern. Eventually I'd like to open a fashion/lifestyle blog and post everything in one place :) Thank you for your frequent posts and kind feedback, it's all very motivating!

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    3. I'm thinking about making a black pair and I think I've got opaque jet fire polished beads in all three sizes.

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  3. all of your samples are much prettier than the original! I love the aqua and purple, and i have plenty in my closet to wear them with! ;)

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    1. Thanks, Cally. If the person who made the original hadn't used all transparent beads, her earrings would have looked much prettier. The beads she use made it too hard to see the design.

      You can't have my earrings! I just finished making a matching "Eclipse Bracelet" and will take photos of it tomorrow.

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  4. I am new to beading, but can follow a pattern, I did buy the pattern and made the "Roundabout Bracelet" from Around the Beading Table after seeing your gorgeous samples. I cannot for thelife of me figure out this pattern for the Belle of the Ball earrings. I have tried it 5 times. I think unless you're really experienced. my beginning 4 rows or so do not look like the pattern , so alas I am throwing in the towel. perhaps if someone else had written it, like D. Roberti I could have made them. Your samples are fabulous.

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    1. I agree that it's a bit of a challenge following that pattern because of the beads that were used in the photos. There's too much glare on the transparent beads. Do you have any idea which step is throwing you off? Maybe I can clarify it for you.

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  5. I Lost it at Step 17. Since you replaced a C 6mm bead at the top with the D 4mm, the only C is at the bottom of the earring. Step 17 has us "pick up 1 A 3mm and go through the B bead before the C" but we haven't added the C bead yet! I don't know where to go from here. Did I miss a step that had us add the C bead earlier?

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    1. Hi EllieGal. I'm actually wearing a pair of these today! It has been years since I last made this pattern so I had to dig it out and try to figure out what you are missing. The bottom 6mm C bead is added in Step 11 where it says to repeat Step 9. Step 9 is where I used a 4mm bead instead of a 6mm one but for Step 11, you will need to use a 6mm bead as directed.

      I see that the photo diagrams are now missing from their website. Do you have copies of the photos from the tutorial? If not, send me an email using the contact form on the right and I will send you a copy of it.

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