Description
Herringbone Bracelet
I designed this herringbone bracelet to show off the Infinity Beads. It is basically a herringbone tube made with seed beads. But introducing the Infinity Beads periodically throughout the length of the herringbone bracelet allowed me to create layered embellishment.
I finished the project with a magnetic clasp. These clasps are hugely convenient for use as bracelet closures, but they can cause a few difficulties. Through experience, I have learned how to overcome these. So I will show you how to choose a really strong magnetic clasp and then create a concealed fitting. That will prevent it from the common problem of broken threads. If you use a weak magnet, you will find the closure is very insecure. However, the strong magnets can put a lot of pressure on beading thread as the bracelet is being fastened and unfastened, eventually causing the thread to break. Years of experience have taught me a few handy tricks that I will be passing on in this project.
About the beads
If you have never worked with Infinity Beads before, they are a different style of two-holed bead. You can find out more about them here. They allowed me to create sections of layered embellishment combining 4mm pearls, O beads and size 15 seed beads. The thread path for these sections is in fact very easy.
The herringbone bracelet pattern also includes a clever and simple little trick for starting a herringbone tube. Most bead-weaving stitches are a little tricky to start as the small number of beads gives you very little to hold as you work. The nifty little technique you will learn here is really going to help with that problem and it is something that you can apply to the start of any herringbone project as well.
If you want more Infinity bead patterns, you might also like to try this bracelet and look out for some beaded beads that I’ve designed as well! I designed all these projects as part of my work with the Beadsmith Inspiration Squad.
