Photo Journal: Magnesite, Bobbins and Vacant Spaces (Brick Stitch, Netting, Bead Fringe Stitch, 1/2)

Materials:

• Magnesite rounds (from firemountaingems.com)
• Magnesite cubes (from firemountaingems.com)
• Nickel squares (from Paper Bear, San Marcos, TX)
• 2 mm nickel crimps ("Jewelry Shoppe" brand from Hobby Lobby)
• 2.5 mm nickel crimps ("Jewelry Shoppe" brand from Hobby Lobby)
• Steel bobbins (from homesew.com)
• Nickel rings ("poetic spirit by bead treasures" brand from Hobby Lobby)
• Black silamide bead thread (900-yard spool from firemountaingems.com; alternatively, 100-yard spools are available from beadcreative.com, and 40-yard cards are available from beadcreative.com and Hobby Lobby)

Tools:

• Plastic yogurt container lids (acting as bead trays)
• Size 10 Beadsmith bead needles
• Scissors
• Flat nose pliers

This particular pendant would end up looking like this once it was done:

But in order to get there, it went through a few changes first.

		At the beginning, I hadn't thought about using the large nickel rings. I knew that I wanted to put two bobbins side-by-side and that I wanted to use some of my magnesite beads that had been dyed a turquoise color. I'd use various silver-colored beads, too, since those complemented the silver-colored steel bobbins and the magnesite beads pretty well. Silamide bead thread is available in about 20 different colors. The only bead thread colors that would look good with my chosen beads would have been aqua, white, gray or black. However, white looks great at first but eventually turns gray or off-white due to stains and dirt. Also, I didn't have any gray or aqua on hand, and I didn't plan to order any for this particular project. I probably wouldn't have used them, anyway, since I thought that black would look pretty good this time. So, I used black.
		I cut a piece of beadthread that was about 6 feet long. This would be only the first of many pieces of thread I'd use. I like to use bits of thread that are as long as possible to cut down on the number of times I have to tie off thread and tie on new lengths of thread. After threading a needle, I pull the needle to the center of the thread and put the ends together. This allows me to make roughly 3 feet worth of bead stitches before I have to start a new thread. I tied the ends of the thread to one of the bobbins. I use three half-knots. Two half-knots tend to unravel too easily, while four half-knots tend to be too bulky. I try to hide knots inside beads as much as I can, and four knots can jam the whole and make it impossible to pass the needle through that bead again.
		I started creating a design on one side of a bobbin. This arrangement of beads would appear on the side of finished pendant. I used brick stitch/fringe stitch for this bit. Silamide beadstring is a waxed nylon thread that is great for all bead stitches. It's wound 2-ply, meaning two thinner threads are wrapped around each other like rope. The result is thin and extremely flexible. You can also stretch it, to a point (if you use too much force, you break the thread). Because it's thin, it can fit in pretty much every bead hole, no matter how small. The downside to silamide is that it isn't strong and beads are heavy. To strengthen each stitch, I have to pass the thread through each bead multiple times. The more times I do this, the stronger and more durable the overall pendant design will be.
		Now, I had five "points." To secure these and make them impossible to move (movement would weaken the bead thread and potentially cause it to break), I decided to weave them together at the tips of each "point." I decided to pass magnesite beads through the shaft of the bobbin and use these beads to join together the five "points."
		The two cube magnesite beads would be inside the bobbin's shaft, completely invisible. Their sole purpose would be for stabilization.
		The result created a star design, which I thought looked good. Finally, that side of the bobbin was done. Now, I turned my attention to the other side.
		My goal was to cover up as much surface area of the bobbin as possible. I wanted to hide the 20 holes on the sides of the bobbins, too. This is partly for aesthetic reasons and partly not. Unfortunately, steel bobbins are not made of stainless steel. The bobbin I used was new, but exposure to the elements may cause it to turn different colors or develop rust. This doesn't always happen, but it was a possibility. I wanted to hide any of these stains or marks on the bobbins that *might* develop later on.
		I've only partly covered up the bobbin here, and I'd add more beads later on, which would cover up more of the bobbin's surface. In the meantime, I stitched the two large textured nickel rings to the bobbin.
		I decided this would be a symmetrical design with the nickel rings at the center and a bobbin on either end. I copied what I did to the first bobbin and used the same design on the second bobbin.

Continue to Part 2