Stringing Choices For Beading & Jewelry Making

Here are the major stringing materials along with how and when to use each of them. SILK THREAD: Silk has a wondrous “hand” (a soft, flexible feel). This thread comes in many sizes and colors. It comes packaged on spools, and “carded” with an attached needle. This is a classic stringing material and forms beautiful knots between pearls and beads. But, silk tends to be relatively fragile. It can stretch, be cut by abrasive beads, rot when wet, and pearls strung on silk should be re strung every few years. It is best to use silk when stringing pearls and lightweight, smooth-holed beads, only. A needle is necessary. NYLON THREAD: (Nymo): This thread also comes in many sizes and colors. It comes packaged on spools, on bobbins, and “carded” with a needle attached. Nylon can be used where-ever silk can and is not as fragile. This material knots beautifully and can be used for pearl stringing, in some strung jewelry, seed beadwork, loom weaving, for Peyote and other specialty stitches, and heishi. Nylon stretches much less than silk, and it won’t rot when wet. Like silk, you shouldn’t use beads with sharp edged holes or that are heavy. When you use nylon thread, I would recommend you coat your thread with bee’s wax or “Thread HeavenTM “ before use to prevent it from fraying. A needle is necessary. BONDED NYLON: This is a much stronger form of nylon thread. The strands are physically bonded together for extra strength and abrasion protection. Although it knots well, it doesn’t have the “hand” of silk. Bonded nylon comes in a variety of colors and smaller spools. Because of its abrasion resistance, you can use it with “hard”, more abrasive gem beads; in fact this comes close to being a “Universal Thread”. Brand names include: “Stringth” or “Silkon”. A needle is necessary, although you can put “Super Glue” on the end to form a “Self-needle”. This is a favorite beading material of mine. FISHING LINE: This material is a hard, semi-rigid, single strand of plastic. It doesn’t knot well, and in time sunlight or ultraviolet light can cause it to weaken and fall apart. Fishing line is purchased on small spools and is sold in sporting goods stores. Personally, I use fishing line for two purposes. I use it to do my preliminary stringing while I am designing a necklace (I transfer the beads to a better material for the final product), and to string together “raw” strands of beads. There is no needle necessary. I would never use this material for a final beaded...

You are on the lookout for a new hobby, and you would prefer it to have something to do with arts and crafts. You like wearing jewelry, so the thought occurred to you that jewelry making would be a fun hobby. About Jewelry Making The fun thing about jewelry making is that it can be as simple as or as decorative in design as you want it to be. Jewelry making can also be as easy or as challenging as you want it to be, depending on what kinds of jewelry you would like to make. If you have younger children and are looking for a hobby that you can share with them, you will find that jewelry making can be something that you can do together. Avoid making jewelry pins because of the sharp pins. Rather, make bead necklaces or bracelets with them. For this kind of jewelry making, take your children to a craft store and have them select what kinds of beads they want. The other tow things your will need is string material to put the bead on, and fasteners. Have the children put the beads through the string material, and you finish the project for them by putting on the fasteners. If you live near the ocean, a wonderfully unique kind of jewelry making you can try is necklaces or bracelets made out of seashells. For this project, gather several shells of any kind that you would like to use. Thoroughly wash them in hot water, and, using a sufficiently sharp cutting tool of your choice, make jagged pieces. Next, poke holes in the center of each shell and pull the necessary string material through it. Lastly, add fasteners for a finished piece. Of course, necklaces and bracelets are not the only things you can make. You can also make earring and rings, if you have the proper material. Material usually includes such things as hot glue, and decorations, of which stones (if polished and smoothed beforehand) can be used. For more ideas on what to make, consult various jewelry making books, as they have directions. You can also search the internet for a variety of different websites on the topic. Remember, your piece of jewelry might not always turn out just the way that you wanted it to, but with the proper practice, you are sure to be able to make beautiful pieces of...