Beading Pattern

Jewelry beading pattern

Most beaders start out making relatively basic jewelry, such as one-strand necklaces, basic earrings and simple bracelets. This is a great way to start because you can finish a project quickly and are more likely to try new things and play with color and texture if you’re not making a big investment in time or beads.

You don’t really even need a pattern to start making your own jewelry. Just go to the craft store (or a store devoted exclusively to beads) and pick up things that strike your fancy. Pick an assortment of beads in your favorite color. Add little gold or silver spacers, some accent beads, a cool closure. Get whatever basic beading wire they have that will support the weight of a long necklace (you can usually find wire that supports up to 15 pounds at your local craft store). If you want to get really fancy, buy crimp beads and a pair of crimping pliers (these will make your work look a little cleaner but are by no means required).

Decide if you want to make a necklace, bracelet, or both. You can also make matching earrings, of course, but earrings are a little more complicated (because they have to match), so if you’re very new to beading stick to necklaces and bracelets.

Measure out enough wire to make a necklace of the length you want, or a bracelet that will fit comfortably around your wrist. Add a few more inches for finishing and cut the wire. Wrap one end of your wire through the connection on one end of the closure you selected. Leave a little tail on the end.

If you’re using crimp beads, slide a bead onto the wire, making sure to cover the tail of the wire and pushing it snugly against the closure. Use the crimp pliers to crimp the bead against the wire. If you don’t have crimp beads, just string on a spacer bead or two and push them snugly against the closure before starting your “pattern.”

I put the word pattern in quotes because I don’t think it’s really necessary to use a pattern. Just put beads on the wire in a way you like. You can make the pattern symmetrical if you like, or it can be completely random. Or you can repeat the same bead over and over (as in a seed bead bracelet). Whatever you want is the right way to do it.

Keep adding beads until you have reached the desired length. Then slide on another seed bead or couple of spacers and the other side of your closure, and wrap the wire securely around the closure’s loop a couple of times. Slide the end of the wire back down under the last couple of beads, pulling snugly. Cut off any excess wire. Crimp your crimp bead, if you are using one. Enjoy!

For more complex jewelry patterns, which you can follow or simply use for inspiration, visit the following sites:

• Fire Mountain Gems ha a wonderful selection of more than 700 beaded pieces. Yes, the purpose of this site is that you will see something beautiful that you just have to make and you just have to buy your beads from Fire Mountain, but it’s also a great learning resource and place for inspiration for yoru own designs.

• Bead Patterns has nearly 300 free patterns for necklaces, bracelets, loom patterns, fringe, rings and more. Also offers patterns for sale.

• Beading Times has a small archive of projects that cover a lot of the basics, from donuts to multiple strands.

• Beading with Varvara These free necklace patterns use some rather complicated stitches and are not for beginners, but they’re very pretty!

Loom beading patterns

An old style of beading involves beading on a loom. This is the way many native American decorations (headbands, moccasin tops, etc.) are traditionally made. These days, you can find all sorts of patterns for loom projects small and large. These pieces can be used as bookmarks, can be framed and displayed, made into small bags or used as part of a larger project.

If you’d like to learn how to work with a loom, click here. There’s no pattern here, but it will give you an idea of how the loom is used. For a few basic Celtic patterns, visit this site. And a few more traditional patterns can be found here.

Aunt Molly’s Bead Street is a great source for a lot of basic loom beading patterns. These patterns are just charts, though, and don’t offer any written instructions. You can find some projects explained in her classroom.

Bead Shak has lots of cute little banners you can make using a Peyote stitch. While not actually made on a loom, these pieces give the look of loom work without the actual loom.

Home décor beading pattern

Beads can be used in all sorts of home decorating projects, from Christmas ornaments to curtain tie backs, table runners, decoration for clear glass candle holders, bookmarks and much more. the more you work with beads the more you will see the possibilities.

All About Beading is a very busy-looking site, but it has a lot of information about home décor, gifts and Christmas crafts that you can make. Many of the sites listed above also have projects for the home.

One of my favorite quick “beading” projects is to decorate a plain picture frame with seed beads. All you do is gather a large collection of seed beads (either all one color or different colors, shiny ones are particularly nice) and a plain picture frame of any color. You can use an unfinished wood frame but should sand it lightly for best results.

Spread tacky glue (or decoupage glue) onto the frame with a sponge brush. Press beads onto frame. Allow to dry and then cover with spray or paint-on lacquer to keep the beads from falling off. This is a great, easy project for using up a lot of random beads (you could place a few larger beads on the frame, too, if you wanted), makes a great gift and is a lot of fun for the kids.

And when you start gluing beads to things, you’ll want to stick them on candle holders, old glass bottles, mirrors and more.

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