zimmermann beads UPDATE: i made them! so EASY! + mini tute (pic heavy)

[surfergrl311]

i love the blue one shsupernova!

so would everyone say that silk works best for this project? i've noticed most of you have used silk

[frozen_peas]

shsupernova-

Your necklaces look really beautiful.  how exactly did you wrap the thread in between the beads?  There seem to be lots of ways to divide the beads; I'm trying to decide how I'll do mine. The knots seem to be the easiest so far but I'm not sure how nice they would look unless I could find a pretty way to tie them.

Edit:
Also, looking at the Urban Outfitters version(http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/images/us/local/products/productsall/p197773d.jpg), how do you think the fabric is sewn? I don't understand the knotted bit. It looks so simple at first, but now I can't see how it's done. Do you think the fabric is sewn in a tube like we've been talking of and just knotted back on itself?

[clarejosephine]

man! this is so cool! everyones are so fantastic, and the excerpt from newwoman! i wish i had seen that! i just guess i was ahead of my time ahahhaa.... ahem but anyway, everyone has done such a good job and has inspired me to make more... once all my uni stuff is done... and ive gone to melbourne! ill be wearing my beads at the melbourne cup! yay

so yeh, i feel like i should touch base here.. just to let you all know its like fantastic, if youve got questions i missed.. i probably wont be able to answer much right now.. life is kind of crazy a bit... ill try get some time to check back more often though!

 

[shsupernova]

i love the blue one shsupernova!

so would everyone say that silk works best for this project? i've noticed most of you have used silk

thanks!  i used the kimono silk because i happen to have a bunch of scraps of it, but i would think that any lightweight fabric would work well.

shsupernova-

Your necklaces look really beautiful.  how exactly did you wrap the thread in between the beads?  There seem to be lots of ways to divide the beads; I'm trying to decide how I'll do mine. The knots seem to be the easiest so far but I'm not sure how nice they would look unless I could find a pretty way to tie them.

Edit:
Also, looking at the Urban Outfitters version(http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/images/us/local/products/productsall/p197773d.jpg), how do you think the fabric is sewn? I don't understand the knotted bit. It looks so simple at first, but now I can't see how it's done. Do you think the fabric is sewn in a tube like we've been talking of and just knotted back on itself?

thank you!  i'll try to explain my thread wrapping as best i can.  i started at one end and scrunched the fabric in.  then i took my needle & thread and stitched through the fabric, wrapped it around several times, then stitched through again.  next i put the bead into the fabric tube and pushed it all the way down to the part that was wrapped.  then i put the needle through to the inside of the tube and brought it back out where the bead would end.  next i gave the fabric a twist, and wrapped the thread around several times, then stitched through to secure it.  then i just continued on until it was the length i wanted.  does that make sense?  

as for the urban outfitters necklace, it seems to me that it is probably a tube that is just as you said, knotted back on itself between each bead.  i would think you would need a really thin fabric for that to work nicely.  hmmm...perhaps i'll have to try that technique too.  

[frozen_peas]

Thanks- I might give the wrapping a try. I attempted the knotting and the knots don't come out pretty or even (my original concern) and because my beads are fairly small they end up looking like slightly smaller lumpy beads in between the pretty round ones. *le sigh*

I think I'll do the wrapping, and if that doesn't work out for me I'll go with the beads on the outside.

Thanks for your help.

[LUBEE]

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/31141blue.jpg

how did you put the clasp on so nicely?

[pucchimaiko]

shsupernova - your necklaces are gorgeous!  I love shibori fabric.  I made a bunch of these type of necklaces using scrap kimono fabric also   http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=59303.0
I used ribbon ties for mine - but I'd like to know how you did the clasps on yours!

[frozen_peas]

Well, I decided to go with the beads on the outside- after all that, i know, i know. Anyway, I used a gauzy scarf fabric, so you can see the shine of the pearly beads through. I don't really have pics (all wrapped up!) but maybe I'll take some later.
I used the scarf for the tie- sewed a tube, then turned it inside out (with tweezers! pain, but so worth it). I didn't bead over/inside the entire tube- I left about six inch amounts on both ends. I made sure I had two of the silver beads on the outsides at each end of the beaded section, and then sewed shut my tubes at their ends, turning the raw edges inside.
It closes with a little bow- you can make it as loose or tight as you's like. Thank's everyone- I'm sure my biff is going to love it.

 
Oh, and your necklaces are really gorgeous, pucchimaiko.

[onetomatotwo]

This thread is great -- all of these necklaces look awesome!

I just had to point out the ridiculous copy that accompanies that necklace at the Anthropologie site. I guess they really have to talk it up to justify the $188 price tag, but come on:

A veil of nude silk, woven through with silver thread, is artfully knotted around brass globes in such a way that a tantalizing sliver of their finely filigreed surfaces is revealed. Trails of silk flutter from the toggle closure.

Hahahaha! Oh, my! That's just hilarious. "Tantalizing"?! Hee hee. Ho ho. Ha ha. I think I might have been okay except for the "tantalizing." That just put me over the edge.

Whoops -- sorry to hijack this thread for my own self-indulgence. It's just so funny. Okay... maybe now I'll run off and make some of these so that I can justify my posting here. Hee hee... (yes... still chuckling...)

[frozen_peas]

and they still fail to hook me! My quota on jewelry I can make myself in a half hour is $187.

So I decided to go ahead and take pics of my necklace just so you get a bit of an idea. Tantalize you, even. Actually, the tulle it's wrapped in bears striking resembleance to a veil of nude silk...
*snort*

Here it is in all its wrapped glory, and a close-up:


Close again:
 

and a semi-useless shot of the closure; it's a bow, if you can see that.: