Enjoy a video tutorial to go with the PDF diagram of this free pattern! I love the way this design alternates colors of curvy lines radiating from the center, resembling the sun’s corona. It is a variation on basic netting technique, but the superduos at the connection points allow the lines to curve instead of making sharp corners. This design seems to work best with two high-contrasting seed bead colors. I hope you enjoy this free beading pattern!
Materials
For this necklace, you need 6mm round beads, superduos, two colors of 11/0 TOHO seed beads, 8/0 seed beads (matching one of the 11/0 TOHO seed bead colors), and jump rings to connect a clasp.
More Photos and Demo Video
Click on the photos below (or the free beading pattern) to zoom in.
Video Tutorial
BeadDiagrams.com has introduced video tutorials! BeadDiagrams.com tutorials have an advantage over other video tutorials, offering a printable PDF to accompany each tutorial, to help and follow along with. Subscribe to my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/c/BeadDiagramsTutorials) to be notified of new tutorials. I am not only posting tutorials for new designs, but also for previously posted designs!
Click on the image below to view the video tutorial for this design:
PDF Download
If you wish to print the pattern, download it in PDF format:
Enjoy a video tutorial to go with the free PDF download for this design! The part I like best about this design is the new technique I use to bezel the rivoli crystal in the center. The bezel part only requires 11/0 TOHO seed beads (no 15/0 seed beads, like in my Georgiana or Evangeline Earrings), and is very easy and quick to make. (One of the photos below shows what the bezel looks like from the back, so you can see how securely it holds the crystal). Also, the bezel does not cover up too much of the rivoli crystal. I like this because it allows the beauty and depth of the crystal to reflect more light from the center. So I hope you enjoy this free beading pattern!
Materials
For this design you will need a 14mm rivoli crystal, nine 6mm bicone crystals, nine 4mm bicone crystals, nine superduos, and 11/0 TOHO seed beads. You will also need a bail or large jump ring to connect the pendant to a chain or cord.
More Photos and Demo Video
Click on the photos below (or the free beading pattern) to zoom in.
Video Tutorial
BeadDiagrams.com has introduced video tutorials! BeadDiagrams.com tutorials have an advantage over other video tutorials, offering a printable PDF to accompany each tutorial, to help and follow along with. Subscribe to my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/c/BeadDiagramsTutorials) to be notified of new tutorials. I am not only posting tutorials for new designs, but also for previously posted designs!
Click on the image below to view the video tutorial for this design:
PDF Download
If you wish to print the pattern, download it in PDF format:
Enjoy a video tutorial for this pattern! This is my latest necklace design, utilizing a modified netting technique.This design works with rondelle crystals of different sizes (as indicated in the diagram and video tutorial), but also works using all the same size 6mm crystals (bicone or round). Although I haven’t tried it yet, I imagine the pattern could be modified to use longer drop beads by omitting a few seed beads above each drop bead. I hope you enjoy this free beading pattern!
Materials
For this design, you will need 11/0 seed beads, three sizes of rondelle crystals (3x4mm, 4x6mm, and 6x8mm), superduos, and two 6/0 or 8/0 seed beads to connect a clasp via jump rings at either end. You can optionally substitute the rondelle crystals for all the same size 6mm crystals, as pictured in the black/blue piece below.
More Photos and Demo Video
Click on the photos below (or the free beading pattern) to zoom in.
Video Tutorial
BeadDiagrams.com has introduced video tutorials! BeadDiagrams.com tutorials have an advantage over other video tutorials, offering a printable PDF to accompany each tutorial, to help and follow along with. Subscribe to my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/c/BeadDiagramsTutorials) to be notified of new tutorials. I am not only posting tutorials for new designs, but also for previously posted designs!
Click on the image below to view the video tutorial for this design:
Download PDF
If you wish to print the pattern, download it in PDF format:
Click on the photos below (or the free beading pattern) to zoom in.
The original inspiration for this piece was a sale at Hobby Lobby, specifically this Metal Gallery piece:
I thought this would be great as a focal point, with some natural stone. I have both drilled medium chips and round beads made of natural stone, so wanted to incorporate those somehow. I thought having the chips as a backdrop to the focal piece would be great, but they are too heavy to make an entire necklace out of with enough width for the focal piece to lay on top of. Plus I only had 30 inches or so of each chip variety. So what I finally came up with was more of a method than a pattern, which is easier to show with a mix of pictures and diagrams. Usually my PDF patterns are 1 page, but this one is 5 pages, to illustrate this method with images.
This pattern requires two 8/0 seed beads and jump rings for clasp, 11/0 seed beads, 4-mm round beads, 30-inches of medium drilled chip beads, and (optionally) a 1 1/2″ focal piece or bead (with 5 inches of 20-guage wire to attach).
I started by making 2 end pieces (each in an L-shape) to frame the center chip section (shown in steps 1 – 10 below).
Then I added some decorative stability strands (with accent color), so the end components would keep their shape with the weight of the chips added later. The first outer strand is made of alternating 4mm round beads and seed beads, and should measure 3″ – 3 1/16″ long, connecting from the last vertical diamond, to the 9th horizontal diamond from the right. This ended up being 13 round beads for the aqua/gold piece pictured below, but 14 for the blue/silver piece (as the size of 4mm beads can vary).
Connect the strand at the 9th horizontal diamond from the right (see diagram below, step 12). After step 12, the 2nd strand should measure 2 1/4″, and connect from the 7th horizontal diamond from the right to the 4th vertical diamond. This ending up being 9 round beads for the aqua/gold piece pictured below, but 10 for the blue/silver piece. (I adjusted the strand to the right length by adding an extra seed bead on the end, which can be done with any of the strands).
When diamond links are at 90 degrees, the 3 longer strands will have some slack.
When you pull it apart past 90 degrees (as the gravity of the chip beads will do), the four strands should all be straight.
Next, string on 5 inches of chips.
Connect it to the other end component, per diagram below:
After connecting first row of chips, connect clasp with jump rings through 8/0 seed beads at either end, and place on a necklace display bust. (The weight of the chips can affect how long each of the next four chip strands will be, so it is good to finish the necklace while it is on the display bust).
As you add chip strands, ensure they are the right length so they lie close together without gaps or overlapping. (Step 18 indicates what these lengths were for my chips).
After the 5th strand, the weight of the chips will pull the end component strands straight. This can be the finished necklace, or you can continue to add a focal piece on top of the chips.
For the focal piece, first put about 5 inches of 20-guage wire through the focal bead, and bend the ends 90 degrees back on both sides.
Put the necklace on the display bust backwards, then place the focal bead behind it. Be sure it is in the center.
Bend the wires down with your thumbs, in between the chip beads. Use round nose pliers to curl the wire ends inward so they don’t poke out.
Put the necklace back on the display bust frontward, showing the focal piece. Enjoy the finished piece!
If you wish to print the pattern, download it in PDF format:
This design series was inspired by a sale at Michaels on rondelle crystals, packaged in four 7-inch strands of different sized rondelles (8x10mm, 6x8mm, 4x6mm, and 3x4mm). I bought them in several different colors (purple shown here). The packages varied slightly in the number of beads for each size, but generally all packages had a minimum of 23 8x10mm, 29 6x8mm, 37 4x6mm, and 54 3x4mm rondelles.
I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to design a matching bracelet, earrings, and necklace set, using all the beads in the 4 strands (or nearly all). Here is a sneak peak of what I came up with.
I will post patterns as I finish diagraming them out, but I’ll start with the bracelet (which is my first cuff bracelet design). This bracelet was too wide to close with a traditional lobster clasp, so I tried a 31mm 5-loop slide lock bar clasp (connecting via 3 jump rings to the outer and middle loops). The connection points did not line up perfectly to the loops, but that was solved by using a smaller jump ring to connect to the middle loop, and slightly larger jump rings to connect to the outside loops.
This pattern requires 20 6x8mm, 18 4x6mm, and 40 3x4mm rondelles, plus 11/0 seed beads and six 8/0 seed beads for the jump rings to go through at either end. To finish, you will need a 31mm 5-loop slide lock bar clasp with 2 smaller jump rings (~3mm) and 4 larger jump rings (~6mm). (I created the 3mm jump rings from my 6mm jump rings by snipping about half off and using round nose pliers to close it smaller). This design is constructed with alternating “main” and “secondary” rows, starting and ending with the “main” row. 10 main and 9 secondary rows will make a 7-1/2″ bracelet when using larger/TOHO 11/0 seed beads (like the purple and gold piece). It will be slightly shorter if using smaller Czech 11/0 beads (like the copper/aqua piece, which came out to 7″). I made the light blue piece with 9 main rows and 8 secondary rows for my own smaller wrist, which ended up being also 7″ using TOHO 11/0 beads. You can add alternating rows for length, as long as you end with a “main” row. I hope you enjoy this design series, and this free beading pattern!
Click on the photos below (or the free beading pattern) to zoom in.
If you wish to print the pattern, download it in PDF format: