Post tips and questions about Beading and jewellery making here.

Hi all.

I was just wondering, do you find that homemade jewellery looks better if you use beads made from assorted gems and minerals, or if you just use glass/plastic beads.

Earring and necklace making is one of my developing hobbies and I was wondering which to buy off of Ebay.

Also for necklaces, to use chain, memory wire, or fishing line? I have tried all three, and I like chain, but you can't bead the whole way around it. What kind of thread/wire is best for beading all the way around?

I have done a little beading myself and think that glass beads are better than plastic. I bought some nice strings of beads (guess they were plastic), made my sister and myself lovely watches, only to find over time the colour came off the beads.
Chain looks realy nice but also difficult to work with. I use either the jewlery wire (guess its what you call memory wire) or they make an elastic which is quite strong and great for watches and bracelets as you don't need catches.

Good luck and enjoy your beading it can be very rewarding.

How do you do watches? Memory wire is the kind usually used for chokers or bracelets, it keeps its circular shape if you don't purposely bend it out of shape.

I might try and get some gems to use as beads.

You can buy watch faces from most beading supplyers. Then thread the beads onto the elastic thread and attach to the watch with crimping beads. Many beading shops here give lessons and you only need one lesson to learn how to make watches.

Fishing line is great for beading. It's actually often stronger than the micro filament currently marketed for jewelry making. Tigertail is a kind of plastic-coated wire or chain specially designed for beading that many necklace and bracelet makers swear by. Beading thread for fine work is a good staple to have on hand. It's a coated nylon, very strong, that can usually be passed through a bead multiple times for intricate work. Memory wire is tough to use, so be careful. They make special pliers for bending it if you need to. Look into crimp beads for nicely finished ends on fishing line, micro filament and tigertail. Silk is the standard for pearls and similar knotted bead necklaces. I don't typically use chain for beading, myself.

As for the beads, I would always take glass over plastic, but I would also always take gemstones over glass. I'm a trained goldsmith, and admit that my time in a jewelry shop created a bit of snob in me. I love wearing art jewelry made with glass, and I buy a lot of glass beads because I think they're pretty. But I find that I almost always prefer to actually USE gemstones and sterling silver or better. Any more, they make glass that looks like gemstones and most people can't tell them apart. I still prefer the gemstones over the glass. But then, I generally CAN tell them apart.

How does the silk work? Is it made into a thread? because I'm thinking cloth.

Also Lady, I might give watchmaking a try, I can never find watches that I like. I can't believe that I have a craft shop around the corner from my house and I have never been there.

The best thing about making watches is when you are tired of it (or when the battery dies) you just make another one, or change the last one you made.
I'm sure you will enjoy it.

It sounds great. They would make good birthday presents for people as well.

Yes, it's silk thread.

What thickness wire is best for making beaded rings? I used to have a little roll of copper wire that worked wonderfully, but when it ran out I couldn't find it and instead bought one called "crafting wire" which is much thinner and doesn't really hold its shape.. Also breaks very easily. I'm using seed beads, so it can't be too thick... Suggestions?


(I can't believe no on ehas posted er in 3 months!)

I'm not sure, I don't do rings yet, but I would love to. What do you use to fasten them.

Also I havn't been doing much crafting, I'm a bit low on money to buy supplies, that's why I at least havn't posted.

This might not be the right thread for this, but it's the closest I can find.
Does anyone know some good brands of cheap, yet strong and pretty silver and gold (or silver and gold looking) wire? I do chain mail as a hobby and am thinking of trying my hand at decorative chain mail as jewelry.
It would need to be strong enough to hold it's shape well and take a little wear, but thin enough to bend easily (cuts, scratches and bruises on ones fingertips suck - royally).

I just cut the wire, loop it through itself and wrap it a lot.But it only works with wwrwire that holds its shape...
rings are super easy, especially is you just do a chain (2 strands connected every so often by using 1 bead for both) . I started when I was 11 or 12 and din't have an issues except cutting the wire

In my experience, if it is actual gold or silver there isn't really going to be "cheap brands". EVERYone sells gold and silver based on current market value, the biggest deciding factor on cost is going to be whether you're buying it retail or wholesale. If it's something you're really interested in, there are a few companies that are good sources, including FireMountainGems and RioGrande.

(Rio is the company I use to source all my silver, and you have the option, of course, of buying pre-made jump rings in all shapes and sizes, which is what I do because it saves money on my time, and is a good way to test things out, like aspect ratios for instance, without investing a lot of time and money into making jump rings. I've been using Rio since 1993, and have always been extremely happy with them. Even when I was working as a professional goldsmith, we ordered things from Rio.)

Silver through FireMountainGems is a little more expensive than through Rio because it's retail, but it's easier to get than Rio because with Rio, being wholesale you have to do some special things to get the catalog.

For jewelry chain mail (or maille, depending on if you're a renny), I would advise using real silver. It actually isn't terribly expensive, and sterling is durable and strong while still being extremely workable. If you can't afford to go with gold for yellow metal, brass or gold-filled is the way to go, and you can get both those metals through either FMG or Rio as well.

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thin enough to bend easily (cuts, scratches and bruises on ones fingertips suck - royally

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Use pliers.

Now that I am 'into' beading it is time to bring this back up.

Yes! I need to get all my beads and tools set up in the new place so I can start making things again.

I am totally addicted at the moment, mostly I like to stitch as in bead weaving but am expecting to try my hand with wire very shortly.

Don't you just love those early days of really being "into" a new craft? Make hay while the sun shines, Sue, and enjoy!

I am still totally addicted, I am currently beading onto pens, keyrings etc.

Well show'em the pictures then . They are just lovely!

I've seen some of sue's beading on Facebook, she is very talented, they are gorgeous!

There are some in the Gallery, I will add some more.