The Making of Jewels

Last Christmas I pulled out a pattern by Lynda Taylor that had been in my cabinet for 3 years.  It is categorised as an ‘Advanced’ level project from Interweave.  I’ll be honest, it was daunting – all that peyote stitch, shaping…fine stitching, detail.  But it was a now or never moment – I was ready to graduate into the heady world of expert beadweaving!

The list of supplies was impressive – Swarovski crystal pearls, drop crystals, Swarovski chatons, hexagonal beads, Miyuki seed and delica beads – it was quite a shopping trip – and some of the supplies I had to order in from America (I have to do this quite regularly, as it is hard to find certain sizes of Swarovski elements in the UK).  For the most part, I spent a good hour and a half at my favorite beading shop, Spoilt Rotten Beads, in Haddenham.

The next few days, I spent hours at my bead mat…slowly growing the components that made up the necklace.  There was a LOT of peyote!  And a lot of tearing things out and having to start again.  It was a real challenge, to say the least…

I took my time on the placement of each element – being a bit of a perfectionist, I just HAD to get this right…

And it grew beautifully.  I proved to myself, it could be done.   I had to dedicate a full two weeks – full time in front of that bead mat – to get this done.  So this is the culmination of 14 days dedicated work – and I am so proud of it, right down to the beaded toggle!

This necklace is now up for sale in my ‘Luxury Jewels‘ section, as a limited edition.  I am planning a black and white version as part of an alternative wedding jewellery set…and that will be the only other necklace from this pattern I will ever make (and it may take another 3 years for me to get round to that one!).