Put a Ring on it English

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Put a Ring on it/ ringlets for multiple use

June 2013r

Original Pattern/ copyright by mariposa/Martina Nagele

www.mariposa8000.blogspot.com

Put a Ring on it (ringlets, for multiple use)

This tutorial is a gift from me to my beady friends. You can share and enjoy the project,

but please be so kind and do not sell or teach the pattern. Thank you for respecting my copyright as an artist ☺.

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Stitches used:

2-drop Right Angle Weave (RAW), netting

Fiddly factor:

2 of 5/ advanced beginner

Supply list: The basic 8 unit ringlets measure 15 mm in diameter and are 4 mm wide.

The inner hole is big enough to use a beaded Kumihimo rope with 8 strands, a Herringbone rope with 2 stitches per round or bead crochet

(slip stitch method) with 4 beads per round (all made with 11/0 cylinder beads, so you get a sleek, closed surface). They also match most standard

big hole bead systems.

This project is perfect to use up some of your odds and ends. Chose one cylinder bead color and one or two seed bead colors in 11/0 and 15/0 as

your basic ingredients. Maybe you want the cylinder beads to match the ones you used in your rope, so the whole piece doesn’t get too busy.

Then you add a handful of small accent beads in coordinated colors. In the examples I used 2.8 mm drop beads, 3 mm bicone crystals and 11/0 seed

beads in a contrasting color. I am sure you will have more lovely ideas.

You’ll also need 6 lb Fireline (0.12 mm), # 12 beading needles and a tool to cut your thread.

Graphics key:

CB cylinder bead 11/0, side and top

SB11 seed bead 11/0, main and accent color

SB15 seed bead 15/0

DB drop bead 2.8 mm

BC crystal bicone 3 mm

The newly added beads of each step are drawn in full color, the beads from previous steps in grayscale. The thread path is drawn in red.

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Please allow a little technical advice before you start beading: It is

important to keep your thread tension on the tight-ish side or your RAW elements will be quite wobbly and the thread will show.

You can control your tension much easier by weaving through only the

beads of one side of your units at a time and by pulling the thread always parallel to the holes of the beads you are exiting from! Added benefit: This

causes less stress to the thread. Please do not take the shortcut and stab your needle through 2 or 3 beads that are oriented to different directions.

In most cases this will take the tension out of your weave again.

Ok, enough talking, let’s get started!

Basic ringlet

Step 1:

Thread your needle with half a wingspan of Fireline. Pick up 2 CB, 1 SB11, 2 CB and 1 SB11. Go through the first 2 CB again to close to a circle.

*Pick up 1 SB11, 2 CB and 1 SB11, go through the 2 CB you started from to close to the next unit. Following your general stitching direction, go

through the next 3 beads of the current circle to get into the correct position to start the next unit. Repeat from * until you have made a total

of 7 units. You will change your weaving direction with every unit from clockwise to counter-clockwise. The thread exits the 2 CB right at the end

of your beaded strip.

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Step 2/ the “stretching magic”:

To straighten the strip out and make it stiffer, you just make a U-turn

through the beads of the last unit and go back the whole strip in a zig-zagging manner.

This magic only works when done through the correct beads! When you

look at your un-stretched RAW piece you can see that the top and the bottom beads hold alternately one or two thread passes. The zigzag

follows the one-thread beads. With the U-turn you will be there automatically.

Step 3:

Bend the ends of the strip towards each other to form a ring. Pick up 1

SB11, then go through the correspondent end beads on the other side of

your strip. Pick up another SB11 and finish your RAW unit #8 by weaving through the beads you started this step from. Go through all 6 beads of

this last unit again to reinforce.

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Step 4:

Go through the next top bead, there you should meet your tail, that exits the CB section of your next unit. Make a knot (OMG! She knots her

thread!*) and try not to stuff the hole of your CB bead. Weave on through the next beads until your working thread exits the next SB bead. (We

want to get away from the knot for the next step.) Weave in the tail and cut off the excess.

*Yes, I knot, sometimes ☺. The ringlets are quite tiny and have to

withstand some wear and tear, only weaving in the tails would not be

enough. As long as the knot is not clogging up the bead holes, everything is fine. And it will be almost invisible later.

Step 5:

Make a picot edging by adding groups of 1 SB15, 1 SB11 and 1 SB15

between each of the 8 SB11. Please take care the tension still is quite tight and the SB11 in the middle pops out a bit like shown in the diagram

(if necessary you can help a bit with your fingers). At the end of the round go through the next pair of CB to get to the other edge.

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Step 6:

Stitch through the next SB11 on your working edge. *Pick up 1 SB15, go

through the SB11 of the corresponding picot on the other edge, pick up 1 SB15 and go through the next SB11 on your working edge. Pull the

thread tight (Yeah Baby! Use those muscles!), the embellishment on the base strip should be centered. Repeat from * until the end of the round.

Hint: Before you pull the thread tight, loop it around your index finger. This way you have more control on how much power you are using and

you are also not tugging on your needle.

If you don’t want to add any more embellishment, you can weave in the thread now and cut off the excess. If you want to go on, secure the thread

with a half hitch knot and stitch on to the next SB11 in the middle of a picot.

This is how the basic ringlet should look like from the side.

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Of course you can vary the size of your ringlets and make them larger.

I’d recommend you position one of the small 8-unit ringlets at the start and the end of the series of things you load onto your bracelet or

necklace. This way you can make sure they don’t slip over the end caps so

you won’t lose them. For a bracelet you may want to stick with the smaller ringlets anyway.

Oh, and please make sure, you add the second end cap only after you

loaded the rope! Otherwise you will have to remove it again, which is quite dreadful when you used glue (ask me how I know…)

This ring is quite stiff, so you could use it as a toggle ring, 12 or 14 base

units are a nice size for that.

Variation 1/ sparkles:

Make a basic ringlet. Then add a 3 mm bicone crystal between each of the

picots, using only the top SB11. Go through all beads of this round at least

twice, then weave in the thread and cut off the excess. 3 mm fire polished beads will also work, 3 mm round beads were a bit too

bulky.

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Variation 2/ drops:

Bead like the basic ringlet, but in step 5 you replace the SB11 with 2.8 mm drop beads.

Magatamas will also work, but they are less drop-ish in shape.

Variation 3/ add color:

Make a basic ringlet, but in step 5 you use SB11 in a contrasting color. Or alternate between the main and the accent color.

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Variation 4/ fat tire ☺:

Make a basic ring according to steps 1 to 4, but a bit larger with 10 units around. Add a row of “normal” 1-drop RAW to each edge, using CB and

SB11, so you get a wide ring.

Add embellishment to the middle section of the ring according steps

5 and 6, but replace the SB11 with a CB. Then add SB15 between each of the SB11 at both edges. Pull the thread quite tight and go through all

those beads at least twice. If your ringlet looks a bit “out of shape” now, you can use the tip of a pencil as a mandrel to get it round again.

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Variation 5/ more profile:

Make a basic ring according to steps 1 to 4 with 10 units around. The thread exits the CB somewhere on the ringlet (please not the unit where

the knot sits!). *Pick up 1 SB15, 1 SB11 and 1 SB15 and go through the CB of the next unit. Use the same stitching direction as on the previous

stitch, so the new beads lay diagonally over the gap. Repeat from * to the end of the round. Repeat the thread path of the whole round to reinforce.

Add SB15 between each of the SB11 at both edges like in variation 4.

Variations 4 and 5 are also substantial enough to be used in combination with lampwork beads.

Variation 6/ charmed:

Make a basic ringlet the size you like and add an eyelet to one of the SB11 in the middle of the picots: First you add 5 SB11, close them to a ring and

repeat the thread path for additional strength. Secure the thread tension with a half hitch knot. Then add 4 SB15 between the top beads of the

eyelet (see diagram), the beads should “snap” in place between the SB11.

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Weave in the thread, make some half hitch knots for more security and

cut off the excess.

You can hang a little charm from there using a jump ring or a

headpin-crystal-wrapped wire loop dangle.

This eyelet is very stiff and durable. There is almost no thread exposed, so it will not wear off easily. I use it quite often in my designs, for example

for earrings, to attach clasps or wherever I want to make a connection with a jump ring later.

Oh, we’re already through! Thank you for flying with Mariposa Airlines, have fun wearing your new jewelry!

Happy beading!

Martina Nagele

Documents

Put a Ring on it English