DIAMOND DIY BEADED BRACELET (ONE NEEDLE METHOD)
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
- 4mm bicones "Aqua Gold" (Chinese)
When I saw the pretty bracelet in THIS video on the Sonysree Creations YouTube channel recently, I had to give it a try. She has videos for a one-needle version and also for a 2-needle version. I hate working with two needles so I tried the one needle method. Sadly, I haven't had any luck with this design even after making several other samples that I didn't take photos of. The problem doesn't seem to be a Toho vs. Miyuki issue because neither work very well. It looks like she uses 10/0 Czech seed beads in the video and maybe that's the secret to making it work. I have some Czech seed beads that size in one color and I made a small sample with them. They did seem to work a little better but dusty rose wouldn't have been a suitable color for this bracelet.
I also tried Chinese bicones as well as Czech ones. Czech bicones only work a little better than the Chinese ones because they're smaller. The problem is that the strings of seed beads between the bicones are very unstable and go all wonky no matter how carefully I try to keep them in place. The Toho seed beads in the bracelet above do seem to look messier than the Miyuki beads in the small sample below but I think that the Chinese bicones might be part of the problem in this instance. By the time I finished making that bracelet I had tried so many other things that I decided it wasn't worth bothering to try anything else.
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Pewter" (4221)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Pewter" (4221)
- 4mm bicones "Opaque Rosanine" (Czech)
The silver and pink sample above looks pretty good in my photo. It would probably make an acceptable bracelet if I wasn't so fussy about some of the seed bead strands sticking up and others going down under. On a different sample I tried tacking the pairs of seed bead strands together in the center but that made the motif more rounded instead of coming to a nice point.
In the end, I decided not to spend any more time on this pattern only to end up with something too wonky to wear. It's really a shame because the design would be lovely if it worked better. It's especially disappointing for me because I have a huge stash of pretty Chinese bicones that I'd like to use for something like this.
i tried this as well and mine kept breaking my thread so gave up as well
ReplyDeleteThat's not good. I never had that problem and I was using Nymo D thread and not Fireline. Your bicones must have had very sharp edges. I have heard that bicones can break thread but I haven't had that happen to me yet.
DeleteI use either 6 pound or 8 pound fireline for all of my beadweaving. I would probably use 8 pound for this bracelet.
DeleteI use 8lb Fireline for my beadweaving projects and haven't had major problems with the bicons cutting it. I also need 6 pound as well. But for something like this I would probably use eight pounds.
DeleteI have made bracelets with bicone beads. They cut the thread
DeleteThis is a beautiful bracelet. Where did you get your clasps?
ReplyDeleteI mostly buy my clasps from China on eBay. I have a post with links to some places to buy magnetic clasps. Look on the right side of my blog under the heading "Where to buy...".
DeleteIt's such a shame when you have an amazing looking pattern and can't get it to work! :(
ReplyDeleteI have one such pattern that I bought from Ellad2 a while ago, and even though I used all the beads she specified, and followed the instructions, my samples always looked bad, from wonky to outright ridiculous.
Luckily, everything I have tried from you has always worked out just fine! :)
I'm glad to hear that.
DeleteI’ve bought lots of Ellad2 patterns and always been happy with them. Sometimes when patterns don’t work out the way we want them, it’s generally to do with tension.
DeleteI too have had many patterns from Ellad and have never been disappointed
DeleteHappy New Year Linda!
ReplyDeleteI have been folllowing you for while now and you are my favourite so far simply because you explain how you did it , what you did ( when you can ) and why. This has made my beading journey an enjoyable experience and many occasions frustrating like this design.
I love Sonysree tutorials but even using her materials list I find myself pulling clumps of hair. Either very floppy or doesn’t look right. So this post has had me sighing with relief. I think the coated Czech beads might fair better in this design as they are slightly wider and rougher. I will try it and see .... one day
Happy New Year Jan. I have tried so many patterns and video tutorials over the years and this sort of thing happens frequently. Sometimes I can come up with a way to make them work with some tweaking. If not, I move on to something else. At least we can take our beadwork apart and use the beads in other projects. Maybe some people aren't as fussy as we are when it comes to wonky beadwork.
Deletemuy bonito sus trabajos
ReplyDeleteGracias
DeleteDIAMOND DIY BEADED BRACELET (ONE NEEDLE METHOD) how do you get the beads to "kink" rather than remain in a straight line? Carole
ReplyDeleteYou can see how it is done by watching the video. She does that step at about the 3 minute mark in the video. It has to do with the center seed bead being shared by both rows of seed beads.
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