Another Michaels workshop in the books. This time I created a mala necklace, or at least a necklace inspired by a mala necklace. Traditional mala necklaces have 108 beads, but I did the cheat way of creating this necklace and was a bit more freestyle with my beads.
For the full tutorial and supply list see the online class and accompanying instructions. For my necklace I used:
- bipyramid beads
- 6mm beads (I chose blue coral)
- a pendant
- assorted seed beads
- silk bead cord
- big eye beading needles (I ended up not needing these because my bead cord had an attached needle)
- pliers
- bead tweezers
- scissors
Most of my beads came from local bead shop Blue Door Beads (During shelter in place I sent them a list and they shopped the store for me and shipped!). The pendant was from Michaels. I also used beads I acquired from craft swaps.
My how to:
I decided on a pattern and repeated the pattern four times for one side of the necklace, then mirrored the pattern on the other side of the necklace, starting and finishing at the bottom of the necklace (where the pendant sits). Then, I added an additional seed bead and the pendant (the pendant sits on the additional seed bead), tied the left and right sides of the necklace together with a double knot, and trimmed excess cord. Super simple!
In this class they featured a knotting tool; I tried to create knots with pliers and bead tweezers, but it didn’t quite work out so I skipped that part completely. Perhaps I’ll try the knotting tool next time. Regardless, I like how this one turned out!
Do you dabble in jewelry making? What have you made recently? Share below.