Three strand pearl necklace

[Luvglitz]

I'm in the process of laying out to string a necklace that I want to be three strands that nest. The pearls are FW pearls that are 10-12mm. I have had trouble deciding how long each knotted strand should be. Suggestions?

 

[Red]

16", 18", 20" would look nice, although it is really up to you.

 

[jshepherd]

If you're going to nest it, you might want to go a bit less. Given the size, 1-1.25 should nest well.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

How closely do you want them to nest?

Edit: I agree with Jerermy. A couple of strands I wear nested are about 1" different in length, and they nest closely.

 

[pearlescence]

Three stranders are terribly hard to get just right, especially when you are dealing with large pearls where one pearl in or out will make a noticeable difference to the length.
If you look at the photos, HM The Queen has one triple which doesn't nest properly. It makes my knotting fingers itch.

 

[BWeaves]

If the pearls are NOT graduated, so you do NOT have an obvious center pearl, you can guestimate how long each strand should be, and start stringing all three on one side of the clasp. As you get towards the end, you can thread a couple pearls on each strand without knotting them, and then thread the silk or Beader's Secret through the other end of the clasp and tie a bow, and try the necklace on. Add or substract pearls and retie the bows and retry on until you like how it lays.

Three strands are very tricky to nest. I agree with pearlescence. HM QEII's triple strand makes me itchy, too. I find the difference in length between the the top two strands may be shorter than the difference in length between the bottom two strands.

On my dog collar, everything nests just right except for ONE strand, and I've never been able to fix it, as I can't tell which pearls are throwing the length off.

You can kind of fudge the length of one strand by using a longer or shorter piece of gimp (French bullion).

However, there's also the issue of how the center pearls line up. If it's important to you to have the center pearls line up, then start knotting from the center and go out in both directions towards the clasp. Then you'll tie bows on both sides of the clasp to try it on.

 

[JerseyPearl]

I agree with the 1-1.25" spacing. It will look more balanced if you graduate within the strands, and among the strands...in other words, the outer most strand will be comprised of larger pearls than the inner most strand even when both are graduated.

 

[Luvglitz]

Thank you everyone for all the useful information. I do want them to nest tightly with shortest strand being about 18". In the past, the center strand has had it's own agenda and didn't play nice with the other two. I think as suggested 1.25" should work. I'll let everyone how it goes.

 

[Frost Me]

Be sure to show us your layout and progression.

 

[Katbran]

looking forward to the photos !!