Pearl Jewellery Tutorial

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I really like the look of pearl jewellery but in the shops it’s always so expensive. We managed to find some pearl beads online which were very good value so we bought some in order to make our own Bracelets.

Pippa had previously made me a pearl necklace with similar beads which I wear quite often on nights out and it is lovely. The majority of the beads that I had for my bracelets were of a white colour, although we also bought a number in other colours.

Lots of different coloured pearls

I think the white pearls are this nicest though and they go with all colours and outfits. Since the pearls we got were strings of freshwater pearls they weren’t all exactly uniform, so I tried to pick out a selection of the nicest ones.

Lots of nice pearls =)
As one of the first steps measure out the length of the pearl bracelet/necklace to work out how many pearl beads you will need to use to make the piece of jewellery. The jewellery could simply be made by simply threading the beads onto the string and then tying both ends, however this isn’t the best way to do it as if the string is broken at any point then all of the pearls will fall off.
Instead we use a knotting technique where each pearl is tied on individually, so this will lengthen the bracelet slightly from the length of just the pearls.

 

Measuring out the length

The string used for the bracelet is a jewellery twine, slightly heavier weight and often coated so it is a little smoother than a normal string, it can be found in most bead/craft shops or could be bought online. A strong embroidery thread could be used instead, it just might not be as long lasting.

Each bead is fed onto the string, and after the bead has been pushed up tight against the previous bead  knot the next knot is tied. Make sure to tie the knot tight up to the bead to make sure the bead isn’t able to shift around. This can be done by tying a simple overhand knot and then working the knot along the string close to the bead until it can be tightened up against the previous bead.

Carry on knotting the pearls until you have reached the desired length, then the bracelet can be tied off and the the end tied tightly to the clasp. Once you have finished (and checked it is correct!) then you can cut the end of the twine and tidy the ends.
For some twines it can be tided by burning the end of the twine slightly just to seal it, or you can use glue and glue the end of the twine together to make sure it doesn’t fray.

The finished product:

I still need to tidy the end of the twine




It really is rather simple to do and makes making bracelets so much cheaper than buying them! I think the whole of the equipment for this came in at well under £10, but buying a real pearl bracelet could easily set you back £40.

 

 

 

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