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Nefertiti's Delight
NOTE: This project includes one or more items that are no longer available, despite our best efforts. We have kept this project on the site for you to use as a template or inspiration for your own creations.
Project N131
Designer: Andrea Morici
Featured nationally in our print ads for Bead & Button magazine, this showpiece necklace contains a
dazzling array of gemstones and gold components.
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What You'll Need
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Instructions:
- Start by creating the central and the two side weavings using a basic square stitch, as described in the book Teach Yourself Visually: Jewelry Making & Beading Book.
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To make the central weaving, begin by threading a piece of light blue K.O. thread at about six feet long onto your needle. Prepare the thread by running through Thread Heaven Thread Conditioner a few times. Secure one end with a piece of tape or a Bead Stopper.
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Thread two turquoise 6/0 seed beads, a 4mm gold cube, and two more turquoise 6/0 seed beads onto your needle. This is your first row.
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Thread one more turquoise bead. This will be the first bead in your second row.
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Thread your needle back through the last bead of the first row, going in the same direction.
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Thread your needle back through the first bead of the second row and pull snug. The bead should now be on top of the last bead of the first row.
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Continue adding a bead to the second row and sewing back through the appropriate bead directly underneath it in the first row, until you reach the end of the second row.
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At this point, flip your work over and begin the third row going the opposite direction.
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Continue stitching in this manner until you have nine rows of five beads. Make sure that your third bead in every row is a 4mm gold cube bead.
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When you have completed all nine rows, tie an overhand knot and weave the excess thread back though your beads.
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To make the two side weavings, follow the same instructions you did for the central weaving, except that the side weavings contain a single turquoise bead, a 4mm gold cube, and another turquoise bead in each row.
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Once you have completed all three weavings, set them aside to begin stringing the body of your necklace.
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Cut nine pieces of Soft Flex beading wire at two feet long each and secure one side of all nine strands with a bead stopper, about seven inches away from the end.
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Thread each one of the nine strands through the nine holes of of one of the two side square stitch bead weavings.
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Onto the first piece of wire thread three 10/0 gold plated delicas and a 3mm lapis. Repeat this seven times, adding three more 10/0 delicas at the end. When you are finished you should have a total of twenty-four gold delicas and seven lapis beads. Secure this strand and move on to the next one down.
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Onto the second piece of wire thread a 4mm gold cube and an oval carnelian. Repeat this five times and add an extra gold cube at the end. You should have six gold cubes and five carnelian ovals on the second strand when you are finished. Secure the second strand and move down to the third.
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Thread onto the third strand a small turquoise chip and a small gold tube. Repeat this pattern nine times, adding an extra turquoise chip at the end. Secure and move on to the fourth strand.
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On the fourth strand thread a gold 3mm rounded square, a gold 4.5mm heishe spacer, another 3mm rounded square, and a small gold tube. Repeat this pattern six times, and add another rounded square, heishe spacer, and rounded square to the end of this strand. Secure this strand and move down to the next.
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Thread three light gold 8/0 seed beads and one faceted peridot beads on to the fifth strand. Repeat this seven times. Secure the fifth strand and move down to the sixth.
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Onto the sixth strand thread a 4mm onyx bead, and a gold 4mm delica cube. Repeat this thirteen times. Secure this strand and move on to the seventh.
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On the seventh strand thread a gold vermeil wide end tube bead and a turquoise glass rondelle. Repeat this six times and add an extra vermeil tube bead at the end. (note: we are substituting the glass rondelles for the turquoise stone rondelles pictured. The glass beads are slightly thinner which means you might need to add an extra rondelle to either end of this strand to make it hang properly.) Secure the seventh strand and move down to the next.
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Thread the following onto the eighth strand of wire: a faceted carnelian rondelle, a rounded square gold bead, a 4.5mm gold heishe spacer, and another rounded square gold bead. Repeat this pattern ten times. Secure the end of the eighth wire strand.
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On the ninth and final strand thread a 4mm gold rondelle, a 6mm nugget heishe spacer, another 4mm gold rondelle, and a lapis lazuli tube. Repeat this pattern a total of twelve times.
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Remove the bead stopper or tape from the working end of the top strand (from the nine strands) and go to the next step.
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Thread the piece of wire though the top row of the central square-stitched beaded piece.
- Repeat the above two steps for each of the remaining eight strands, loosening each adjacent strand from the bead stopper one at a time and threading it through the corresponding row.
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Thread the other half of the necklace, all nine draping strands, as a mirror image of the first half.
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After stringing all of the gemstones and gold beads, thread each of the nine strands through each of the holes in the other woven bead piece.
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From here on, everything you do to one side of the necklace, do to the other side as well.
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Now that the central draping bib of the necklace is complete, the strands on either side need to be reduced from nine pieces of wire down to five pieces. To do that gather the first two strands and thread them both through the following: two large holed gold rondelles, five 4.5mm gold rondelles, five 4mm gold rondelles, a 6/0 turquoise seed bead, five rounded square gold beads, five 2.5mm round gold beads, an 8/0 turquoise seed bead, and nine gold-plated delicas. Secure these strands and move down to strands three and four.
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Thread the same series of beads onto strands three and four together, five by itself, six and seven together, and eight and nine together.
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To reduce the strands down to three, separate the wires into groups of three and thread each group of three through three large hole rondelles and a single 8/0 turquoise.
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Gather all nine strands together and onto them thread fifty-five 7mm jump rings. Secure the end with tape or beadstoppers and set aside.
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Cut two pieces of artistic wire (one for each side of the necklace) at about three inches long each. Make a wrapped loop at one end of each.
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Separate the nine strands on either side of your necklace back into groups of three, and thread a crimp bead onto each group of three, but do not crimp yet.
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Thread the three groups of three strands through the wrapped wire loop and back through each of the three crimp beads. Crimp the beads and cut off excess beading wire.
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Using a pair of needle nosed pliers, flatten or squash the wrapped wire loop enough so that it will fit more easily into the cone.
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Thread the end of the wrapped wire loop through a gold hammered cone, create a wrapped loop and trim off excess wire.
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Add a 6mm jump ring to either end of the necklace, and to each jump ring add one half of the hook and eye clasp.
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Now that the body of the necklace is done, its time to start on the pendant: First cut and condition a piece of gold K.O. thread about eight feet long and thread it onto a needle.
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Thread sixty of the 10/0 gold delicas on to your needle.
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Pass the needle back through all the beads and pull them together tightly to create a ring.
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Pass through the next bead one more time, add a bead, pass through the bead directly beneath it and back up through the bead you just added. add another bead and do the same thing. This is called a ladder stitch, as described in the book Teach Yourself Visually: Jewelry Making & Beading Book, and it will be how you create the "rays" coming off of the ring.
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Ladder stitch six beads, then weave the thread back down the ladder and back into the ring, skipping a bead, and coming out of the next bead over and making a ladder-stitched "ray" coming off of that bead.
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Repeat this pattern until every other bead in your original ring of sixty has a ladder-stitched ray coming off of it.
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Pull your ring with rays into an oval shape and set it down.
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Place your large lapis lazuli pendant bead in the center of the oval and wrap the rays around it.
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Thread a bead onto your needle and pass it through the a ray. Now pass it through the next ray. Continue to do this all the way around, pulling tightly to encapsulate your lapis bead.
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Once it is enclosed, tie an overhand knot in your thread and weave your excess thread back through your beads and pull it out again when it is at the top of one of the narrow ends of the pendant.
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Ladder stitch upward from the top of your pendant three beads high.
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At the end of this ladder, thread six beads and pass the needle through the first two turquoise seed beads at the bottom of the central weaving in the body of the necklace.
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Pull the needle out between the second turquoise bead and the 4mm gold cube, and add four gold delicas.
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Weave your thread back through the ladder now connecting the pendant to the necklace and back up.
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Thread four more beads and weave the thread through the cube and the fourth and fifth turquoise beads and back out the other end of the weaving.
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Thread six more delicas, and weave back through the connecting ladder once more.
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When you get to the base of the pendant, tie an overhand knot and weave the rest of your thread back through your beads. Cut off any excess thread with a sharp pair of scissors.
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