Paua Shell Herringbone Bracelet
556D
Paua shells are the most colorful of the abalone shells found in the seas of New Zealand. They can be dyed and are very light weight.
This beading technique can be used on anything that has a flat back--stones, cabochons, glass, metal, wood etc.
: : : Materials : : :
- Cabochon, paua shell, purple, 20mm round (1 cabochons)
- Bead, sterling silver, 7x2.5mm star (8 beads)
- Bead, Crystal Passions, amethyst, 3mm round (4 beads)
- Bead, Celestial Crystal, medium purple, 9x6mm oval (4 beads)
- Seed Beads, Delica, in 2 shades of purple
- Clasp, toggle, antiqued sterling silver, 18x16.5mm ring with rose accent (1 clasp)
STEP 1
Use E-6000 to glue the Paua shell to a piece of felt that is about 1-inch larger than the shell, all the way around; let dry overnight. |
STEP 2
Create 2 couching rows--working from inside out, to border the Paua shell. |
STEP 3
Use scissors to trim the felt from the back without clipping your threads. Use E-6000 to glue to Ultra suede; let dry overnight. Trim close to the edge from the front--NOT TOO SHORT! |
STEP 4
Edging. This is the most important row (although it isn't seen much) and the row that we can do all the fancy work in after the beads are in place. Your goal is to be about 1 bead apart and as even as you can be. You don't want the row too close or you won't be able to work in the beads that are lying down. | ||
Take your needle straight to the back through all the layers, add 3 beads (the first time only) and come back to the front. With your needle only, come up in the last bead so your thread exits the hole from the top. Add 2 beads from now on, bringing the thread with the beads from the back to the front and going up into the last bead. | ||
Continue around. |
STEP 5
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This step will be done in 2 trips around because we are going to make it look as though the beads are twisting around each other. The first time we will skip one of the stand up beads, the second time (with a different color) we will stitch into those that were left behind. Put 4 beads on your needle; go into the bead that is lying down, skipping one the first time. Go all the way around--it will look scalloped. Do this again with a different color going into the beads you skipped the first time. |
STEP 6
Now that the focal point of the bracelet is complete, we need to complete the band portion and attach it to the bracelet.
A ladder stitch is commonly used to start ndebele (or Herringbone stitch).
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