How to make beads from beads with your own hands

Jewelry made from small beads and seed beads have been known since ancient India and Egypt. In different countries they are made and called differently. In Ethiopia – chale, In India – har and mala, in Angola – missanga, in Ukraine – sylyanki and gerdans, in Belarus – plyatsenki and gourds, in Lithuania – carolines and many others. All of them differ in shape, color, technique. However, one thing is certain that all these decorations testify to the skill of many needlewomen.

To make beads, you will need: beads, glass beads and small beads of various sizes, needles, threads, a needle threader, wax, scissors, colored pencils or felt-tip pens, and an album for patterns.

Beads can be used in absolutely any size and color. You will also need old beads, from which you can make a new jewelry. Store the beads in separate boxes, and while working, place them in small saucers, sockets, or pour out a fabric with a small nap, such as flannel, with which it will be easier to pick it up on a needle.

Choose thin needles with a long eye. Although you can do without a needle at all, just dip the tip of the thread in nail polish or glue.

It is best to use a thin fishing line for lowering, but ordinary nylon or cotton bobbin threads can also be used. To give them elasticity, lightly wipe them with wax. Burn the end of the nylon thread with a match, and picking up beads on cotton, leave the tip about five centimeters long. After you finish threading, secure its end by passing it with a needle threader or a needle through a pair of previously strung beads.

To make the beads beautifully shaped, select beads of the same size and string them exactly according to the count in accordance with the pattern. Place the beads close to each other, they should lie tightly, do not sag, but do not tighten the thread so that the decoration does not wrinkle.

Depending on the location of the beads during stringing, there are several manufacturing methods. The most common technique for stringing chains of different widths is called cross stitch. This is the fundamental principle of many peasant decorations, which are strung on several threads. To work, take a thread up to one and a half meters long. In the middle of the thread, type the first row of a chain of four large beads. Hold the beads with the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, and with your right hand, thread the right end of the thread into 1 bead of the row towards the left thread so that the threads cross in 1 bead. This will turn out the first "ring" of the chain, resembling a cross.

Now make the second "ring-cross" in the same way. Dial two beads on the right thread, and one on the left. Pass the left thread through the second bead of the cross towards the right thread and tighten the ends. In the same way, string the third, fourth and all subsequent crosses until you get beads of the desired length. Using beads of different colors, you can create completely different patterns, but you will need to first draw them in the album with felt-tip pens or colored pencils.