Thursday, January 26, 2012

Flat Spiral Stitch Bracelets

I taught myself a little bit of beadweaving, concentrating on the Flat Spiral Stitch. You can find all kinds of tutorials for doing this, especially on YouTube. It's a nice stitch, an easy stitch, and the bracelets have a nice fluidity to them once they are done. I've tried a few different sizes of beads, and a couple of different shapes for the middle beads. But I have found that the best to start with is the 6mm round beads.

This first one pictured is made with Red Creek Jasper 6mm rounds. Complimented with bronze colored seed beads.

Red Creek Jasper Bracelet



I made a doubled row one for Christmas .. a nice bright red and gold ! I used slightly larger beads .. 8mm. So it's a good sized bracelet!

Christmas Bracelet



This next one I deliberately made too big for me, because I knew if I made it to fit me, I would want to keep it for sure! Why? Because it is sterling silver, and I just love sterling silver! :) I used 6mm and 3mm smooth round sterling silver beads. I had a heck of a time getting a decent picture because of the silver - well, actually, I just couldn't get a really good pic. So trust me, the pictures of it do NOT do it justice! At all! The blue accent beads are 3mm faceted sodalite.

Sterling Silver Bracelet



I wanted to make one with pearls. But all the pearls that I have, have very small holes, too small for my needle to easily pass through. I think I will have to get some Swarovski Pearls, which are made from glass. Or maybe at the gem show this weekend I can see if anyone carries pearls with larger holes. BUT I do have some 6mm mother of pearl beads, so I made up a bracelet using some. I used white pearly looking seed beads, and some fantastic cobalt blue seed beads. I like it!

Mother of Pearl Bracelet



I made one using Swarovski Crystals and silver lined seed beads. Sparkly !!

Swarovski Crystal Bracelet



I made one this week, with the same beads as I used for my very first one that I made. The first one I made I considered my practice piece and kept it for myself. Mainly because I used amethyst, which is my birthstone. And I just plain like it! It's a little rough around the edges, but I wear it anyways. This one that I made this week, came out much better than my practice piece. It sold almost as soon as I listed it!!! :) Which made me very happy! Made with 6mm faceted amethyst, 4mm Czech glass beads, and bronze metallic hex cut seed beads.



The big Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is this weekend. I'll be on the lookout for lots of 6mm round beads for making more flat spiral stitch bracelets! :)

3 comments:

Jony Gibson said...
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The Soap Sister said...

LOVE them, that first one (Red Creek Jasper, I think?) It is gorgeous -who wouldn't want one for Valentine's Day?? ;) ~Becky

Unknown said...

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