Threading Discoveries, Part 4

Happy Monday! 
      Well, my beading adventures continued Saturday with the completion of my necklace!  I found that working with shorter thread was much easier to do and required little adjustment to the pattern.  It went much faster and I discovered that my nine yards  of thread was supposed to be nine feet of thread. Hee hee.  Because of the reinforcements and half hitch knots used to finish of the thread and to start a new one, the piece is perfectly secure and looks just as nice. You can't even see the knots or the start and end spots.

     A note about threading medium... With this necklace in particular, I decided to use nylon beading thread, such as one G, instead of Fireline because it lays much nicer, like a fine quality piece of jewelry. I tried making it first with Fireline, and found that it gave it a plastic feel even though I was using crystals.  And when you are making an elegant piece like this, it should feel expensive, too.
     I also came up with this great idea to end my necklaces with ribbon instead of chain to make the size adjustable.  I had made a very casual piece using all ribbon for the necklace and it looks so cute with the bow closure that I thought, "Why not finish my other pieces like that?"  It reduces the cost of having to use expensive chain, and looks nice on a bare neck, in case you wear your hair up.  The only trouble that you might encounter is tying the bow so that the necklace lays correctly,  but with a little effort, that really shouldn't be a challenge.

     Here is a picture of the finished work. Let me know what you think.

And thanks again for reading. Contact me at happynewminute@verizon.net for classes and to purchase patterns or finished pieces. Thank you!  Check out Happy New Minute on Facebook as well as Misti's Jewelry on Etsy.  Check back for upcoming blogs by Happy New Minute  about my last jewelry discoveries.  Thank you!

Threading Discoveries, Part 3

 I was trying to use my Galaxy S3 to blog from, but blogspot doesn`t seem to like swype`s or swiftkey`s word prediction function, so I am now happily typing away on my Tablet.  So, because of the endless typo fixes I had to make last night  while attempting to blog from my phone, and that with great difficulty, I didn`t get very far on my necklace.  I did, however, move my project to the other end of the table.  Next discovery:  moving the thread causes it to tangle, even when you are careful!  But, gentle action to loosen and detangle has been sufficient to redeem my efforts and I am busily making my loop fraework.

(Well, now I am finding blogspot doesn't want to upload photos from my Tablet!  So, I will add them in after I am done writing.)

Oh! And I found that taping the thread tail close to me instead of on the far side of my bead mat makes it much easier to work with and far less likely to come off.

   

Something else I have found to be helpful is that when you are pulling the thread through, make sure to pull it through onto a different part of the table, not where the bunch of thread already is or it will tangle.  It is a little hard to see in the picture below, so I posted a couple different ones.
 

 

 

See how the threads coming away from the bead mat are going away from each other in the last 2 pictures? And it helps to put your finger on the beads to hold them down on the mat while you are pulling the thread through.

Okay, as much as I would rather stick to one long piece of thread, I am realizing that others might not have the time to or find pleasure in detangling the thread as is necessary when working with long pieces.  So lest you become discouraged if you decide to try this pattern, I will find a reasonable stopping place, cut the thread after tying it off and use smaller pieces.  But don't worry, I'll explain how you tie it off and start a new thread as well in my next blog.

Thanks for reading!  If you would like to take a class with me, please email me for my current schedule. HappyNewMinute@verizon.net And don't forget to tweet and update your facebook friends about this blog!  Thanks again!

Check back soon!
Happy new minute!

Threading Discoveries, Part 2

Ok, I am back.
     I added a comment on the first post, before I figured out how to post from my phone.  LOL.  
     I mentioned in my first post that to help keep the thread from tangling, pull the thread through with long gestures, and not bunch it up on the table.   Here is a picture of what NOT to do.

See the glob of thread on the instruction sheet?  That is a quick way to get a tangle.  And with nylon  beading thread, you really want to avoid that.  But I have found that if it looks like a tangle is forming to un-bunch it while the thread is still loose,  like this :

I hope you can see that the thread is now stretched out across the table and over the edge. 

     I also discovered that the tape doesn't want to stick to the beading mat like I had expected, so I stuck it to the table instead.  : ) 

    Because the thread is fine and slick, it wants to come off the needle.   (And you thought thread was an inanimate object without feelings! Ha!)  So to overcome this issue, when you hold onto the needle, also hold onto the thread with the same hand.  

     More to come, please check back soon and please share my blogs to your twitter and Facebook pages.  Thank you.  : )

Threading Discoveries, Part 1

     Hello, all you beading & Misti's Jewelry fans out there!  I am excited to share my very first blog with you!  Thank you JB for helping me with this.  So, here it goes!  I welcome your comments!   

     I am happily working away in our sunny nook on my Baroque Beauty Necklace pattern.  Supplies of choice: the Swarovski^tm Crystal Copper Baroque 50mm Pendant, some tan nylon beading thread, seed beads, and size 3 & 5mm Crystal Copper Swarovski^tm bicones.  As I am working, I am contemplating a conversation I had with Jan & Anita who came to Beading Day last week.  We agreed that when doing an intricate pattern that takes a lot of thread, we would rather work with one long piece than several short ones that have to be pieced together.  We agreed that the minor tangles that arise from using a long piece are worth the added stability of a single thread. I must say, though, I am finding that 9 yards of beading thread is very easily tangled.  Hee hee.  I am also finding that what helps prevent tangling is to pull the thread through with long gestures so the thread hangs off the edge of the table, instead of piling up in a bunch on the table.  I will try that for awhile and let you know how it works out.  So check back to read  more about my beading adventure du jour. www.MistisJewelry.com