Description
Shibori silk sparkles necklace pattern has been designed by Katie Dean. It is suitable for advanced beaders and uses a combination of different techniques. This is a component based design which lends itself to making in stages. You can make the crystal section with Swarovski crystals. If you are trying to save money, then another brand of crystals will work just as well. The pattern assumes that you are familiar with basic Right Angle Weave, tubular and peyote stitch. The instructions are clearly written and accompanied by comprehensive diagrams and photos.
About the Shibori Silk Sparkles Necklace
This was my first attempt at using Shibori silk. I have long admired this material and seen it used to great effect in a lot of bead embroidery projects. So, I bought a small piece of Shibori when I was visiting stitchncraft. I had a vague idea of using it to create a focal clasp for a crystal necklace that was taking shape in my head. Now, I think of Shibori silk as a luxurious material. So it seemed perfect to pair with the crystals.
I already had the image of different strands of crystals being wound loosely together to create a natural draping effect around the neck. I had started work on the crystal beaded beads. So I already had the basic colour in place. That led me to pick my Shibori silk to go with this bronze/topaz crystal colour scheme. It turns out that the silk combined this with turquoise. So that gave me the elements to guide the rest of the colour scheme. I would recommend that you start the other way around. Pick your favourite shade of shibori. Then choose crystals to bring out the colouring. This is a design that give you plenty of flexibility for trying all manner of colouring.
I was also curious to feel how Shibori silk would work in a design. I had read some reports of it being tricky to work with as it catches and snags fairly easily. Now, I didn’t experience this problem myself. But I would warn you to take care when mixing it with crystals as they can have edges that are sharp enough to snag silk. I was very pleased with the experience. So, I can safely say that this will not be my only Shibori silk project.
