How to make a Necklace-strung styles

What are rope necklaces?

A summary of how to get started making a rope style necklace.

This rope necklace consists of beads completely covering the thread, what you might call the traditional strung necklace style. This style is often used in pearl necklaces or crystal jewellery. Technically, they are one of the easiest styles to make, but there are few things you need to know if you really want to produce a professional look. The photos above and left give you some examples of the spectacular effects you can get.

Often, we are asked to repair such necklaces, or show our students how to do so, because, as you probably know, these necklaces often break because the thread wears through. That's because traditionally, the thread used was cotton or silk. Sometimes, this thread is knotted between each bead to cut down on loss of beads when the thread breaks.

The problem with silk is that it stretches, thus becoming thinner, and allowing the rough inner edges of the beads to move and cut it. With modern materials, this is no longer a problem. This is why we recommend tiger tail wire(see link below), a flexible and strong coated stranded cable. However, if you still prefer to use a textile thread, then modern synthetic threads such as Nymo will work as well, since they don't stretch. There is no need for knotting between to stop the beads moving, which is quite a difficult skill to master, and unnecessary with modern materials.

Whether you use tiger tail or nymo, threading on the beads is easy. There is no need for a needle, or double thickness of thread, since these modern materials are strong enough on a single thickness.

First, start your necklace by making a double knot in the thread. Then thread on your beads according to your design - hint: a necklace design board is a really useful aid, especially for this sort of necklace, since you can lay out your beads in the channel, and rearrange them before you thread the beads on, saving having to keep putting the beads on and off the thread until you are happy with your design.

For the next steps,. refer to the next articles in the series. If you would like to know more about design, go here: Design Secrets

for making a tidy end with no thread showing, go here: Using calottes