Tag Archives: bracelet

Memory Wire Bracelets

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Seafoam Bracelet

Sometimes it is hard to say what inspires us. I have had bracelet-sized memory wire in my bead chest for maybe 10 years. At least 10 years. I know I tried to make a few bracelets when I first started beading about that long ago, but I don’t remember what happened – what I made or if I liked it. I must not have, because I haven’t touched memory wire since.

Until this past weekend. I do not know what got me – the bug to clean out, to use up what I have, some subconscious recollection of something I saw and liked made with memory wire. Who knows? But on Sunday, I sat down with memory wire, some memory wire cutters (also 10 years old) and some raku seed beads, size 8, and some 6 and 4 mm Czech crystals.

The results? Four bracelets, each made with five wraps of memory wire. I love ‘em and wanna make more. So what did I do yesterday? I bought more memory wire!!!! So much for cleaning out!I am selling them in my Etsy store.

Green Iris bracelet

To make one of these bracelets, you will need:

memory wire

memory wire cutters

flat-nosed pliers

size 8 seed beads

24 4mm faceted Czech crystals

24 daisy spacers

12 6 mm Czech crystals

Bronze Iris Raku bracelet

With memory wire cutters, cut about six wraps of memory wire. Use flat-nosed pliers to fold back about 1/8 inch of memory wire to inside of circle formed by memory wire (this will stop beads from sliding off). String beads in following pattern: *20 seed beads, 1 4mm crystal, 1 daisy spacer, 1 6 mm crystal, 1 daist spacer, 1 4mm crystal.* Repeat between * and * until all crystals are on wire, finish with 20 seed beads. With memory wire cutters, cut memory wire about 1/4 of inch from last bead. Use flat-nosed pliers to fold under 1/8 inch of memory wire towards center of circle formed by bracelet.

Hex Cut Beads bracelet

Beaded Bracelet Bonanza

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Okay, remember in my last post I raved about how fun it was to teach my top-down sock class? Well, that class no has a rival in the Beaded Bracelet class I taught last weekend at K2Tog.

I have been making these beaded bracelets for a couple of years, ever since I bought a kit from Swallow Hill Creations at a Stitches West.  I have given many as gifts, sold a few others and generally had a blast whipping them out. From bead stringing to binding off takes me about an evening. But I am generally considered fast (haha).

So for the purposes of this class, which I had only three hours to teach, I prepared kits for students which included me pre-stringing half their beads. Fortunately, I had a lot of help in this from my mom, Diann, who was visiting me for a week. She strung A LOT of beads for me. Thanks again, mom.

Pre-stringing for the kits

In the kits, we included the beads (size 6 seed beads), a threader, a pattern, a square of velix, the “yarn,” a clasp and a band-aid in case the tiny needles required – Addi Turbos size 000 – caused some sore thumbs. I am happy to say no one needed the band-aid.

I had six students, plus my mom. Folks got started stringing while I talked about the construction – garter stitch consisting of one beaded row, one non-beaded row, with a beaded cast-on and cast-off – and general principles of design – different clasps, different orders of bead stringing to make different designs.

Karen strings her beads

After stringing, we tackled the beaded cast-on. This was not people’s favorite thing to do. But once past that, you get to the good stuff – the knitting. The bracelet is knit lengthwise, with between 43 and 48 stitches on the needles, depending on the size of one’s wrist (congrats to Marilyn, who had the largest!). There were a couple of dropped stitches here and there (UH-OH! and we get out the teensy crochet hook) but no major disasters.

Suzan chose purple beads

Then it was on to the beaded bind-off, and if they were unhappy with the cast on, they were miserable with the bind off. The trick is to keep it loose. But as grumpy as they were, they all made it through to the end! With an embroidery needle they sewed on their clasp and we put a little dab of glue to seal the deal.

Penny attached her clasp

The class took a bit longer than 3 hours, but I figure if I pre-string all the beads for everyone in the next class, we’ll make it in under the wire. We still have a few kits available at the store for $15 – they do not include the Addi’s. But if you have a set of 00′s they’ll do. But the 000′s are best.

Look for us to reschedule this class sometime before Christmas.

Sharon's green bracelet

Beading Frenzy

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That Lisa! Ever since she came to visit and we went to the BABE show I have been in a total beading frenzy. Sure, I’m knitting, too, but I am thinking about beads and working with beads a lot. Let me show you some things I’ve been working on.

Brick Stitch Bracelet

First, here are two bracelets I made with beads I just had lying around. The pattern is a free one from Bead & Button magazine. I was buzzing around their site and found it and off I went. I love that there are endless possibilities. The first one, in the autumn tones, I made for myself, tho it may wind up in my Etsy store. The second one I made as a Christmas present for my friend Daniela. Oh, and don’t worry. She never reads my blog.

Daniela's bracelet

Then I got all inspired by this book I’ve had for awhile, Crystal Beaded Jewellery by Christine and Sylvie Hooghe. I made a couple of rings out of the book when I first got it a year or so ago, but then I hadn’t touched. But when Lisa was here, we were shopping at Baubles and Beads (one of our favorite stores in the whole world) and

Graphic Stars Pendants

they have such a great selection of Swarovski that I got all inspired again. I decided to make some gifts for the women in my Friday knitting group and bought lots of beads to make each of them a “graphic star” pendant on page 74 of the book. These are about as big as a silver dollar. It was tons of fun, but as usual, I didn’t get a good enough jump on the whole thing and I was up til 2 a.m. the night before our annual Friday Christmas boozefest at Skates on the Bay. So, needless to say, I needed that Lavendar Cosmo I had the next day at our party.

Graphic stars detail

Anyway, everyone seemed to love their graphic stars. I told them they could use them as a pendant or hang them in a window or even on their Christmas trees. I still have a couple more to make – I could not stay up past 2 that night.

So I got to thinking – if the graphic stars pattern works so well as a pendant, what would it be like as an earring? The pattern calls for 8 mm and 4 mm Swarovski crystals – a size ratio of 2 to 1. So I miniaturized it by using 6 mm and 3 mm. AND I LOVE THE RESULTS. The centers of these are a bit smaller than a quarter. I think I am going to be making a lot more of these. Again, watch for them on my Etsy store.

Speaking of Etsy . . . did you all see this great article by Alex Williams in The New York Times about what it takes to make a living from your Etsy store? All I can say is, be careful what you wish for. The young woman who makes $140,000 a year from her scarves knits 13 hours a day – every day. Not sure I wanna do that. Not to mention my hands would fall off. But do read this article – it really showed what you have to do to make a living as a craftsperson.

Cinque Terre Bracelet

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Cinque Terre bracelet

Cinque Terre bracelet

I promised I’d start blogging about the handicrafts I bought in Italy and we’ll start with this small, but really fun bracelet I bought in the Cinque Terre. Here’s a picture.

I bought this bracelet for 20 Euros, about $26. I could not have made it for the same price – or perhaps for just about the same price. I bought it in the town of Corniglia in a little store that carried art and handicrafts made by people in the area. The owner of the store made this bracelet, and there were others like it in purple, red and I think I remember a gold bronze combination.

While we probably cannot duplicate the bracelet exactly – and why would we want to? weP6040007 should make it our own – there’s a lot of inspiration to be had here. First off, chunky jewelry – especially charm bracelets and the like – seem to be the big thing in Italy now, as I saw dozens of women wearing big costume pieces that make a statement and coordinated with the colors they were wearing. Also, notice the rhinestone pieces that form two foci for the bracelet. These two pieces give the bracelet a little extra sparkle and kind of anchor the whole design. Another very cool thing the designer has done is she has made this bracelet extra chunky by using a double strand of chain on the whole bracelet (I don’t know if you can see this in the picture). She – or perhaps the manufacturer of the chain – has also connected the two strands of chain with jump rings so that the two strands alway slay side-by-side on your wrist, thereby insuring a thick chunkiness. Get it?

P6040008I also like how she has chosen to make this a white bracelet – but doesn’t use only white beads. There are clear beads, AB finished beads, grey beads, bronze-finished beads and even a single black one. This gives the bracelet a richness and a depth it might not have had if every bead were white.

So if you wanted to make something similar, go to your local INDEPENDENTLY OWNED bead store and get one or two rhinestone pieces, some chunky chain to link them together and then raid your bead stash for the baubles to attach to the chain with wire-wraps. And Que Sera Sera you have an Italian bracelet!