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Let's discuss several items of technical information about making necklaces. First, let's discuss a little about the length of necklaces. Necklaces can come in several styles as follows -- there are chokers, about 14 to 16 inches long, there are princess length necklaces 17 to 19 inches long, there are matinee length necklaces 20 to 23 inches long and there are opera length necklaces 28 to 34 inches long. Second, we need to discuss how many focal beads to use in a necklace. Here is the rule -- never have an even number of focal beads. You can make a necklace with 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 focal beads. As long as you don't have an even number of focal beads, there will always be a focal bead at the center of the necklace and when worn the necklace will appear symmetrical. Third, here is a simple rule for selecting the size of Soft Flex that you use.-- Use the largest size of Soft Flex that will fit through all the beads in your necklace. For most beads from our Internet store this will be size .024 Soft Flex. If you use freshwater pearls or some gemstone beads you will find that you may be forced to use size .014 Soft Flex. For some beads it will be .019 Soft Flex. Again, the rule is simple -- used the largest size that fits. Fourth, when knotting silk thread, frequently people use needles to help get the thread through the hole in the beads. When using Soft Flex, the Soft Flex beadstringing wire is sufficiently stiff that we find that you won't need a needle. Fifth, we discussed this earlier, but it merits discussing it again. If you have simple or mono-color background beads you can use almost any focal beads, but focal beads with more complexity, color or style will work well. If your background beads aren't mono-color, you will probably want to reduce the complexity, color or style of your focal beads. If your background beads have many colors, you may want focal beads with just a single color, but in a size, or shape that makes them stand out against the background beads. These instructions continue on the following web page. |
Alternative Designs Considerations: