All about silk thread

[Serenity]

Hi Sueki,

Your strand is beautiful - love the design! PowerPro really expands the design possibilities. What pearls did you use and what are the gem beads - tourmaline?

Serenity

 

[knotty panda]

Sueki: I'm totally melting! That is beautiful. I vote it's blue and pink sapphire. Regardless, it's a showstopper! Bead size, please. Thanks!

 

[pattye]

Hi Sueki,

Really lovely! Sooooooo elegant, too! I too am wondering what the gems are? Are you making earrings to go with it? If so, please give us a photo of them also!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

 

[Sueki]

Hi Knotty and Serenity,
The beads are pink and green (blueish green) sapphires. The gold beads are, I think, 2mm. by .07mm.
The pearls are South Sea/Tahitian baroques. Sizes are 9.8mm.-10.7mm. wide by 11mm.-15.2mm. long.
Thanks for your comments - I am eternally grateful to you folks for pointing me in the direction of Powerpro.
As Serenity says, it's opened up so many possibilites for me.

 

[pearl-man]

silk

silk

While I used silk for years, and still do, I am taking the position that silk is not necessarily the best thread for pearls. My point being is that it is OK to explore threads other than silk. All threads , including silk have pluses and minuses.

I have found silk thread to knot pearls to often be an inferior choice because of many of its natural properties. The colors of silk threads are silk's strongest suit, in my book.

I find the stretchy tendency of silk - especially when the pearls are large or in ropes with weight- to be exasperating. In any case, the stretchy quality is a built in obsolescence- for the sake of the silk - not the pearls.

Silk frays with any kind of abrasion, it degrades with body secretions, and it soaks up sweat and oils as readily as it soaks up water.

As a beader who made her first necklace with seed beads and monfilimant fishing line- I have explored every thread available to beaders. I have used most of them, including artificial sinew to do projects. I even like wire for necklaces; I have used it a lot-- and I see it used on pearls all the time.

when I order finished pieces from China, I am surprised that they almost always use nylon thread of some kind, even though many claim it is silk. Yeah. like "Tahitian Black" is some kind of Tomfoolery.

Any way, I was one of the first to buy detulon; I had trouble with it kinking just before you pull it tight. It must be spun in the wrong direction for me.....or something.

So I just want to make the case that silk is not the only alternative for knotting; there are other alternatives that lack the stretchy and absorbent qualities of silk.

We buy our silk from the "TYRE" supplier in Japan in about 5 different weights. What I like is the smoothness of the Japanese silk compared to the German/Italian.
We have never had returns caused by premature fraying. It dyes well but the selection of colors makes in house dying unnecessary. We used to use A-B-C from Holland thread. I don't even know if they are still in business.

 

[Cathybear]

I love using coloured silk with pearls. I do use some powerpro, but really, I prefer silk for the pure luxury.
My favourite colour combinations are white pearls with aquamarine silk, peach pearls with lavender-blue silk, and chocolate pearls with gold silk. Dusty toned pearls wirg coffee coloured silk etc etc. I wish I could get jade or sapphire silk to string with peacock fireball pearls. However, toning colours seem to sell best, sigh. )

 

[pearl-man]

I love using coloured silk with pearls. I do use some powerpro, but really, I prefer silk for the pure luxury.
My favourite colour combinations are white pearls with aquamarine silk, peach pearls with lavender-blue silk, and chocolate pearls with gold silk. Dusty toned pearls wirg coffee coloured silk etc etc. I wish I could get jade or sapphire silk to string with peacock fireball pearls. However, toning colours seem to sell best, sigh. )

Jan1
Outr family has been stringing for 50 years. The founder of our firm,my mother, was very able to use "Rite dye" to color white silk cord to the color she desired. Practicing with amounts enabeled her to dye just a few feet of the silk she needed.

pearl-man

 

[Cathybear]

Jan1
Outr family has been stringing for 50 years. The founder of our firm,my mother, was very able to use "Rite dye" to color white silk cord to the color she desired. Practicing with amounts enabeled her to dye just a few feet of the silk she needed.

pearl-man

Sounds like that would be the answer, thank you for that bit of info. I've dyed a lot of fabrics over the years, but mostly woven. I can see my white kitchen getting splattered again lol

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

What can we use

What can we use

Hi,
We need advice. We have champaign Diamond Faceted Beads.
Your suggestions on what fine thread to use.
We intend to thread these with natural abalone pearls
and spaces between the diamond and pearl. The holes
are very very small.
Thanks
Denise

 

[pattye]

Might want to try some of the very fine steel cable wire like beadalon 49 (49 strands), size .013. I think some similar brands go as small as .010. That might be more resistant to cutting by the diamond beads than silk or actual thread would be. I have a few rough diamond beads I haven't used because the hole is so small, so I will be curious as to the solution.

 

[claudenancy]

I included diamond beads with some extremely small holes on the recent pearl and sapphire necklace that I made. I had to use the .010 because of the diamond beads.

I am going to be stringing another necklace with SS pearls and diamond beads between spacers. I had considered the smallest diameter of powerpro but am not sure about its use with the diamond beads. I think there is a powerpro that is possibly even smaller in diameter than the .010 steel cable coated wire. I am wondering if I dare try to use this smaller diameter and also try to knot it. However, the knots would sit under spacer beads that would be adjacent to the diamond beads. I tested these diamond beads and the holes are a bit larger that those that I used in the sapphire necklace so they would tolerate a total diameter of .012. I would appreciate any opinions as to my best options here.

Thanks for all of the wonderful information that all of you share, Beth

 

[borah]

Does anyone know where I can buy powerpro in the UK?

I wanted to find a good substitute for silk that wouldn't break so I bought some Stringth from Rio Grande and I hate it. It just turned out to be a waste of money instead It feels so plastic-y and horrible when I knot it.

 

[Sueki]

Hi Borah,
I've sent you a p.m.

 

[knotty panda]

Is there a difference in fishing line from country to country? It would appear that all countries have fishing line that holds knots well is readily available. Or am I wrong? Just curious.

 

[Caitlin]

Hi Knots
I can't answer that specifically. We need some fishers in other countries.

Both Sarah and Bernadette recommend polyamide nylon thread, one from Australia, one from Japan. We have some research to do on the fishing line.

Hi Borah

I bought some Stringth from Rio Grande and I hate it. It just turned out to be a waste of money instead

It feels so plastic-y and horrible when I knot it.

I have still not used stringth, though I see it comes in a number of colors. I am fairly sure that it is a polyamide nylon thread too.Is not liking the feeling of the thread the only downside of Stringth for you? Does it stretch or soak up dirt and body oils? I think Stringth is probably a nylon thread too, but I am not sure.

I am fond of power-pro even though it is a little rough on the hands compared to silk, because my lowly beader/knotting philosophy has evolved to knot with thread and a strong clasp that will last as long as the pearls without picking up dirt. I do not like the fact that silk knotting has a short shelf-life and must be done over, over the years.

 

[Mervione]

My stepfather is a fisher so I can borrow some fishing line if anyone is interested, for comparing with line in other countries.

 

[borah]

I have still not used stringth, though I see it comes in a number of colors. I am fairly sure that it is a polyamide nylon thread too.Is not liking the feeling of the thread the only downside of Stringth for you? Does it stretch or soak up dirt and body oils? I think Stringth is probably a nylon thread too, but I am not sure.

The feeling of stringth is the only downside for me so far. It doesn't stretch and I don't think it's supposed to absorb any dirt the way silk does. I started to knot a necklace but stopped part way so I'm not actually sure of how much dirt it may attract. Do you know if there's a way to test it? I'm starting to feel the same way about silk as you. I love the feeling of it (and the color options) but it seems like it'll be such a waste of time if I have to re-knot yearly. Plus there have been a couple of times when I thought I'd stretched out the silk enough and had a necklace and bracelet stretch after I'd finished them which gets annoying pretty quickly.


ETA: The Rio Grande doesn't specify what stringth is made of exactly, it's just referred to as synthetic.

 

[Caitlin]

Land of Odds says this about Stringth:

Stringth
(high performance nylon)

​

COLOR AND SIZE CHART​

Stringth bead cord is made from synthetic fibers, so it is strong and less likely to fray, shred, or stretch than conventional cord. It's "slide-easy" finish allows even, consistent knots. Coat the cord end with superglue to form a self needle. Not all colors are available in all sizes.

 

[BeadersSecret]

I agree with the previous suggestions to use a very fine cable\wire my personal choice would be "soft touch" from Softflex.

There isn't really any difference in fishing lines from country to country - but there can be significant differences between brands (even within same brand)

Fishing line is Fishing Line is Fishing line - but it really isn't - how the surface is finished and what treatments are applied to it can alter the characteristics of the material markedly.

Regards
Bernadette