Fiddling with weaving pearls

[battah]

I tried something new this evening - kumihimo with freshwater pearls (I think they're around 7mm?) on four of the eight elements. I might try reworking it with a core to get it a bit fuller-looking, I feel like the braid is a little flat. But overall I like how it turned out, and it's an option for weaving with larger pearls.

 

[pattye]

What a fun project! Looks substantial, too!

 

[Marianne]

That is really pretty! Just wondering how it would look with small rice pearls on the alternate strands? Would that work without being too thick?

 

[Sanippy]

I love it!

 

[BWeaves]

I love beaded kumihimo. This is the first time I've seen it with real pearls and larger beads than seed beads. Very pretty. I suspect it may get heavy fast, as it's the equivalent of a 4 strand necklace.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Ooooh, fantastic! I have never seen kumihimo with larger pearls and it looks great. I also like Marianne's suggestion of varying sizes for a more complex design.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Wow, that is fantastic...what will you be doing with this? Necklace? Strap for a bag? Trim for some silk pillows? Seems that there could be endless possibilities!

 

[la_corsetiere]

Ooh, very pretty and lush!

 

[MSC]

COOL! That chunky braid looks very cool, I could imagine wearing one at around 15 inches in length, pendant not needed.

 

[Katbran]

Good idea ! Looks great ! How many strands did it take to do that ? I also like the idea of varying the size for both weight and texture . Good luck !

 

[battah]

Thanks, all! I'm thinking short necklace at this point - I have a fun serpent clasp I'm considering, though I'm not sure the size is right. But I'm thinking a Dunn clasp I can wear toward the front sometimes, for variety? I like the idea of alternating with rice pearls, as right now it's a little too uniform-looking for me. I have some that I can fiddle with, I think. This guy used up 4 strands of pearls, but if I alternate I'll need to match the number, not the length, so I'd use less if the other pearls are smaller. Our maybe add some color? Coral or turquoise?

 

[battah]

It definitely has presence!

 

[Marianne]

Oh that is sweet on

 

[lmgarden]

Oohhh, that looks lovely on you! Doesn't look too heavy on your neck.

 

[battah]

Thanks, ladies! It isn't as heavy as I thought it would be. I think I'll still try redoing it over a core, that way maybe I can twist it a little? I don't like how straight it looks.

I have some pretty druzy pearls sitting around, I might try to do something similar with them. Still thinking on what kind of clasp I can use, though. I need something chunky, I think, to balance the weight of the pearls.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Well, you're well on the way to something fabulous there, Battah ... it looks great on!

 

[BWeaves]

It does have presence, but I'm not wild about how straight it looks either. I think a bit of a twist in it, which could be effected with a different braid structure and/or adding other sizes of pearls or different gem beads to the braid. I can't wait to see what you do with it. And a statement clasp worn to the front or side is my kind of necklace.

 

[battah]

If I can find time to do it tonight, I'm going to take it apart and see what I can do with it. I'm still new to these braid structures so I'll probably need to play around to get it to twist - the 8-strand twists by itself, but for some reason only beading 4 of the 8 strands results in this kind of straight-looking braid. The unbeaded strands sort of tuck under the beaded ones when I do it this way, so I'll have to fiddle to see how to add smaller beads on the other four strands without too much visible thread. Any clasp ideas? Apart from my dragon clasps, I haven't seen anything with enough presence at my usual places (Bead Fusion, Artbeads, etc). This thing is pretty wide so it dwarfs clasps that I usually think of as bulky.

 

[battah]

I'm thinking about this thing too much... another option would be to braid it a little more loosely, around a core, to allow wiggle room for twisting it around the core. I wonder if that would give it more of a torsade look. I tightened it up a lot near the beginning of the braid, and at that point I can't really twist it at all. Near the end, despite my best efforts, it wasn't as tight (I think because it had gotten so heavy).

 

[enbcfsobe]

love how that experiment came out!!