YOU WILL NEED: crimps, two jump rings, bolt ring clasp; tiger tail wire. Snipe nose pliers

Step1: cut your tiger tail wire to about 50cm in length. . Next, thread one crimp on one end of the wire, then pass the wire through the crimp again, pulling the wire through so that you make a small loop(top left). Squeeze the crimp here, and trim off the spare wire. You have made one of the necklace ends, allowing you to thread on the beads without them slipping off!

Step 2: start threading your beads on in the sequence you laid out, from one end to the other. To make sure you have the right number of crimps, follow this rule: thread one crimp on before you start threading the beads. From then on, you thread: bead station, two crimps, bead station, two crimps... That way you will make sure you have a bead either side of each station-because this can be terrible if you miss one out, halfway through finishing! One thing I like to do is to then add a bit of sellotape to the free end of the wire, to stop the beads sliding off and all over the floor!

Step 3: To make sure your central station is in the middle of your necklace, decide how long you want the necklace to be. Then line up the finished wire loop end with a piece of paper, tape it down. Now take a ruler and measure out from this loop to the halfway mark for your necklace.( left) For example, if your necklace is going to be 40cm long, this should be at the 20 cm point. Move your central station to this point, so that the centre of the central bead is right here. Then, using a snipe nosed plier, squeeze the crimps shut either side of the central station. Now, your centre is fixed at the right point. When crimping,ensure both crimps are pushed well up against the beads.(bottom left)

For the other stations, you should be able to position them by eye as it pleases you between the central station and the paper edge. Don't worry about the beads the other side of the centre, we'll sort them out later. As a rule of thumb, the stations work best when they are 2.5m apart, that is, there should be about this much wire between each station.  Close all the crimps on this side of the necklace, taking care not to move the beads as you do so, and ensuring both crimps are pushed well up against the beads.(bottom left)

Step 4: Here's the clever bit. Take a pen or pencil, and mark where the crimps are for each station, making an extra long mark for the central ones(midlle left). Then, undo the tape holding the loop at the paper's edge, and flip the whole necklace over. By lining up the  beads with the marks, you can be certain your stations will be a mirror image of each other. Close all the remaining crimps, except the last, which will make the other necklace end loop.

Step 5: So  your last task is to make sure the new loop is lined up with the other side. Do this by making a large loose loop, hold up the necklace, and move the crimp so that it matches the other side. Then pull on the free end of the wire until the loop is the right size, then close the crimp and trim as before.

For the next stage, adding a clasp, follow this link:

www.rockingrabbit.co.uk/node/1635