BATIK BRACELET
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 4mm fire polished beads "Halo Ethereal Azurite"
- SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"
- 4mm druks "Bronze"
While waiting for enough sunshine to take photos of some "SuperDuo Lace Bands" samples, I decided to make this bracelet after seeing a similar colorway on Deb Roberti's Facebook page. These bronze beads are as close as I could come to the gold ones in Alix North's photo that I saw HERE. I'd love to know where she found the beads that she used because I've never seen that shade of light bronze/gold in seed beads, druks or SuperDuos for sale anywhere. It's possible though that they are actually the same color that I used and the photo just came out very light. Although I do have some fire polished beads in the color that Alix used, I chose to use opaque ones in a similar color. The result is a gorgeous bracelet with a lot of detail and texture.
You can buy this pattern HERE at Around the Beading Table or HERE in Deb's Etsy shop.
SUPERDUO LACE BANDS
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
- DiscDuo beads "Metallic Sea Blue"
- SuperDuo beads "Satin Metallic Teal"
The "SuperDuo Lace Bands" pattern is by Deborah Roberti and you can buy it HERE at Around the Beading Table or HERE in Deb's Etsy shop.
It took nine motifs to fit my 6-inch wrist. Also note that I added my clasp very simply with two 11/0 and one 8/0 seed bead on each end. If I had added a full clasp loop as directed by the pattern, the bracelet would be too long for me. Changing up the size of the clasp loops can be useful for adjusting the length if you can't add or remove a whole motif to get the right fit.
I plan to make a few of these in various colorways. I have made quite a few color samples and just need to narrow it down to my favorites. For the 2-hole beads in my samples, I have used DiscDuos, Silky beads, Honeycomb beads and 2-hole cabochons. You'll have to wait and see which beads I end up using. I will also post any extra samples that I don't end up using along with their bead lists.
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki Union "Opaque White Lila Gold Luster" (15695)
- Kheops par Puca beads "Opaque Rose Gold Ceramic"
- CzechMates tile beads "Opaque Smoky Topaz Gold Luster"
I recently got a request from Deb Roberti to test something for her with her "Memento Band" pattern. I had never made that pattern before but I did happen to have the necessary beads on hand. I even had some 8/0 seed beads in the same color as the CzechMates tiles and Kheops par Puca beads. Although I don't generally wear bracelets as wide as this one (it's about 1 1/4" wide), I really like the slinky feel of the beadwork. I find myself picking it up now and again just to feel the texture of it in my hand.
In the photo below, I have draped the sample over my arm so that you can get a sense of the width of the bracelet.
You can buy Deb's pattern HERE at Around the Beading Table or HERE in her Etsy shop. The 8/0 seed beads are no longer available from the place where I bought mine but I found some online in a couple of places. If you're in the UK, Spoilt Rotten Beads has them HERE. In the US, Charlene's Beads has them HERE. The color looks off in her photo but the color number does match up with what I have.
ROYAL TUDOR BRACELET
- 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Gunmetal" (451)
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Gunmetal" (451)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Gunmetal" (451)
- Ginko beads "Purple Vega"
- 3mm druks "Lilac Vega Luster"
- 4mm druks "Lilac Vega Luster"
This "Royal Tudor Bracelet" pattern is by Norma Jean Dell and you can buy it HERE in her Etsy shop. Norma Jean's instructions are very easy to follow and she includes diagrams as well as photos for each step.
The bracelet is fun and relatively easy to make if you're an experienced beader. I don't recommend it for beginners because of the somewhat complicated thread path.
One thing that is a little tricky is figuring out how long to make the bracelet. That's because you first make all of the components and then go down both sides to add the netting beads. When these beads are added, they cause the entire bracelet to shrink quite a bit. The instructions say that ten components should make a bracelet that measures about 6 1/4 inches long before the clasp and jump rings are added. That sounded about right to fit my 6-inch wrist so I made mine that length. However, it's actually a little too long so nine components would have made for a better fit. My completed bracelet with the clasp and two jump rings measures 7 1/2 inches. Unless I'm making a very wide bracelet, or one with very chunky beads, most of the ones I make measure about 6 3/4 inches long with the clasp.
The instructions don't say how much thread is needed so I started with four yards and that was just about right. I used Nymo D thread and had no trouble getting through the 15/0 beads.
I have blogged before about both of these colorways but I put different designs on them this time and I like to keep a photo record of every unique beaded project that I make. Both pairs will be a gift for someone.
RUSSIAN LEAF EARRINGS
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Galvanized Light Pewter" (DB1851)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Silver Lined Matte Dyed Mistletoe" (DB2190)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Light Pewter" (4221)
I previously blogged about this green colorway HERE and I have a color chart for the design that I used this time HERE. Below you can see what my first pair looked like.
RUSSIAN LEAF EARRINGS
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Galvanized Gold" (DB1832)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Silver Lined Matte Dyed Blizzard Blue" (DB2176)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
I blogged about this blue colorway HERE. The only change that I made this time was to add the gold crosses in the centers. Below you can see my first pair without the crosses.
To learn how to make "Russian Leaf Earrings", watch Jill Wiseman's YouTube video tutorial HERE and download her free PDF HERE.
Read THIS post where I explain how I finish and reinforce my Russian Leaf earrings. I also have information about how I stiffen my earrings in THIS post.
You can buy Delica beads at Red Panda, Aura Crystals, Supply Emporium and Jill Wiseman Designs.
MADRIGAL BRACELET
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- ZoliDuo beads "Alabaster Lila Vega Luster"
- 3mm druks "Blue Luster"
I decided to go ahead and make a bracelet with these purple ZoliDuos even though the dye lots are a bit of a mess. Because ZoliDuos are smaller than Paisley Duos, I added one more motif this time. However, that actually made my bracelet a little too long for me so I think I will remake it without the extra motif and add jump rings and/or a slightly longer clasp to make it fit.
I also used Toho seed beads this time and they work just fine with this pattern. I just had to be careful whenever I added the center beads to each point because Toho beads are finicky when it comes to fitting between two seed beads in that way. That's due to them having straighter sides than Miyuki seed beads which are more rounded.
Sometimes it can be bothersome working with ZoliDuos because of them having a top and bottom as well as right and left beads. That's not the case with this pattern. As long as I picked up the beads right side up each time, they ended up facing the right way.
The "Madrigal Bracelet" pattern is by Deb Roberti and you can buy it HERE at Around the Beading Table or HERE on Etsy.
MADRIGAL BRACELET
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- Paisley Duo beads "Bronze Pale Gold"
- 3mm druks "Jet Bronze Picasso"
First, I've got some great news. We finally got our air conditioning fixed! We had repairmen here three times last summer and none of them could find the problem. While doing some baking a week or so ago, I got fed up with the heat in the kitchen so I contacted the landlord again because I couldn't take it anymore. This time the repairman was able to find the source of the problem. There was an 80% blockage in the main duct that goes to the living room and kitchen. He removed the blockage and all is well again.
Since then I have tried three new bracelet patterns and this is the first one that I've made into a complete bracelet. The other two bracelet samples that I made feature Ginko beads.
The "Madrigal Bracelet" pattern is by Deb Roberti and you can buy it HERE at Around the Beading Table or HERE on Etsy. Unfortunately I only had enough Paisley Duos in this one color and even then I just barely had enough to make this bracelet fit me. It took 36 of them to fit my 6-inch wrist and I only have five beads left over so I couldn't make matching earrings. At least this is a pretty versatile colorway.
I would love to make one of these bracelets with ZoliDuos but I don't really want to buy any and have to deal with the right/left bead issue as well as the possibility of getting dye lots that don't match. I do have enough ZoliDuos in one color but my left beads look very different than my right beads which is a real drag.
