Making glass lampwork beads with your own hands. DIY beads: master class on making stylish and modern jewelry with your own hands DIY glass beads
A bead for jewelry is one of the elements for creating jewelry, which is basically spherical in shape with a hole. It is difficult to imagine modern jewelry without beads.
But the bead is not always round! Today, arts and crafts stores offer us craftswomen a huge selection of beads.
Various shapes, materials and sizes.
The shape of the beads is:
- round.
- triangular.
- square.
- rectangular.
- oval.
- trapezoids.
- thorns.
- drops.
- bicones, etc.
What are beads made of?
There are natural (natural) materials and artificial origin.
Let's consider natural ones.
Initially, man created jewelry from those things that were at hand. For weaving, natural materials were used in the form of wood, stone, bones, nuts, acorns, seeds, and seashells.
Most often, wooden types of beads are made from red, bamboo, palm or rosewood. They are obtained by grinding from natural bars. Various shapes are cut out using a knife or a special machine. Craftsmen easily create samples with a rough, smooth, porous surface. Wooden beads can be natural or painted. The most common shapes of wooden beads are round, barrel-shaped, cylindrical, multi-faceted. Wood allows you to create large beaded jewelry that perfectly complements an ethnic or African style wardrobe. Today, undyed natural beads are used to make baby slings, lacing strings and other educational toys for children. Wooden beads look good on a man's hand in a bracelet or armband.
Due to its natural origin, a stone bead can have a wide variety of shapes, colors and textures. The most expensive and popular are beads made from precious minerals: sapphire, ruby, aquamarine and others. No less interesting jewelry made from beads can be obtained from semi-precious materials - jade, cat's eye, amethyst. The special properties and structure make it possible to use stone beads in the most exquisite jewelry, and the products are obtained in unusual colors. Jewelry made from natural stones and beads looks expensive and rich. Natural beads also include beads made from bone, pearls, plants, shells, corals, etc.
Artificial beads
All types of beads made from artificial materials have a unique history or unique manufacturing technique. Glass, clay, metal, plastic are subjected to a complex processing process, which makes it possible to give an ordinary material an unrecognizable appearance and create exquisite jewelry from beads.
Thanks to its transparency and color effects, glass is an excellent material with which to produce high-quality and amazingly beautiful bead jewelry. There are subtypes of glass beads (transparent beads with the effect of broken glass inside, artistic type of beads with a pattern, transparent beads with edges).
Let's tell you more about Swarovski beads - the famous Austrian brand Swarovski (Swarovski) are beads made from industrial crystal, i.e. glass with a high lead content - up to 24%. They are called “crystals” for purely marketing reasons. Their difference from simple faceted beads is that the more lead, the brighter the glass shines and sparkles, but the maximum lead content requires precise weighing of the components, their utmost purity, careful selection of the ratios of the remaining components of the glass, as well as the complexity and quality of the cut. The Swarovski company creates its glass using a proprietary composition, which gives such brightness and play of light in the crystals. Also, no one has such a range of colors and shades as Swarovski. The cut of the crystals is perfectly even, you will never find the slightest mismatch of lines or uneven color! This explains the great demand and price of these crystals in the form of beads and rhinestones.
Plastic beads are the most affordable and at the same time effective material. Most often, plastic bead jewelry comes in transparent or brightly colored tones. Plastic beads are produced by casting - they are practical, lightweight, but at the same time suitable for stringing on twisted, very heavy cords. Today, these types of beads are the most common among jewelry makers, especially in beading techniques. The price range depends on the quality of the material; more expensive products are particularly durable.
This bead is made of clay, which gives the product the most unusual shape and any color scheme, but at the same time retains quite heavy weight. A clay bead is obtained by two production methods, or more precisely, by the process of treating its surface. It can be unfinished or with finishing - coated with special pigment paints, most often during the process of adding a coloring agent to the clay, due to which the ceramic bead decoration has good durability.
They are made from various metal alloys and come in a variety of shapes and colors. By using such beads in your work, you will undoubtedly dilute the product and add some kind of boldness. Metal beads look great in bracelets and pendants. It is better not to expose such jewelry to excessive wetness and moisture. etc. There are various techniques from simple to very complex.
In our store you will find many necessary goods for needlework! A large number of accessories, materials and tools to create your splendor. Buy, choose, create, don’t be afraid of experiments and new ideas. After all, it’s especially nice to give jewelry made by yourself to your loved ones or to wear it yourself! Happy creativity.
So, today we are planning the promised master class on making original glass beads with our own hands. A little about the process itself and the necessary tools has already been said in previous articles. So, if you missed all the fun, it's time to go back a little.
Tools and materials Time: 1 hour Difficulty: 7/10
- gas-burner;
- a special knitting needle for applying glass (it also has the unusual name “mandrel”), on which a separator should be applied (special clay, which is designed to ensure that our finished glass bead easily separates from the knitting needle);
- two dental instruments – a hook and tweezers;
- a strip of non-colored and dichroic glass;
- glass strips Moretti EDP, CIM Celadon, Super Clear Transpanent.
Step-by-step master class
Step 1: create a stringer
We take our first glass rod in Moretti EDP color and start creating the stringer. This is a small glass string made using tweezers. When it is ready, carefully anneal it from the main strip and set it aside - let it cool.
Step 2: heat the glass
Now let's take care of the knitting needle, mandrel and heat the part where there is a separator until red hot.
Next, a CIM Celadon glass stick will be used. We begin to heat it until a drop of molten glass appears at the end. Then we begin to wind it onto the knitting needle. Pay attention to the placement of the tools: the mandrel should be above the flame, and the glass rod should be in the flame itself. Gradually the bead will become more and more voluminous, we catch it up to 1 cm.
Step 3: form the bead
After this, we begin to level the bead by heating it. The main thing here is to make sure that the glass lays flat and does not flow to one side. If necessary, you can level it on the graphite pad that is on the burner.
Step 4: forming a pattern
And after the bead has cooled, you can begin to form a flower-shaped pattern. Here the previously created stringer comes into play. We heat its tip and leave three drops on the side of the workpiece. We warm them up so that they become not droplets, but dots on the workpiece. But remember that you cannot overheat the bead, otherwise it may lose its shape. To make a flower with a notch in the center of the petals, take a dental hook and apply pressure, after which we heat the bead again.
We continue to draw patterns with the stringer the way you want. And the pattern is fused into the base.
Step 5: Cover the bead with dichro glass
Now we cover the bead with dichro glass. We straighten the edges using a dental hook.
Step 6: Apply the final coat
And the final layer for our bead is Super Clear Transpanent. We apply it to our workpiece and fuse all the edges so that the bead is even and smooth.
Again, do not forget that you cannot overheat the bead, otherwise it will float in different directions and lose its shape.
We send the bead into a ceramic blanket after the mandrel stops glowing red and wait for it to cool completely. That's all, the glass bead is ready with your own hands, and inside it is decorated with any pattern applied using a stinger.
Collect beads on a string... It would seem that what could be simpler? However, it is not. As in any business, there are little tricks here. Not everyone knows what thread to use, how to choose and attach the lock correctly. When I first started collecting jewelry 5 years ago, I tried to find a good master class on this topic, but I was unsuccessful. I had to learn by trial and error. But now, in my opinion, I can teach you this too, dear friends.
I hope this simple master class will be useful to many.
I deliberately do not dwell on design issues. Knowing the basics of assembly, you can always come up with a design yourself.
So let's begin.
Materials and tools.
It's easy to guess that we need beads, thread and a lock. The beads can be anything you like. Threads and locks will be discussed below. The only tools you need are small scissors and a lighter or matches. You will also need a piece of fishing line 0.3-0.5 mm thick and 10-20 cm long (I use jewelry cable, but not every home has it, fishing line is quite suitable). And no needles!
Choosing threads
The thread should
- Be strong
- Do not stretch under load
- Do not become shaggy when rubbing
- Melt when heated
Only polyester meets these conditions. We reject cotton, silk, nylon (nylon) immediately.
Thread thickness - the thicker the better. The thicker the thread, the better the beads will lie. But don't overdo it double The thread should fit into the hole of the bead without effort. If the threads you have are not thick enough, fold them several times.
Choose a castle.
Locks for beads come in different types: carabiners, screw locks, magnetic locks, toggle locks.
It is better if the carabiners are sold already with rings (No. 1, 2, 3 in the photo). Their sizes vary. The larger the beads, the larger the lock should be.
Carabiner No. 4 - without a ring, which means you will also need a ring. Important: Never use split rings. The ring should be double, like for keys, but, of course, small.
Lock No. 5 is also suitable, although it is not a carabiner. It is especially good if there is not enough length, and it is convenient to fasten it.
Now everything is ready, let's start assembling.
Description of work
Let's prepare the thread. We measure the length of the future beads, add 10-15 cm and multiply by 2. So for beads 45 cm long, the length of the thread will be 110-120 cm. Fold the thread in half, tie a knot at the end so that the beads do not jump off when stringing. If the thread is not thick enough, use double or even triple thread.
We take a piece of fishing line, fold it in half and insert it into the loop in the middle of our thread (at the far end from the knot) and begin stringing beads, threading both ends of the fishing line into the hole at once. Like this:
As we string, we move the beads from the fishing line to the thread.
Now all the beads are strung, let's start attaching the lock.
We pass the loop of our thread (the end on which we threaded it) through the ring of the lock.
We pull the opposite end of the beads into the loop...
And we tighten it. The ring is in place!
Now the most difficult part is the design of the second end of the beads.
We remove the lock itself from the ring, cut off the knot and insert the end of the thread into the lock ring.
We take the thread by the end, the lock moves towards the beads.
Take the fishing line again and press the middle tightly to the junction of the beads and the lock
We wrap the end of the thread tightly around the joint, one turn is enough
We thread the end of the thread into the loop of the fishing line
and pull the ends of the loop. The thread is threaded through the knot!
In my desire to create my first beads, I scoured the Internet. I found several interesting master classes. Sharing:
Accessories:
. 1 m silver wire;
. 4 amethyst colored beads;
. 5 amethyst stones of various shapes and sizes;
. 1 large mother-of-pearl bead;
. 1 uneven shaped mother-of-pearl bead;
. 4 ivory-colored mother-of-pearl stones;
. 30 clips (2 clips per bead).
Tools:
. scissors;
. pliers.
1. Take approximately 1 m of silver wire. You can vary the length of the product as you wish, but it is better to make such a necklace long enough
2. Place faux pearls and semi-precious stones along the entire length of the wire, remembering to string clips on both sides of each bead. Secure the beads by squeezing the clamps.
3. To give the necklace a unique look, we recommend experimenting - alternate the shape and color of the beads. Check that the beads are at the same distance.
4. To secure the necklace, take one end of the wire. Thread a clamp, the last bead and another clamp. Pull the end of the wire out about 2 cm. Pass the other end of the wire through the beads in the opposite direction and leave a 2 cm free edge. Secure the clips, and then cut off the excess wire close to the clips.
Little secret:
Place the wire on a horizontal surface and arrange the beads in a certain order. This way you can imagine what the necklace will look like and save time on work.
How to secure a fishing line with a clamp:
Fastening multiple threads:
An example of attaching beads by wrapping them with lanka (jewelry string):
Example with a softer line:
Each bead is tightly wrapped with fishing line:
Tricks for dexterity
Every business has its own little secrets and tricks that make the work easier and easier.
Be careful not to apply too much glue to the rhinestones and rhinestone bases. Then it will not flow over the edges and spoil the product. If this does happen, use a wooden stick to remove excess glue. Using its tip, you can also correctly position various elements, the installation of which requires special care.
Secure the knots with a small drop of glue or light nail polish.
It is not necessary to cut the threads at the edge of the weave. Once the ends are tied, you can simply pull them back through a few beads.
Before flattening the clamp, always make sure that you have moved the following beads far enough away so that they are not damaged by the pliers.
When working with nylon thread, do not press the clamp too hard to avoid damaging the thread.
Fill overly large holes in beads with small wood chips.
Use a magnifying glass to place the smallest beads on the tip of the needle.
Work with as long a thread as possible to reduce the number of splices.
It is preferable to use thin needles that can be threaded through the bead several times. If the hole of the bead is too small for the needle, then make a kind of “eye” from a piece of thin fishing line, folding it in half.
To string beads onto a cord without a needle, secure one of its ends with glue.
Always cut braid and ribbons on the bias to prevent them from fraying.
Before you start working on any project, take a little time to organize your crafting materials, beads, and tools. You will see - it will turn out faster!
Practice making loops and rings on metal wire before working on pins and necklace threads. This way you will save time and material.
Stringing and weaving techniques
Simple stringing
String 1 bead; secure it with a knot by tying the thread around it and leaving enough length. Then string the desired number of beads
This beginning is convenient for many products, as it allows you to easily increase the length or install any lock on the ends of the thread - you just need to untie the initial knot. In addition, you can close the product by tying both ends of the thread together.
Weaving
As a rule, weaving is carried out according to a pattern that shows the arrangement of beads of different colors that make up the motif. But you can do without a pattern if you know the number of beads and rows.
Make a knot, then string the beads that will make up the 1st row. On the 2nd row, work from right to left: cast on the first 2 beads of the 2nd row. Insert the needle from left to right into the last 2 beads of the 1st row, then again into the first two beads of the 2nd row. Collect two more beads. And so gradually move to the end of the second row, then start the 3rd row, moving from left to right.
To complete the weaving
Leave a significant amount of thread in the needle. Pull it through a number of woven beads so that the thread comes out at the edge of the product, and cut off the excess close to the edge.
To change the thread
Pull the new thread through several woven beads - preferably in a zigzag pattern so that the thread is well fixed - and bring it out to the place where you need to resume weaving.
When the weaving is completed, secure the thread as described above.
Clasps for jewelry
Carabiner type lock
Place one clip on each side of both threads of the necklace. Secure the clips 1 cm from the edge. Monitor the level of the necklace threads - tighten or loosen if necessary.
Thread the mother of pearl bead and bead onto the knot and clip. Pull the outer clamp as far as possible against the bead that will hide the knot and secure. Repeat the same on the other end.
If necessary, trim the edges of the threads. Place a little glue inside the knot bead and close it with pliers.
To install the carabiner, thread it on the right and the ring on the left. Secure them with pliers.
Clasps for jewelry
Always use a faceted bead to fasten a necklace or bracelet.
Thread a bead onto a thread, pass both ends through a faceted bead and separate the threads again: put 5 beads on one thread, 3 on the other, then pull the second thread through the last 2 beads of the first.
To make a loop, string 5 beads on one thread, 3 on the other and pull it through the last 2 beads of the first thread.
Place 13-14 beads on one thread and pass the thread back through the same 2 beads.
Pull the other thread through the entire ring and 2 connecting beads. To make a bracelet or necklace stronger, pull the threads through all the beads in the opposite direction.
Connection of rings
Connecting round rings- an indispensable element when assembling jewelry. As a rule, colored or metal rings with a diameter of 5 to 10 mm are used. The wire thickness can vary from 0.2 to 0.9 mm. The strength of the ring directly depends on it, so when choosing wire you must first of all be guided by this criterion.
Opening and connecting rings
Place the ring in front of you, with the joint facing up. Pull the ends in opposite directions using pliers and needle nose pliers or two pliers.
To open the ring, do this by pressing one end with tongs and pulling the other towards you. This way you open the ring by moving the ends along a perpendicular axis in different directions.
Attention! Do not stretch the ends apart from each other parallel to the table. Even if you open the ring without damage, you will not be able to return it to its previous shape.
To close the ring, you have two options: either squeeze both ends of the ring together with pliers (picture c), or use two pliers. So the ends are evenly closed into a ring.
Installing a lock using rings
Open the ring as described above.
Thread the clasp ring and the last link of the chain into it. Close the ring with pliers. Do the same at the other end of the chain - use the second jump ring and the second part of the lock.
Attaching a small chain to the main chain using a jump ring
Open the ring and insert it into the chain link of the necklace.
Before closing the ring, insert the outermost ring of the additional chain into it.
Attaching additional chains to a necklace using connecting rings
When creating a multi-tiered necklace, you can attach each level of chain separately. This way, the weight of the product will be distributed between several rings, which means its strength will increase (while maintaining its aesthetic appearance).
Connection between clip and pendant
Choose a ring that is large and strong enough to support the weight of the pendant.
Open the ring.
Hook the connecting ring onto the stationary ring on the clip.
Thread the top ring of the pendant or the end of the chain. Use pliers to close the jump ring.
To attach multiple pendants and keychains, use a couple of rings:
connect the pendants on the previously opened ring using the second ring and attach it to the clip.
,,,,,,,,,,
If the hoop needs to be inserted into a bundle (knitted, mosaic, etc.), then this hoop will be easier to braid and tie, and you won’t have to bother with removing the lock.
I deliberately do not work with thread lock because I am afraid of damaging it with pliers.
And don’t be confused by the fact that the hoop base is a little visible.
1) the beads need the necessary “freedom of movement” so that they do not rub against each other.
2) this small gap will not be practically noticeable when the beads are evenly distributed along the cable.
3) - even if the hoop is slightly visible, it will not spoil the overall appearance of the product, and the gap will only be visible from behind - it is not visible under the hair.
4) - and for an open neck you can make a beautiful disguise that covers a rough lock.
And yet, the length of the hoop used in MK is just over 40cm. There are hoops of both 45cm and 50cm. In this case, you can shorten the cable on the side of the removed part of the lock to the required length. To shorten - simply bite off the extra centimeters and millimeters with pliers.
The materials were selected randomly. The main task is to reflect the fundamental technique of fastenings. 1) string the beads onto the string; there should be a lock in front of the last bead 2) pass the string through the last bead and the clamp. |
4) put beads on the remaining tail and cut off the excess.
5) put a bead on the pin, remove the excess with wire cutters and twist it into a ring.
6) connect a string of beads to the resulting element.
7) on the last element, by opening the eye of the pin, you can attach a chain and a lock on the other side.
8) finishing the fastening on the other side of the already assembled beads (bracelets) will require additional diligence. insert the fastener in front of the last bead:
9) thread the fishing line through the last bead, the retainer and one or 2 more beads, carefully tighten the fishing line. The collected thread must be solid. Hold the loop with the tips of the pliers and at the same time pull out the free part of the cable.
This bead can be an elegant decoration for an evening outfit.
Literally translated from English, the term “lampwork” means “working with a lamp.” The essence of this technique is to give the desired shape to molten glass. Modern craftsmen use special burners for melting, and wind the heated glass mass onto a knitting needle. Thanks to handmade work, lampwork beads are beautiful and unique.
Working with glass is a very ancient art, dating back several tens of thousands of years. It is the bead found in Mesopotamia that scientists call the oldest surviving glass product made by human hands. Glass jewelry does not lose its relevance today. Despite the fact that melting requires a fairly high temperature (800 - 1200 0C), this work can be done at home with your own hands.
How to organize a workspace for lampworking at home
Mastering the lampwork technique at home needs to start with careful preparation for work. As in many other types of creativity, a novice master does not need any special skills, the main thing is desire, patience and inspiration for creativity. However, working with high temperatures requires strict adherence to safety precautions and some special conditions for the workplace.
The process of creating glass beads at home
Let's look at them in more detail:
- The room must have good ventilation and air circulation. The simplest options are a well-ventilated room or an outdoor workplace. A more complex option is a powerful hood next to the work surface.
- The surface of the desktop must be protected from drops of molten glass with material that is resistant to high temperatures.
- You should definitely think about eye protection. To do this, use special glasses with blue lenses that reflect radiation.
What you will need to master the technique
Finding all the supplies you need for your project in stores can be challenging. Even the largest trading floors often have a small selection of glass for lampwork. Therefore, most often materials are ordered from American online stores.
Materials and tools part 1
Tools and materials for work part 2
So, you will need:
- Gas burner with high temperatures. In addition, you will need a propane cylinder and oxygen concentrate.
- Ceramic blanket. This material, similar to glass wool, serves to cool the beads evenly and protects them from cracking. You can use a muffle furnace for this, but it is not necessary to purchase one.
- Knitting needles on which glass is wound during operation. So that the finished beads can be removed from the knitting needle, they are lubricated with a separator (a special clay-based composition).
- Awl and tweezers.
- Glass rods - blanks about 30 cm in length and up to 1 cm in diameter. In addition to them, glass stringers (thin strings) and frits (crumbs) are used to decorate beads.
Stages of making glass beads
Before starting work, we check the readiness of all tools and materials and cover the work surface. If you plan to make beads with patterns, you also need to prepare sketches and drawings.
Advice from a master on what to pay attention to
- We place the wire knitting needles (mandrels) in a special mixture (separator) and dry them.
- Turning on the burner, heat the mandrel and glass rod in the flame. Moreover, we heat the glass blank gradually, otherwise it may break.
- Constantly rotating the knitting needle, we wind the glass from the molten stick onto it. If you stop rotating, the glass will simply flow onto the table.
- After this, you can adjust and change the shape of the bead using an awl, tweezers, or a spatula. Continue gentle rotation and heating.
- If desired, we decorate lampwork beads with metal sheets, wires or loops. You can use copper, silver, gold. Glass chips are also used for decoration; they can be mixed with the base or left in the form of tubercles.
- The finished bead should harden for 6-12 hours in an oven or under a ceramic blanket.
DIY beads
- The last stage of work is cold decoration. Lampwork beads can be polished, etched with acids to give them a matte finish, or they can be made into a classic cut.
Making beads with a floral pattern step by step
For this lampwork master class you will need: a torch, knitting needles with a separator, tweezers, an awl. In addition, you need glass rods of different colors: white, transparent, red, blue, golden (Helios glass saturated with silver). The diameter of the finished sticks will need to be changed.
Create a bead with a flower
- Turning on the burner, gradually heat the sticks, first at the tip of the flame (we work with all of them in turn, except for the white one). Use tweezers to form a small drop and pull out the stick, forming a “string”.
- We heat a knitting needle and white lampwork glass in a flame, wind the stick onto the knitting needle and melt it to form a ball.
- Slightly cool the surface of the bead and turn on the red string, applying small droplets. The pattern consists of 3 motifs - flowers with six petals. We put 18 points and melt to a smooth surface.
- Now you need to shape the points. We warm up the motif, remove it from the flame, and pierce the center of the future flower with an awl. Similarly, we mark 2 more centers. We fuse the bead again, and the petals take the shape of drops.
- We warm up the flower again, move a transparent string to the center and rotate it with your fingers. In this case, the petals curl slightly. We repeat in the same way with other colors.
- Add blue flowers from three petals. The sequence of actions is similar to working on red flowers, but without curling the petals.
- We add dots with a golden string made of silver-containing glass. Leave the dots slightly convex without melting them completely. Working with this glass is special: after slightly cooling the bead, we add the propane component of the burner flame and pass the glass through it. The golden dots should acquire a metallic sheen.
- Cool the lampwork beads in the oven for 10-12 hours and remove them from the knitting needles.
Beads with flowers
