stringing beads

[clangermum]

I have lots of beads, some of them pearl style beads, and want to string them into necklaces and bracelets. How do I do this? I've no idea what type of thread to use, what fastenings, do I tie each bead in place iyswim, as opposed to just threading them onto something, do I need spacer beads inbetween?

Any advice welcome.

beadaholic has good instruction videos, also Aunties Beads and loads on You Tube. It's difficult to give you specific advice without knowing what kind of design you'd like to have a go at hth

Thanks MyCat. My first planned project is a bracelet from some pearl beads that is three strands thick, so presumably that will need a special type of fastener that has three lots of thread strung between each end (as opposed to just having a large loop of beads that I wrap around three times, as they wouldn't lie flat)

You could use a 1:3 connector and twist the strands, which would be pretty, and finish with either a toggle or lobster clasp (if you use a lobster I would use a biggish one). Or you could use three separate strands of beads, all the same length, then attach a jump ring to each end, then attach those jump rings to a single, slightly bigger jump ring, with a toggle clasp. Using the jump rings that way sort of tapers the strands to the clasp, otherwise they can bunch up a bit iyswim. This is a good site for findings Totally Beads. I use Beadalon 7 strand for bracelets, but a fine guage (0.5/0.45) tigertail is good too and sometimes a bit cheaper

That's brilliant -thanks very much!