jewelry Archives - Page 2 of 3

Magic chain bracelet

The magic chain stitch in embroidery is structured like the standard chain stitch, but the links alternate colors. To make it, you load your needle with the full number of strands of each of two colors, and then when catching the thread for each loop you catch only one color at a time. It has a high fanciness-to-difficulty ratio.

I’m sure I’m not the first to adapt the magic chain stitch to crochet chains. Make a slip knot with two strands, and then chain alternately with each color. It will probably end up looser than your usual chain; the samples below were both made with an H hook (5 mm). It looks pretty neat:

After chaining the last link, bring the opposite color through it and tie the strands together in an overhand knot (or just tie the beginning and end together all at once).

I tried it with three colors, rotating among them, but a loose strand stretching across two links was too messy. Instead, I bounced up to a K hook (6.5 mm) and used two strands at a time, rotating which was left out. That worked better, but I think I prefer the two color version.

You’ll notice I have three different-looking tassels. The red-orange-yellow one is just the yarn ends tied together. For the green-blue one, I cut two additional strands of each color and tied them on after tying the ends together, to fatten up the tassel. The pink-purple tassel was combed out with a large pin and then trimmed.

These would make great lanyards, or a summer project to introduce kids to crochet!

Three-strand necklace

Another in the series of beading patterns from my distant past.

This necklace was devised to use some large, colorful, gold-streaked beads I had acquired via a yard sale necklace. The original necklace had them all together, separated by small gold beads if I remember rightly, giving it a loud ’80s vibe. This necklace displays a single large bead against a much more subdued background. With these beads the shortest strand is approximately 16 1/2 inches long.

To make your own:

Materials:
1 centerpiece bead (15mm in sample)
158 small round beads (4mm)
48 large round beads (6mm)
108 large rocailles (2mm)
clasp
about 54″ beading thread

Continue reading Three-strand necklace

Another link in the chain

At least five years ago, I took a one-off course in wire wrapping. This is a technique used in jewelry making to make wire loops that are finished in a secure and decorative way: by wrapping one end of the wire around the other. I began a necklace with copper-colored wire and some metallic beads.

I decided to finish the necklace after all this time to discover that not only did I not remember how to make the wrapped loops, I didn’t remember what the technique was even called. I tried a few practice loops and they really didn’t come out. Fortunately for me, its name is straightforward. I found wonderful instructions on Fusion Beads, from a whole index of wire beading techniques. I had been doing it almost right, with two exceptions: I hadn’t been leaving a long enough “tail” of wire to wrap with, and I had missed the movement of the pliers from under the loop to inside it (step 3 in the instructions linked above). Not long after reading those instructions, I had this:

I made up the hook and eye closure since I didn’t have any copper-colored findings. My motivation to start was really just to check it off the list, but I rather like it. I’ll put it with the rest of my underused necklaces!