Well, I started working on a beaded strap from which to hang one of Melanie Brooks's gorgeous new pendants. Once I had a few inches done though, I decided that this spiral was going to be much too thick and ornate to be a good match for the ceramic Deco Scarab.
However, there's no reason why I can't explain how to make this spiral, because it might be just perfect for something you've got planned ;-)
Here is my original tutorial for the spiral stitch (check out those terrible hand drawn sketches!). You'll notice in the image above that I've strung the entire central core first and then just added the spiraling loops. It can be done either way, but the trick is to make sure the loops you are adding are just a bit shorter than the core beads that you're adding them to. This is what makes the piece kink slightly and twist around.
The pattern I used was this: central core from size 6/0 seed beads. The loops each contained 1 size 15/0, 1 size 11/0, 2 size 8/0, 1 size 6/0, 2 size 8/0, 1 size 11/0, and 1 size 15/0. Each loop spanned 6 of the core beads. I then brought the thread back down through 5 of those core beads and exited in order to start the next loop one bead higher than the previous loop.
Copyright 2009 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.
Technorati Tags:handmade beaded jewelry,wearable art,beads,jewelry,necklace,mixed media,beading
Comments