Contemporized Etruscan Collar with Warren Feld

Copyright © 2013 by Warren Feld, LearnToBead.net.

This handout is available for purchase at www.LearnToBead.net or www.LandOfOdds.com, and is intended for personal use only. Reproduction of this handout by or for any persons other than personal use is strictly prohibited. Kits, Supplies, Tools available for purchase at www.LandOfOdds.com or www.LearnToBead.net .

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Contemporized Etruscan Collar with Warren Feld

A LearnToBead.Net Class www.LearnToBead.net

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Contemporized Etruscan Collar Instructor: Warren Feld Spectrum Gold Palette Advanced Level

Create a sophisticated, contemporary Etruscan-style collar! Layer two Ndebele stitched strips, slightly curving the interior edge and embellishing with chain.

NDEBELE STITCH LTB-BW3-NB-01 Etruscan Collar (Spectrum Gold Palette) JD4.COLOR-02 15 - 17 1/2" necklace Intermediate/Advanced Level Class

This set of instructions is organized as a series of Jewelry Design Choices:

Supplies, p. 3

I. Planning Your Project, p. 5 CONTEMPORIZING A TRADITIONAL DESIGN, p. 5 COLOR SIMULTANEITY EFFECTS, p. 7 IA. Conceptualizing Your Piece, p. 8 IB. Measurements, p. 11 IC. Selecting Materials, p. 12 ID. Sketching a Pattern or Graph, p. 12 IE. Identifying Potential Areas of Weakness within Your Piece, p. 14 IF. Identifying How To Attach The Clasp, p. 15 IG. Visualizing Your Process, p. 15 IH. Organizing Your Work Space, p. 17

II. Beginning Your Project, p. 17 IIA. Basic Steps, p. 17 1. Make the bottom Ndebele strip, and reinforce it, p. 18 2. OPTIONAL: Add embellishment to the outer edge of the strip, p. 26 3. Make the top slightly longer Ndebele strip, and reinforce it, p. 28

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4. Assemble the two strips together, with a staggered overlapping, p. 29 5. Weave in the chain embellishment, p. 32 6. Attach the left side of the clasp, p. 36 7. Attach the right side of the clasp, p. 36

IIB. Dealing with Contingencies, p. 37 IIC. Finishing Touches, p. 38

III. Summary of Learning Objectives You Have Met After Accomplishing This Project, p. 38

IV. Next Steps, p. 42 IVA. Suggested Readings, p. 42

What You Will Learn: - Creating a design-plan for a layered bead woven necklace collar - Strategically selecting a color palette, especially in reference to "simultaneity effects" - Implementing the Ndebele Stitch using a 4mm cube and two 2mm beads to create two strips which will later overlap - Reinforcing the Ndebele strips - Attaching and assembling two layers of Ndebele Stitched strips using a hybrid brick stitch/Ndebele stitch technique - Weaving in a decorative chain element along the inner boundaries of the piece, using a bookbinding stitch - Attaching a choker clasp assembly - Some ideas about what it means to "contemporize" a traditional piece of jewelry

Prerequisites: - Orientation To Beads & Jewelry Findings - Introductory Knowledge of Ndebele stitch - An intermediate level knowledge of and experience with bead weaving

TimeFrame: This bracelet takes about 70-100 hours to complete

These Instructions are written from what is called The Design Perspective.

They first guide you through the kinds of choices to be made, when designing this particular piece. This gives you a sense of how the artist thought through the development of the project. This provides you with a better understanding and some insights about what kinds of things you would need to consider, when designing a similar piece, or adding personal touches to this project.

Then step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions for completing this project are presented.

Finally, the skills learned by doing this project are summarized.




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Supplies To Make a 15 - 17 1/2" Necklace Collar:

Kit and Supplies available for purchase from: Land of Odds (www.landofodds.com ) LearnToBead.net (www.learntobead.net ) [Additional beads included with kit to make up to an 18 1/2" necklace.]

GENERIC ITEM DESCRIPTION THIS PROJECT Palette #3. Spectrum Gold

YOUR PROJECT VARIATIONS

Collar Ndebele Strips:

4mm Cube Seed Beads (150 grams)

--- Miyuki 4mm cubes, color SB462, metallic gold iris, (150 grams) (in kit, 225 grams)

Size 11/0 Seed Beads and/or Size 11/0 Delicas, and/or 2mm Austrian Crystal beads (Series 5000), or other approximately 2mm sized beads, like the 1.8mm Miyuki cube beads, either Japanese or Czech, (39 grams)

--- Miyuki 11/0cut seed bead, color 462cut (same as 615cut), bronze iris cut, (39 grams) (in kit, 59 grams)

NOTE: If you want to experiment with simultaneity effects, I suggest playing with 1 or 2 additional beads that are similar in size to an 11/0 seed bead -- about 2 to 2.2mm. Combine with the 11/0 seed beads above, in various proportions, but let one color predominate. (24 grams)

I would suggest trying these two 11/0 seed bead colors --- 11/0 cut seed bead, jet cut --- 11/0 seed bead color, black diamond copper lined (not included in kit )

Picot Edge (optional):

2mm Round beads, such as 11/0 delicas, 11/0 seed beads or 2mm round Swarovski crystal beads in a coordinating color to below (58 beads)

Swarovski crystal beads, Series 5000, round, 2mm, jet (58 beads) (in kit, 87 beads)

2mm Round beads, such as 11/0 delicas, 11/0 seed beads or 2mm round Swarovski crystal beads in a coordinating color to above (116 beads)

Miyuki 11/0 delica beads, 507, pink gold AB, (116 beads or 1 gram) (in kit, 174 beads or 1 gram)

Chain Embellishments:

Gold-Plated or Gold Filled Chain, 3.2 - 4.0mm wide, about 22 gauge wire, (35")

Gold-Plated (over brass) Long & Short Chain, 4.22mm wide, 22ga wire, long link 7mm Outer Diameter and short link 3mm Outer Diameter, (35") (in kit, 35")

(KIT UPGRADE OPTIONS:

a. Gold Filled Long & Short Chain, 3.6mm wide, 22ga wire, long link 7mm


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Outer Diameter and short link 3mm Outer Diameter, (35")

b. Sterling Silver Long & Short Chain, 3.6mm wide, 22ga wire, long link 7mm Outer Diameter and short link 3mm Outer Diameter, (35")

Clasp and Closure:

Gold Plated, Gold-Filled, or Vermeil, 3-strand choker clasp (a hook and eye clasp that has an extra length of chain to make the length adjustable)

Gold-Plated, 3-strand, choker clasp (in kit, 1 clasp)

(KIT UPGRADE OPTIONS:

a. 14KT Gold 3-strand choker clasp

b. Gold Filled or Vermeil 3-strand choker clasp

c. Sterling Silver Choker Clasp

)

Additional Supplies:

FireLine or similar brand cable thread, smoke gray or a dark color, Size D (.008"), 100 yards

FireLine, D, smoke gray, 100 yards (in kit, 125 yards)

Size #10 and #12 English Beading Needle (about 6 of each size)

(in kit, 4 #10 and 4 #12 needles)

Bees Wax or Microcrystalline Wax Scissors, Ruler, Work surface Flush Cutters or Side Cutters Chain Nose or Flat Nose Pliers Bic lighter or thread zapper

(not included in kit)




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THE ETRUSCAN COLLAR

I. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT Thinking about the types of choices made for this project

Bead weaving is a collection of hundreds of different stitching techniques and strategies for creating pieces that approximate a piece of cloth.

The Ndebele stitch, sometimes called Herringbone Stitch, is a loose-knit stitch that lends itself to many creative variations. It results in a herringbone pattern, or zig-zag effect.

This Etruscan Collar Necklace consists of two overlapping strips of Ndebele Stitch, a chain embellishment, and an attached choker clasp.

The most difficult part here is attaching the two strips together to get a curved planar surface, and weaving in the chain along one side.

The Etruscan Collar: Contemporizing a Traditional Design

The challenge, here for me, was to create a sophisticated, wearable, and attractive piece that exemplified concepts about contemporizing traditional jewelry. At about the same time I was trying to conceptualize this piece, I had been asked to lead an 8-day workshop on Jewelry Design in Cortona, Italy. I pretty quickly married my design work to this teaching opportunity, and created a workshop called “Contemporizing Etruscan Jewelry”.

Things clicked. I found an Etruscan Collar that I immediately connected with. See image below:




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I began to interpret and analyze it. I first broke it down in terms of its Traditional Components. The use of Traditional Components serves many functions. When the whole group uses the same design elements -- materials, techniques, colors, patterns and the like -- this reinforces a sense of membership and community. Often Traditional choices are limited by what materials are available and the existing technologies for manipulating them. Traditional choices also reflect style and fashion preferences, as well as functional prerequisites. For the Etruscans, jewelry was a display of wealth and a depository of someone's wealth maintained and preserved as jewelry. Jewelry tended to be worn for very special occasions and was buried with the individual upon her or his death.

Traditional Components in our Traditional Etruscan Collar included: - Gold metal plates, pendants and chain. The use of metal, especially precious metal was important to the Etruscans. They had a strong preference for gold. - Linearity. In traditional work, there is often a restricted or limited use of line, with a greater comfort for simple straight lines. The Etruscans did not often use many variations of the line, such as a wavy-line or spiral. - Predictable, regular, symmetrical sequencing and placement of rectangular metal objects, pendant drops, centered button clasp, and chain embellishment. Balance and symmetry are always key. - Flat. The surface is flat, and there is little here that intentionally pushes any boundaries with dimensionality. - rigidity – seemed that, while it definitely makes a power statement, it would be uncomfortable to wear - Brings attention to the wearer’s face. Traditional silhouettes were often drawn to the face. - Wire working techniques. There were not many choices in stringing materials. Wire working, by creating links, rings, rivets, chains and connectors secured individual metal components.

There is considerable artistry and craftsmanship underlying Etruscan jewelry. They brought to their designs clever techniques of texturing, ornamentation, color, relief, filigree, granulation and geometric, floral and figurative patterning. While their techniques were borrowed from the Greeks and other Mediterranean cultures, the Etruscans perfected these to a level of sophistication not seen before, and not often even today.

While Roman law outlawed the wearing of more than one ring or more than ½ ounce of jewelry at any one time, the Romans loved their jewelry, and wore many pieces, in spite of this. Most Roman jewelry designs were rigid interpretations of Greek and Etruscan jewelry.

Contemporizing Traditional Jewelry has to do with how you take these particular forms and techniques, and both add your personal style to the pieces, as well as make them more relevant to today’s sense of fashion and style. The challenge for the designer is how to keep traditional ideas essential and alive for today's audience.

This may be trickier than it might first appear. To what degree should you reference the traditional design elements in your contemporary piece? Just the colors? The colors and the pattern? The stitching, stringing or other techniques? The structural components, as well? How do you break down the traditional piece, in order to better understand it? And how do you use this understanding to figure out how and what you should manipulate, as you design and construct your contemporary piece?




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If you walked into a Museum of Contemporary Art, you would find some things that were abstract, but other things that were realistic or impressionistic or surrealistic. You would find a lot of individualized expression – works associated with a particular artist, rather than a particular culture. You would find a wide use of modern materials and techniques and technologies. You would find unusual or especially noteworthy assemblages of pieces or colors or textures. You would find pieces that in some way reflect modern culture and sensibilities – fashions, styles, purposes, statements. The exhibits would change on a regular basis, and you would also find something new and different to experience and marvel at each time.

Traditional Art, on the other hand, suppressed individualized expression. Instead, whatever the art form, traditional art emphasized a restatement of its cultural narrative. That is, artists, working within that cultural tradition, would use similar materials, similar designs, and similar motifs. The artwork was a symbolic representation of that culture’s values and self-image. The “doing of the artwork” was a reaffirmation of one’s place within that culture. Simply, if you did the same kinds of things in the same kinds of ways as everyone else, this reaffirmed your membership within that group and culture. And if you visited a Museum of Traditional Art, there would be many displays of wonderful, sometimes elaborate, pieces, but the exhibits would never have to change.

What might it mean to contemporize these Etruscan and Roman pieces? In other words, how would we manipulate the design elements to end up with something that was contemporary, paid some kind of reference or homage to the traditional piece, and was also a satisfying work of art?

To contemporize this piece, I wanted to: - Reference the overall sense of the design, but simplify the overall appearance a bit. Contemporary pieces find that point of parsimony -- not too many elements, not too few -- that best evokes the power of jewelry to resonate. - Use contemporary materials. I wanted to use glass seed beads and cable threads, with the addition of gold ornamentation and clasp. - Make it more feminine. I wanted my piece to have a sexy-ness about it. - Give it a curvilinearity, rather than a flatness and straightness. Dimensionality and curvilinearity are very characteristic of Contemporary design. - Keep the general symmetry, but with a lighter hand – for example, overlapping layers that don’t conform as tightly to an outline boundary. I wanted less social conviction and more artistry and the representation of the artist's hand. - To break the sense of rigidity through the use of the herringbone pattern that results when you use the Ndebele Stitch. Again, I was going for more artistry. - The application of more involved color theories and tricks to create more of a sense of excitement, as well as more multi-dimensionality. There is a complex interplay of colors within either strip of Ndebele bead work, as well as between each strip, as one lays on top of the other. - The use of bead weaving techniques which result in a soft, malleable, piece that drapes well and moves well. The result with bead weaving is something much more cloth-like.

Color Simultaneity Effects

Picking colors is about making strategic choices. And picking Bead Colors is about understanding how the bead asserts its needs for color. The jewelry designer must be strategic in the placement of color within the piece. The designer achieves balance and harmony, partly through the placement of colors. The designer determines how colors are distributed within the piece, and what movement and rhythm and effect result. And the designer determines what proportions of each color are used, where in the piece, and how.

One set of color-theories employed to make these kinds of choices have to do with Simultaneity Effects. Colors in the presence of other colors get perceived differently, depending on the color combination.

For example, a White Square on a Black background looks bigger than a Black Square on a white background. White reaches out and overflows the boundary; black contracts.

Another example: Gray always picks up some of the color characteristics of other colors around it. Gray next to orange will appear to have an orange tone to it. Gray next to green will appear to have a green tone to it. A "Gray" bead is one, the color of which, has a strong gray or black tone to it. Besides the obvious "gray", these other colors function as a "gray": montana blue, alexandrite, colorado topaz, prairie green. Many color-lined and silver-lined beads can function as a "gray", particularly when the glass color is other than clear.

A final example of simultaneity effects has to do with how people sense whether colors are warm or cool. In one composition, depending on the color mix, a particular color might be felt as “warm”. In a second composition, with a different color mix, that same color might be felt as “cool”. You can picture a yellow square surrounded by white feels lighter, brighter and a different temperature than its counterpart surrounded by black. A red square surrounded by black feels darker, duller, and a different temperature than its counterpart surrounded by white.




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Existence of these simultaneity effects is a great piece of information for the designer. There will be gaps of color and light between beads. Many bead colors are imperfect, particularly in combination. Playing with simultaneity effects gives the designer tools to overcome some of the color limitations associated with the bead and the gaps of light between beads. These allow you to “blend” and build “bridges” and create “transitions.”

In my own design work, I use these simultaneity effects frequently. In this Etruscan Collar project, many of my color choices were based on an understanding of simultaneity effects.

With the Spectrum palette, the color itself is its own simultaneity effect. The bronze and the iris colors play off each other in near perfect proportions. It is difficult to add another color to the spectrum mix without diminishing its power. However, if you want to play with the spectrum color and simultaneity effects, I suggest trying out about 24 grams of an 11/0 size bead or beads. Within this amount, play with different proportions of these two colors: 11/0-black cut, and 11/0-black diamond copper lined, mixed with the 11/0-462cut beads listed above. [If purchasing a kit, these two colors are not included].

IA. Conceptualizing Your Piece

Ask yourself these questions: Purpose? Is this to be for an average, thinner or heavier Woman (15 1/2", 16 1/2", 17-18 1/2")? What is the Context/Setting the necklace might be worn in? What kinds of strategies, ideas, techniques can I employ to give a more contemporary feel to a traditional Etruscan jewelry design? Sizing? How close-fitting to the neck should it fit -- very close, somewhat close, hang down to what point?

Materials? What types, shapes and materials of beads do I want to use? What size and styles of beads do I want to use – glass, crystal, metal, cubes, rounds, seed beads, delicas? What kinds of thread do I want to use – such as Nymo, C-Lon or FireLine? Do I want to wax the thread or cable thread? What type of clasp? Adjustable?

Design and Color Issues? What colors do I want to use? Glass bead colors? Crystal bead colors? Do I want to use a single color or monochromatic palette, or a more complex set of colors? Will I use color mixes? If using a color mix, do I need to control in any way some ordering or arrangement of color, from color to color, as I apply them? Do I need to randomize the colors? Or do I want to have a set patterning? What proportions of each color should I use in my color mixing? How do/should/will the colors of the top strip interact and affect the colors of the bottom strip? To enhance the experience of any color? To enhance the sense of dimensionality within my piece? Should each color have the same or similar finishes, or not? What shapes/sizes/colors of beads will form the basic layout and structure of my Ndebele pattern? Can I anticipate any situation(s) within the piece, where I will need to delineate either an “odd” number of beads, or an “even” number? How will I attach the two strips together? At what point should I begin the overlap of the top strip over the bottom strip. How will I achieve a more curvilinear, rather than, flat planar surface? At what point should I begin to weave in my chain? How does the placement of the chain coordinate with the placement of the clasp, at that point in the piece? What will the clasp assembly look like, and where and how will I attach the clasp? What color should the clasp assembly be? Do I want a gold or silver or other color metal clasp and chain? Do I want to embellish the edge, and if so, how? Wearability? How easily will the necklace, once the project is finished, conform to and feel comfortable around the neck and upon the chest?




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In this project, I wanted to create an elaborate bead woven piece using the Ndebele Stitch. The Ndebele Stitch is a very loosely-woven stitch, and I felt that this stitch would feel soft and drape well, while covering such a large, wide area around the neck, shoulders and chest. I had seen another project where a 4mm Japanese cube bead was alternated with two stacked seed beads, as part of the Ndebele Stitch pattern, and felt that this gave the impression of a tiled mosaic. That effect seemed particularly well-suited to a contemporized traditional Etruscan piece of jewelry.

One drawback to the Ndebele Stitch is that, because the weave is loose, it is more difficult to control for thread tension. Also, the piece needs a lot of reinforcement throughout, which is a little bit more work. A positive side to this stitch is that it puts a lot of thread inside each hole, allowing all the beads to function, move, and conform as a whole.

I wanted the collar to fit close to the neckline. I decided to make the inner ring about 15 ½”, and to use an adjustable choker clasp, to allow the necklace to expand to 17 ½”. After making several necklaces, I discovered that the Ndebele Stitch allows some stretching, even if the tension is kept tight, so it took some trial and error to get a good pattern down, relative to length requirements. I also noticed that I had to make adjustments when switching materials between Japanese glass and Austrian crystal. The materials provide different tension issues. Tension issues can be more pronounced with a stitch like Ndebele than some other stitches like Peyote or Brick, which tend to more naturally keep a tighter tension..

The overlapping strips are the key to the success of the piece. They serve to give the piece its contemporized touches. They add a fluidity and femininity. They serve to make rich and intensify the colors, particularly in the top strip, and add subtle boundaries and shadows and interplays of light which are very unexpected. They enhance a sense of dimensionality. They allow a curving of the flat bead-woven plane. The overall piece feels very serene, but, in reality, there is a lot of movement and activity resulting from the rhythms and color patterns of one strip overlapping similar rhythms and patterns in the bottom strip, yet not coordinated in any rigid or controlled sense. Each overlapping strip, because they are only attached along one edge, actually move a bit independently as the wearer moves. This heightens the experience of the visual form and movement within the form as well as the colors.

What I did NOT want to happen is for there to be a rigidity, predictability and flatness. So, 1. I staggered the overlapping, rather than lay one strip immediately on top of the other 2. I anchored the top row of the top strip above the top row of the bottom stitch. This created a curved or domed effect of one strip over the other, rather than resulting in a flat planar surface. This allowed both strips to move a bit independently from each other. 3. I made the top strip longer than the bottom, so that where the clasp comes together, it looks and feels more fluid, and it gives a tapering off of both ends of the strips.

The two strips are attached using a modified Ndebele Stitch – a bit of a hybrid between the Ndebele Stitch and the Brick Stitch. [Instructions below.] When making the stitches, we’re putting a lot of thread into the holes of each bead. When we get to this step, there is no more room in the seed and/or delica beads for more thread, so we catch a thread, instead of pulling the needle through these small beads, as part of the hybrid bead-weaving pattern here.

I’ve done this necklace with Japanese seed beads and cubes as well as with Austrian crystal beads. For our project here, we will be using Japanese 11/0 seed beads, Japanese 11/0 delica beads and 4mm cubes. [The crystal beads are a little more difficult to use and manipulate in this particular project. NOTE that the 4mm Japanese cube beads are actually smaller than the Austrian crystal 4mm cubes. ]

The colors you use should coordinate well with each other. The 11/0 seed bead and delica colors should pick up the predominant colors in the 4mm cubes you use, though they do not need to be the same. For this project, we will be using the Spectrum Gold palette, which uses Spectrum Gold cubes, with Spectrum Gold seed beads.

In general, while we do not do this with this particular palette, mixing matte and glossy beads works well in this design, as does mixing opaque and transparent. You are overlapping two nettings of beadwork, so the perception of colors of the top netting will be very much influenced by the colors underneath it in the bottom netting.

The choices of … - Colors - Bead Shapes - Randomization or Patterning

… are critical to the success of this piece.




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Teal Terra - Antique Rose Palette

If this were a traditional Etruscan piece, all the colors, shapes and patterns would be expected to fall into place in a very predictable way. So, to contemporize the piece, we want to add elements of unpredictability.

We want to coordinate, not necessarily match, the colors.

We might want to mix roundish seed beads with hex-cut seed beads with more square-ish delicas (cylinder beads) or cut delicas. We might want to mix Japanese and Czech seed beads (they differ in shape).

With this palette, we are using a single color. This particular color has a lot of color variation to it. I think this color variation is important to the success of the finished piece.

If the palette had included color mixes, then I like the colors to be randomized, rather than creating a pattern. The easiest way for me to do this, is to first create my mix. In this case, I would create a mix of my 4mm cubes, and another mix of my seed beads and delicas. Then I pull them out along my work surface, so that I have a relatively single line of beads. I pick them up on my needle, as I need the next bead, moving right to left along this line. [I find, if I let my eye do the picking from the main pile, the selection gets much less random.]

You begin with the bottom strip. Since most of this strip will be covered in the final piece, you have one more chance to fine-tune or change your color palette for creating the top strip.

I have strung this piece on size D FireLine (.008”) cable thread. The FireLine works especially well with loose stitches, like the Ndebele Stitch, in that it enables you more easily to maintain a tighter tension. I wax the FireLine to increase my thread tension.

I chose an adjustable choker clasp. Each part of the clasp is attached to either side of the top strip.

I like my chain to dangle behind the neck about 2 1/2" below the bottom edge of the necklace.

I see this piece worn in a more formal setting. The Etruscan Collar brings the viewer’s attention to the face of the wearer.




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IB. Measurements

Ask yourself these questions: What length around the neck do I want this collar to be? Adjustable? How much length will my clasp assembly add to the piece? What width do I want the overlapping strips to be? What length should each overlapping strip be? What is the actual “size” of the beads, not necessarily what it says on the label, because size is important when measuring length for this piece? What length should the chain be, how much longer should it extend past the ends of the strips? and down the back of the neck? What gauge and link size should it be? Do I need any definable center points?

I wanted the collar to fit close to the neckline. I decided to make the inner ring about 15 ½”, and to use an adjustable choker clasp, to allow the necklace to expand to 17 ½”. The width of the overlapping strips, when woven together, is approximately 1 1/8”. Each strip is about 15/16” wide. The top strip is slightly longer than the bottom strip. The top strip overlaps the bottom strip approximately 3/8” on each end. Some slight variations in actual sizes of beads, such as from cube to cube, or seed bead to seed bead, or seed bead to delica bead, actually works well in this project. The Ndebele stitch can accommodate variations to a point, and such variation adds interest to the piece. When choosing a chain, links that are approximately 1/4" (6-7mm) long, or a series of links that together are about 1/4" (6-7mm) long, will work best. This allows the link openings to coordinate with the points where they get woven along the top edge of the top strip. I used a 22-gauge thick gold-filled Long & Short Link chain. Remember that the chain is an added touch, not the focal point of the piece. I like my chain to dangle behind the neck about 2 1/2" below the bottom edge of the necklace.

I did not want to create a definable center point.

The top strip is slightly longer than the bottom strip.

When you begin Ndebele, you create a ladder. We are going to create a 2-row ladder foundation. The number of cubes in the first row of that foundation should equal the number of cubes in the top row of that foundation.

NOTE: There are 25mm in an inch. Rulers are marked in inches on one side and millimeters on the other.

MEASUREMENTS

DESCRIPTION THIS PROJECT YOUR PROJECT VARIATIONS

Length with clasp 15 1/2 to 17 1/2”

Length of Square Stitch Base

6 ½” or 58 base rows of 8/0 seed beads

Length Clasp Adds 0" - 2"

Width of each strip 15/16"

Width of attached strips 1 1/8"

Increased length of top strip compared to bottom strip

3/8" on each side

Length of Chain To extend 2 1/2" on each side

# of Ladder Rows/Strip 2

# of Ndebele Rows/Strip 5

# cube beads in each row of ladder of bottom strip

58

# cube beads in each row of ladder of top strip

60

# cube beads in each row of ladder per 1" of length

4 cube beads




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IC. Selecting Materials

Ask yourself these questions: Types of beads? Glass, metal, other? Sizes of beads? Stringing material? beading thread, cable thread? Clasp? Make my own or use a manufactured clasp?

For this project, I chose glass seed beads, because these are inexpensive, and are available in a lot of colors which I call "complex" and which can be coordinated with each other.

I decided to use 4mm cubes and 2mm sized beads, including 11/0 seed beads and 11/0 delica beads, usually with smooth finishes, though for some palettes, cut. In many cases, I mix both matte and glossy finishes. . For some color palettes, I also include 2mm round (Series 5000) Austrian crystal beads.

Here I use FireLine cable thread, and I wax it. The cable thread and the waxing were choices I made to increase the thread tension. Ndebele is a very loose stitch. I want to keep the beads as tightly together as I can. Regular beading thread, like Nymo or C-Lon, would not hold the beads tightly enough, and would result in a less than satisfactory outcome.

I chose a 3-strand choker clasp which I sew in on either side. The clasp is somewhat hidden by the extra flap length on either end of the top strip. I prefer to use an adjustable choker clasp on this particular project, since the piece is meant to be worn close to the neck and flat on the chest, and women vary in neck sizes, as well as in their neck to chest silhouettes.

I prefer to use a gold-filled, vermeil, sterling silver or 14KT clasp. This project takes a long time to complete, and deserves a quality, high value clasp to finish it off.

For the chain embellishment, I prefer to use either gold-filled or sterling silver. 14KT is too soft for this element. The chain will get a lot of wear and tear as worn, so the vermeil would not be as good a choice here, when compared to gold-filled.

ID. Sketching a Pattern or Graph

Prepare a Graph or general sketch of what an Ndebele stitched strip would look like.

Mark down what you are calling rows and columns. If you are numbering the beads, do this here, as well. Do this so it makes sense for you, given the requirements of the particular type of bead-weaving stitch you are using. There are no pre-set rules here.

Assign symbols to each type of bead and component. Locate the symbols in the order you want each bead/component to appear along the straight line of the necklace cord, as they would appear in your final necklace design.

Alongside your sketch, don’t forget to include a key (a list of symbols and their meaning).

[We’ll outline specific detailed step-by-step instructions for assembling the piece later on. Here we want to get a general sense of the overall structure of the piece. This will allow us to visualize the components as more generic elements, no matter what beads and other components we actually end up using in our piece. For expediency, in our sketches below, we reference the actual parts we intend to use to make the pictured piece.]




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KEY

SKETCH: The Ndebele Strip Pattern

Ndebele always starts by creating what is called a LADDER, and then working the herringbone pattern that characterizes Ndebele off this ladder. In this example-sketch, the pattern is made from one 4mm cube bead and two 2mm seed beads.

Both for the ladder and the Ndebele, the stitching pattern is similar:

thread is exiting a cube ADD 2 Seed/Delica Beads, ADD 1 Cube, DOWN 2 Seed/Delica Beads, THROUGH NEXT CUBE, thread exits cube to begin again.




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We count the resulting cubes in Ladder Rows 1 and 2, to control for our final length. We want to end up with the same number of cube beads in both Ladder Row 1 and Row 2. See Table below.

Desired number of cube beads in Ladder Row 1:

RESULTING LENGTH

Using Miyuki 4mm Cube Beads

Using Swarovski 4mm Cube beads (series 5601)

15 ½ - 17”

Bottom Strip: 58 cubes in both Rows 1 & 2


Top Strip: 60 cubes in both Rows 1 & 2


16 ½ - 18”





IE. Identifying Potential Areas of Weakness within Your Piece

Identify potential points of weakness within your piece. These are areas within your piece that you will want to add some extra reinforcement.

In this necklace, points of potential weakness include: The two ends of each Ndebele strip. Rows 3, 4 and 5 of each Ndebele strip. Periodically throughout, you will want to reinforce where you feel your tension has gotten too loose.

The Ndebele stitch is a loose-knit stitch. We will need to reinforce areas where the tension is too loose. We reinforce by adding more thread within the holes, and pulling the beads more tightly together. Within this piece, we want to achieve two conflicting goals – a thread tension that is loose enough so that the piece lays and drapes nicely, and allows the piece to move with the body, and -- a thread tension that is tight enough so that the beads in the piece hold together, look coherently placed, reflect the colors appropriately, and that the necklace does not pull apart

This means that you will want to pass your thread two or three more times through these areas. As you are working your stitching back and forth, pay attention to areas that seem loose, and reinforce those, before proceeding on.

We will pass through one extra time along the full length of each strip, to reinforce the Ndebele Rows of the strip.

In the Ndebele stitch, you will basically pick up 2 seed beads and one cube bead, and then stitch them in place. Each time you do this, you want to give your thread a good tug. You want to make sure that the cube bead seems locked in place in the correct relatively up/down positioning. You want to make sure the 2 seed beads also line up correctly as they butt up next to a cube bead. You can adjust by pushing the bead with your finger or your needle. Each time after you adjust any positioning of cube or seed beads, give your thread a tug.




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When you come to the end of each row, circle around your edge and near edge beads, to reinforce.

IF. Identifying how you want to secure the clasp This piece offers several possibilities for both choice of clasp, and how to connect the clasp to your beadwork.

In this piece, I attach both sides of the choker clasp underneath the first 1 or 2 columns along the edge of the top Ndebele strip.

Since I am using FireLine, I tie double-knots to each side of the choker clasp, and tightly weave in the FireLine through the beads and over and under the threads between the beads, along the edges of the first 3-4 columns along the edges. This piece is on the heavier side, and the clasp parts need to be well-anchored.

IG. Visualizing Your Process

Holding the piece. I work the piece over my fore-finger. Thus, my finger becomes like a little easel. I use my thumb as a clamp to hold the developing beadwork in place. I am right-handed, so use my left hand and fore-finger as my easel, and work the needle and thread with my right hand.

In which direction do you want to work – away from you/towards you; towards you/away from you; side to side, clockwise, counterclockwise? For this piece, I like to work from the left side of the piece to the right side. As I get to one end, I usually flip it over, so I keep working from left to right.

Where the thread goes in and where it comes out. The Ndebele Stitch takes you through a meandering pathway. Picture adding "units". Each unit consists of 2 smaller 2mm beads and 1 larger 4mm cube bead.




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Your thread will always be exiting the cube bead, before you begin the next unit.

Do you want to work from one end to the other, or complete the piece in stages, or create a series of components, and then attach them together?

Staging: In this Etruscan Collar necklace, I am going to stage the assembly in this order: 1. Make the bottom Ndebele strip, and reinforce it 2. OPTIONAL: Add embellishment to the outer edge of the strip 3. Make the top Ndebele strip, and reinforce it 4. Assemble the two strips together, with a staggered overlapping 5. Weave in the chain embellishment 6. Attach the left side of the clasp 7. Attach the right side of the clasp

DO SOME PRE-TESTING!

Following the directions below...

Create two approximately 3” sample Ndebele strips, one with 10 cubes in each of Ladder Rows 1 and 2, and 5 Ndebele rows above it, and the other with 12 cubes in each of Ladder Rows 1 and 2, and 5 Ndebele rows above it.

Secure these two strips together.

Attach a piece of chain along one edge.

This sample gives you a chance to pre-test your ideas and strategies, before barging into the full task. This allows you to test your color choices, and validate your measurement and “counting ideas.”

Set your mantra going. Organize the “flow” of your work in your mind. Create a pattern and rhythm in your head, utilizing such things as shapes, sizes, and colors, and noting where thread goes in and where thread comes out, and whether you are working clock-wise, counter-clockwise or in a figure 8 motion.

Based on your working through your sample above, set your mantra going. For example, you begin each stitch by coming out of a cube. You will always be coming out of a cube, adding two seed beads and 1 cube, and then going down through 2 seed beads, and up through another cube.

So,

Needle out a cube Pick up 2 seeds, 1 cube Down through 2 seeds And up and out through a cube. And again…




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IH. Organizing Your Work Space

Get your beads, stringing materials, needles, tools, ruler, wax, work surface, bic lighter or thread zapper, handy pen and paper, and the like, altogether in one place.

On the left side (if you are right-handed, reverse if you’re not) of your work surface, make a pile of your mix of 4mm cube beads, and another pile of your seed beads and delicas. With your fingers, grab some cubes and pull them out towards the other side of your worksurface, in a generally straight, single-file line.

Do the same with your pile of seed beads and delicas.

Get your needles, wax, scissors and thread out, and keep these close to you, perhaps in a separate tray.

II. BEGINNING YOUR PROJECT

IIA. Basic Steps

The instructions below are for making a 15 – 17 1/2” long Etruscan Collar using FireLine cable thread.

BASIC STEPS: IIA-1. Make the bottom Ndebele strip, and reinforce it IIA-2. OPTIONAL: Add embellishment to the outer edge of the strip IIA-3. Make the top slightly longer Ndebele strip, and reinforce it IIA-4. Assemble the two strips together, with a staggered overlapping IIA-5. Weave in the chain embellishment IIA-6. Attach the left side of the clasp IIA-7. Attach the right side of the clasp




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IIA-1. MAKE THE BOTTOM NDEBELE STRIP, AND REINFORCE IT

IIA-1-A. Preparing Thread IIA-1-B. The Ladder IIA-1-C. Ndebele IIA-1-D. Reinforcing the Outer Edge

IIA-1-A. Preparing the Thread

1. Cut an arm-to-arm’s length of FireLine size D thread (about 6 feet) 2. Put the needle on the thread, and leave an 8-10” tail 3. Wax the thread to increase our control over thread tension

Pull the thread by cutting it into a stick of beeswax. Do this twice. Then take your thumb and forefinger, pinch the thread at one end, and pull it slowing through your fingers, so that your body temperature melts the wax into the thread.

IIA-1-B. The Ladder

4. Ndebele always starts by creating what is called a LADDER, and then working the herringbone pattern that characterizes Ndebele off this ladder. In this exercise, we are creating a two-row ladder. Each row alternates 2 11/0 seeds/delicas, then a cube, then 2 more 11/0 seeds/delicas, then another cube, and so forth.

For our project today, to create our bottom strip, we will want to continue this ladder until there are 58 cubes in Ladder Row #1, and also, 58 cubes in Ladder Row 2.

Step 1:

With your needle, pick up 2 seed/delica beads, 1 cube bead, 2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube bead.

NOTE: Often the holes in the cubes are very large and can swallow the delica beads. If you are using a delica bead as part of our 2 seed/delica bead pair, then (1) only use 1 delica bead per pair, and (2) pick up the delica bead first, then the seed bead, and then continue by picking up the cube. Make a loop by returning through seed/delica bead #1 then through the rest of the beads and out cube bead #6.

You end up like this, with your thread coming out the cube bead: 1 o [] 6 2 o o 5 3 [] o 4 As best you can, try to keep the beads lined up as in the diagram. As you weave back and forth along the piece, it gets easier to keep the beads aligned the way we want them to be.




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Make another return circle, going back around thru #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Take the tail, and make two overhand knots around the main thread at bead six, to lock in the circle. Maneuver your needle/thread to be coming out of one of the cube beads, if it is not already.

Step 2:

Pick up 2 more seed/delica beads (#7 and #8) and 1 cube bead (#9). Make a back-return loop by going through seed bead #4, #5 and cube #6, then up through your 2 new seed beads and 1 new cube.

Steps 3 and onward: Repeat this pattern (making counterclockwise circles) until you’ve achieved the length you want, which in our case, would be count of 58 cubes in the first row and 58 cubes in the second row. Add 2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube, make a back-return loop, coming up and out through your 3 new beads.




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Again, try to keep the cubes and double seed/delica beads lined up as best you can all along the way.

Ladder Rows 1 and 2 are complete:

You should be exiting a cube bead. If not, maneuver your needle/thread so that you are.

ABOUT ADDING THREAD

When it looks like there is about 12” of thread left, I start to plan to tie it off and begin another thread.

To tie off the old thread, I snag a thread-loop (the thread between any two beads) and tie a simple overhand knot. I then , work my way backwards towards the direction I had come from through a few beads, snag another thread-loop and tie another knot, continuing to work backwards a little bit more, and then trim the thread as close to the exiting hole of the bead as possible.

To add a new thread, I start forward a few beads. I snag a thread-loop, tie an overhand knot while leaving a 6” tail, and work my way back and up to where I want the thread to come out, and continue where I left off. This is called Anchoring. After you snag the thread-loop, you tie an overhand knot around the thread, in order to anchor your main thread to the piece.

You will find thread-loops along each side of the piece, as well as between each bead. You want to work your needle under the thread. You DO NOT want your needle to pierce the thread, because this will cause the thread to fray.




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When I am finished with the project, I put a needle on each tail, and work my way back through some beads, before cutting off the tail.

Reversing Direction: After you snag the thread-loop (that is, the thread between any two beads), you can double back with your needle and thread, to reverse direction on the same row. This is useful, whenever you need to reposition your needle and thread, so that you are coming out a cube and heading in the correct direction.

IIA-1-C. Ndebele Beginning Ndebele Row 1

We create the Ndebele weave off the ladder stitch. It’s a similar pattern. We pick up 2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube with each stitch. We always come out a cube bead with our thread, ready to start the next Ndebele unit (2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube).

NOTE: Often the holes in the cubes are very large and can swallow the delica beads. If you are using a delica bead as part of our 2 seed/delica bead pair, then (1) only use 1 delica bead per pair, and (2) pick up the delica bead first, then the seed bead, and then continue by picking up the cube.

Begin by exiting a cube bead. Add 2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube




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Stitch down into the 2 seed/delica beads in the next column over in Ladder Row 2. Be sure your cube bead is locked into place in the Ndebele Row 1. Be sure your 2 seed/delica beads are stacked on top of each other. Be sure that your 2 seed/delica beads are on the correct side of the cube (left or right). It will be at a slight angle, as part of a herringbone pattern.

Bring your thread up into the cube bead (from bottom to top) in the next column over in Ladder Row 2. Give a tug on the thread to keep things tight, and to keep your cube and seed/delicas beads in place and aligned side-by-side correctly.

Begin again. Add 2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube bead.

Bring your thread down into the two seed/delica beads in Ladder Row 2, up the cube bead (bottom to top), to exit the cube bead. Add 2 seed/delica beads, 1 cube, and so forth.




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Again, be sure your cube bead is locked into place in the Ndebele Row 1. Be sure your 2 seed/delica beads are stacked on top of each other. Be sure that your 2 seed/delica beads are on the correct side of the cube, (in this case, to the right on this row, meaning to the left on the next Ndebele Row 2 that will be above it).

Continue the Ndebele weave until you reach the other side of the strip.

Every few inches along the way, you will want to do some reinforcement, by doing some circling, thread-loop snagging, and tying knots.

A Note About The Edges On Either End Of Your Strip And Executing A Turn-Around Sometimes, when we reach the far edge of the strip, everything is lined up correctly, and we can continue our weave towards the opposite direction, without breaking the pattern. However, this may not happen. Sometimes, things we do as we create this long length of a strip, result in ending up where we want a cube bead, and we have 2 seed/delica beads there instead (or vice versa). Also, when we add thread, or do some reinforcing along the way, we may inadvertently reposition ourselves in the less optimum place. In this case, we executive a turn-around, so that we can reverse direction, and continue with our pattern (thus, our mantra). For example, to execute a turn-around along one edge:

Exit the cube bead. Add your 2 seed/delica beads and one cube.




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Bring your thread down through the 2 seed/delica beads. Snag a thread loop. You can tie an over hand knot here, if you wish. Bring your thread back up through the 2 seed/delica beads and through the cube. Add 2 seed/delica beads and another group, and begin your return journey across the strip.

You are again, now exiting a cube. Bring your thread down through 2 seed/delica beads in the previous row. Then from bottom to top of the cube bead in the next column. And continue to work your way across to the other end of the strip. Reinforce this edge, as well. Do some circling, thread-loop snagging, and tying knots to reinforce the first 4 columns on each edge side of the strip.

NOW, Continue creating the 2nd Ndebele Row.

Exit a cube in Ndebele Row 1. Add 2 seed/delica beads and 1 cube.




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Stitch down into the 2 seed/delica beads in Ndebele Row 1 in the next column. Stitch up through the cube bead, Ndebele Row 1, next column.

Add 2 seed/delica beads and a cube.

Stitch down through 2 seed/delica beads. Stitch up through the cube bead Add 2 seed/delica beads and a cube, and so forth.

Be sure your cube bead is locked into place in the Ndebele Row 1. Be sure your 2 seed/delica beads are stacked on top of each other. Be sure that your 2 seed/delica beads are on the correct side of the cube (left or right).

Every few inches along the way, you will want to do some reinforcement, by doing some circling, thread-loop snagging, and tying knots.




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Reinforce the edge. Do some circling, thread-loop snagging, and tying knots to reinforce the first 4 columns on each edge side of the strip.

Here we have the 2 Ladder Rows and the 2 Ndebele Rows.

Follow the same pattern to create the 3rd Ndebele Row Follow the same pattern to create the 4th Ndebele Row And, Follow the same pattern to create the 5th Ndebele Row Every few inches along the way, you will want to do some reinforcement, by doing some circling, thread-loop snagging, and tying knots. Line up the edges correctly, and begin each row by exiting a cube.

Do some circling, thread-loop snagging, and tying knots to reinforce the first 4 columns on each edge side of the strip.

IIA-2. Reinforcing the Outer Edge and Adding Edge Embellishment (Optional) We need to reinforce, thus tighten the tension, all along the outer edge, from strip end to strip end.

At this point, you want to tie off your current thread.

You want to tie off and weave back through the piece any and all tails that are sticking out.




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Now, add a new thread (about 6 feet, or arm to arm’s length) at one end, anchoring it securely somewhere in the middle of the strip and near one end. Have your needle/thread exit a cube bead at on end.

Take your thread and follow the linear pathway down from Ndebele Row 5 to Ndebele Row 1, then back up again from Row 1 to Row 5, and return.

Reinforcing the Outer Edge, Without Adding Any Additional Embellishment

Periodically, snag a thread loop and tie a knot.

As you are moving across the strip, eyeball your piece, and look for any areas that may need a 2nd reinforcement.

IIA-2-OPTIONAL: Add embellishment to the outer edge of the strip

It is at this point of reinforcing the outer edge at which you can add some embellishment. This can be many things. You might want to add a simple horizontal line of beads. You might want to add some sort of drop.

In these instructions, we add a 3-bead picot edge to the bottom strip only. These three beads are 2mm in size each, though these may be a mix of shapes, such as 11/0 seed beads, 11/0 delica beads and/or 2mm round (Series 5000) Austrian crystal beads.

In this particular diagram, I’ve added 2 11/0 delicas and 1 Austrian crystal round bead (Series 5000) to the end of each “finger” created by the Ndebele stitch. The picot edge could be made up of any kind of bead between 2mm and 3mm in diameter, or you could have used top-drilled drop beads, as well, instead of the center picot bead.




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Reinforcing the Outer Edge, and Adding Some Embellishment

IIA-3. Make the Top Ndebele Strip, and Reinforce It

The top Ndebele strip, in our example, will be created similarly to the bottom, following the steps in section IIA-1.

The Ladder Row 1 and Ladder Row 2, however, will each contain a count of 60 cubes, thus making the top strip slightly longer than the bottom.

Now is a good time to pause, and reflect on some of your design choices.

First, the color scheme. Are you satisfied with the selection of colors, and/or with the proportions of each color that you have used? Do the color boundaries and/or boundaries between beads, feel right, or do you want more blurred or sharper boundaries? Since the top strip will cover most of the bottom, this is a good time to make any color adjustments that you may want.

Fold your bottom strip over itself in half, to approximate what two layers of Ndebele might look like. Are you getting the color effects, clarity and intensity you want? Do you need to tweak or change any of your colors?

Second, the embellishment of the outer edge. Do you like this embellishment? Do you want less or none? Do you want more elaborate embellishment? It is easy to cut out your bottom strip embellishment, and start again.

Do you want to add embellishment to the outer edge of your top strip? Or leave the embellishment on the bottom strip only?

Third, width of the strip. Remember, when you assemble the top and bottom strips, they will be staggered, so the final width will be a little more than the width of a strip PLUS the width of one more ladder or one Ndebele row. If you want to make the strip wider, you can add 1 or more Ndebele rows at this point to the bottom strip, and an equal number or additional rows to the top strip.

When you are finished with the top strip, lay this over the bottom one, so you can get a feel for what the final piece will look like, and prepare yourself for the next step, which is attaching the two strips together.




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IIA-4. Assemble the Two Strips Together, with a Staggered Overlapping

Here we want to: - Attach the two strips together - Stagger one layer over the other - Create a little bit of a curvature to our resulting “flat” plane - Allow easy movement and flow between both strips, even allowing both strips to move a bit independently, as worn

Attaching the 2 strips together is the most difficult part of the necklace. If possible, try to do this all at once, without putting the beadwork down. The process takes about 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Lay your top strip down on the table, ladder side closest to your body.

Lay your bottom strip on top of the top strip, again, ladder side closest to your body, aligning the edges along this ladder row side. Center the bottom strip over the top one. The top strip should be longer by about 1 to 2 cube beads in ladder row 1 on each side.

NOTE: If one end of your bottom strip ladder Row 1 ends in a cube, and one end of your top strip ladder ends with a cube, I like to stack these two sides with this ordering.

The trick here is to hold the two strips together, work the thread back and forth between the two strips, without losing your place. You do not want to skip over any of the places where you anchor the two strips together by snagging a thread loop along the bottom strip (which lays on top).




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You may need to switch to a Size #12 English Beading Needle here, or, at least, have one handy. Sometimes the larger Size #10 works more easily here; othertimes, not. There’s already a lot of thread through the holes of the seed/delica beads. First, you start a new thread (about 6’) and anchor it to the BOTTOM STRIP (which is laying on top). Start in at the 2nd column, a little down from the outer edge. Snag a thread loop and tie a knot. Bring your thread all the way down and out the ladder edge, then back up through the first column about half way. Snag a thread loop, tie a knot, and reverse direction. Bring the thread all the way back down so that it is coming out the first cube bead. NOTE: If the first bead on your ladder of the bottom strip (which is laying on top) are the 2 seed beads, instead of a cube, start the anchoring process with the 3rd column in and bring the thread out the bottom of the 2nd column, which will be a cube bead.

Keep your tension as tight as you can here. Very important to secure the two strips tightly.

Our thread is exiting the first cube in the first ladder row of the bottom strip (which is laying on top).

Bring the thread through the cube in the top strip (which is laying underneath) and lined up with it.




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Bring the thread up through the next 2 seed/delica beads in the top strip (which is laying underneath).

We’re going to grab the bottom layer (laying on top) literally by its threads and attach it to the top layer (laying underneath). By snagging this thread-loop, it allows us to pull the strips closer together and force that slight "curvature" we want along this inner-collar edge.

Snag the thread between the 2 seed/delica beads in the bottom strip (which is laying on top) and lined up with the 2 seed/delica beads from the top strip (which is laying underneath), and the cube bead in the bottom strip (which is laying on top).

Take the thread back down through the cube in the top strip (which is laying underneath). Pull tight to snag the two layers closely together. If you want to snag a thread loop and tie a knot here, you can. Then up through the next 2 seed/delica beads. Snag a thread loop between the 2 seed/delica beads and the cube in the bottom strip (which lays on top). Back down to thru the cube bead in the top strip (which lays underneath), up through the 2 seed/delica beads, and so forth. Work your way all the way across until you get to the other end. Anchor and secure the thread in the bottom strip (which lays on top).

NOTE: It is important to hold both strips lined up at the places to be attached. It is also best to attach both strips all in one sitting.




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IIA-5. Weave In The Chain Embellishment When choosing a chain, links that are approximately 1/4" long, or a series of links that together are about 1/4" long, will work best. This allows the link openings to coordinate with the points where they get woven along the top edge of the top strip. I used a 22-gauge thick gold-filled Long & Short Link chain.

Remember that the chain is an added touch, not the focal point of the piece.

I like the two ends of my chain to dangle behind the neck about 2 1/2" below the bottom edge of the necklace.

When we attach the chain to the inner edge of the top strip, we do not necessarily thread through every link of the chain. We do, however, take the thread around every thread loop along this inner strip edge. If you do not catch every thread loop, then you end up with a messy look, with lots of thread showing through the chain loops. More specific instructions below.

Each choice of chain style will affect your strategy for attaching it.

Some Pre-Testing is a good idea here. Create a 5” 2-row ladder strip. Attach an 8” length of chain. - Do you like the look? The thickness of the wire of the links, the link pattern, the link size and shape – all look OK? - Curve your sample. Does the chain lay right? - Is your strategy for weaving the chain along the edge satisfactory?




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So, we are ready to add the length of chain to the finished piece. Cut a length of chain that is 14-15” longer than the length of the inner edge of the attached strips. This will be around 30 - 35”. We want a length of chain on each side to hang down over the shoulder, typically 2 ½” below the outer edge boundary. We will cut the final dangling lengths of chain AFTER the clasp has been added and the necklace is complete. Line up the chain along the ladder, so that it is centered, and you have about 5” to 7” of chain extending beyond the ends of the top strip on either side. Turn the strips on their back, so that the top side is on the table, and the bottom side is above it. We start by attaching one link of chain to a thread-loop on the 2nd ladder row on the top strip at the point where the edge of the bottom strip begins.




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Tie a knot to anchor the thread. Tie off a link of chain. Move towards top edge, and secure links all across that top edge, until you get to the other side. The excess length of chain on each side will drop down behind the little extra Ndebele top-strip flaps on both ends. Work up towards the inner edge, sewing the links along the way. To work “upward”, you will take your needle and thread through a bead or two, and exit. Then snag a thread loop, tie a knot, and continue up through another bead or two. Now make a 90 degree turn, and sew the links across the inner edge, as illustrated above.

The process of attaching the chain across the top is a little like spiraling your working thread around each thread loop. This is called a book-binding stitch. Every other loop or so, you will spear a link on the chain, and secure it to the Ndebele strip with your working thread. Periodically along the way, I like to tie a knot.

NOTE: Work in a continuous thread path. Don't change directions. If you go through a chain link from one side to the other, when you circle around the anchoring thread loop a second time, you want to go through that same first side to that same other side. If we were setting our "Mantra" here, it would go something like this:

Needle Under the thread, and back over the thread Bring back Under the thread, and back through chain link Bring back Under the thread, and back through chain link, again Bring back Under the thread, and back over the thread

So we’re going to go under and over a thread-loop, move over to the next thread-loop and go under and over again. We’ll continue to the next thread-loop, go under it, look to see if we are lined up with a chain-link, and if so, go through that and back over our thread-loop, moving over to the next thread-loop, and so forth. Each time you hook onto that chain-link, PULL TIGHT on your thread, to get out any slack. NOTE: Based on how the chain links position themselves relative to your bead pattern on the edge of your strip, you may find that your “tie-off” place and “slip-through” place, may differ from the illustrated example above. However, the strategy is the same. You want to be sure to slip under and around EVERY thread loop along the inner edge, and tie on the chain at regular intervals along the length. When you get to the point on the inner edge of the top strip where the edge of the other side of the bottom strip is, make that 90 degree turn downward, and sew in a couple of Attach these links to the inside of the top strip.




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Finally, zig-zag your way back an inch or so, snagging a couple of thread loops and tying knots along the way. Trim the thread.




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IIA-6. Attach the Left Side (as you look down onto the front of your piece) of the Clasp For our project example, we are using a 3-strand vermeil or gold filled choker clasp. A choker clasp is a hook and eye clasp that has an extra length of chain on the ring/loop side, so that the actual length of the necklace can be made adjustable.

The hook end on this particular clasp is not fixed. In this case, or when the hook is fixed on a perpendicular plane to the end bar, you want to attach the clasp, so that when the necklace is worn, the wearer hooks the clasp from the outside inward. Thus the open part of the hook will face the wearer’s neck. When the hook end is fixed on the same flat plane as the end bar, you want to attach the clasp, so that when the necklace is worn, the wearer hooks the clasp upward from floor to sky. Thus the open part of the hook will face the sky. The HOOK side of the clasp is always attached first, and always attached to the left side, as you are looking down onto the front of the piece. NOTE: If you are using a different kind of clasp, you always begin with the largest part of the clasp assembly, and always attach this to the left side (as you are looking down onto the front of the piece). The end bar of this clasp has 3 loops. You tie on these three loops with thread, using overhand knots, under the flap of the top strip. You tie these off to thread loops between the first and second column of beads. NOTE: If the loops on your clasp are larger, you may have to tie them off between the 2nd and 3rd columns. The chain should dangle behind the clasp. That is, if we view this as the beginning of a sandwich, the top strip comes first, then the clasp, then the chain, and last the bottom strip.

IIA-7. Attach The Right Side (as you look down onto the front of your piece) Of The Clasp Take the other half of your clasp and attach this in the same way as in IIA-6 the left side attachment above. This would be the ring side (or the smaller piece of the clasp). The right side is as you look down onto the front of the piece. You can add a longer piece of chain (or some extra jump rings) to this ring side, if you want to extend the length of the necklace even more. On either side, you have a dangling piece of chain extension. Trim this down to the length you want, typically 2 ½”.




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IIB. Dealing With Contingencies -- Things That May Happen 1. Thread not exiting a bead in the correct direction you want it to go. Always come out of a cube, to start your next step. You can maneuver a zig-zag path to get yourself correctly aligned. Or, you can use a Reversing Direction technique. After you snag the thread-loop, you double back with your needle and thread, to reverse direction on the same row. If you want, you can also tie a knot at the point you snag the thread loop. 2. At End of a Strip, you’re not coming out right Make the pattern work: The column alternates 1 cube bead, then 2 seed beads, then1 cube bead. The next column would have 2 seed beads next to any cube, and 1 cube next to any seed beads, along the previous column. One way to make the column work is to add 2 seed/delicas and 1 cube, and bring your thread down through the beads in the next column, and the snag a thread loop, and reverse direction until your thread is exiting the cube. 3. Slack on Thread or Thread Showing Some thread will show with this stitch. If you spot slack, start an independent thread an inch or so back from that area of slack, anchor the thread, and then weave up and down, going about an inch or so past the slack. Tie off the thread. Zig-zag through the piece a bit, before trimming the thread. 4. Your Needle Won’t Go Through That One More Time Especially with your seed and delica beads, sometimes there’s just too many thread passes. You don’t want to crack a bead you’ve already bead-woven. If you have a size #10 needle on your thread, take it off and replace it with a size #12. If the size #12 will no longer work, use a Fine twist wire (collapsible eye) needle. 5. You Crack a Bead or Skip a Bead If a delica or seed bead cracks on you, you can either ignore it, cut up your work back to that point and start again, or sew in another one, anchoring it tightly to the beads around it so that it looks like it was not sewn in. 6. You Are Not Fully Satisfied With Your Color Choices You begin with the bottom strip. Since most of this strip will be covered in the final piece, you have one more chance to fine-tune or change your color palette for creating the top strip. Adding about 350-400 black seed beads or delicas to your mix for either strip creates sharper color boundaries. This also adds to the sense of dimensionality. Adding about 350-400 seed beads or delicas in the same color as the predominate color in your piece blurs color boundaries. This also reduces a sense of dimensionality, resulting in a more flat look. Use color theory to evaluate whether the relative proportions of each color seem to fit. For example, with purple and yellow, there should be 4 purples and 1 yellow in any 5 units, for there to be a sense of balance. 7. Length of Necklace Too Short or Too Long Too Long: There’s not a great fix here. You might be able to attach a smaller clasp. Or re-attach your clasp assembly back further from each strip end. Too Short: Add longer length of chain to the loop side of your choker clasp. 8. Some Stubs of Threads Are Showing Where You’ve Trimmed The Tails Sometimes, it’s difficult to get a scissors positioned so that you can have a clean trimming of your tails or threads. If a stub is showing, you can usually take a bic lighter or thread zapper, bring the flame close to that stub, and melt it off. 9. You Don’t Like the Look or the Lay of the Chain Ideally, you would have done some pre-testing, before attaching the chain along the full length of the inner edge of the piece. If you don’t like the look or lay of the chain on the finished piece, you will have to cut it all off. You can pull off the thread fragments, or use a bic lighter or thread zapper to melt them. There are several variables to play with: - thickness of the wire of the links (called gauge) - size of the opening of the links - pattern of the links, if more than one type of link - texture of the wire, such as smooth or patterned - length of the links, or length of the link pattern - shininess or color/finish of the chain




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IIC. Finishing Touches

Signature bead or embellishment I think it is always a good idea to use a signature bead in your projects. This might be a unique bead added near the beginning or end of the piece, or an engraved tag added as part of the clasp assembly. You want your signature bead to identify the piece as your own, but you don’t want your signature bead to compete with or detract from your piece.

The general structure of this Etruscan Collar has been created by Warren Feld. However, when your personalize this pattern in any way – choice of beads, choice of patterns, choice of lay-out, choice of stringing material, choice of clasp, choice of chain embellishment, choice of color scheme – you add your own touches, and the piece deserves your signature.

III. Learning Objectives Met After Accomplishing This Project

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

NDEBELE STITCH LTB-BW3-NB-01 Etruscan Collar 15 - 17 1/2" necklace Intermediate/Advanced Level Class

BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

TECHNICAL MECHANICS

1. Managing Thread Tension

INTERMEDIATE

2. Holding Your Piece To Work It

BEGINNER

3. Reading Simple Pattern, Figure and/or Graph

INTERMEDIATE

4. Selecting Materials

INTERMEDIATE

5. Identifying Areas of Potential Weakness, and Strategies for Dealing With These

BEGINNER




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6. Determining Measurements, including Width and Length of a Piece, Especially In Relationship To Bead Sizes

INTERMEDIATE

7. Finishing Off Threads in Piece or Extending by Adding Threads

BEGINNER

UNDERSTANDING CRAFT BASIS OF STITCH

1. Starting the Stitch

BEGINNER

2. Implementing the Basic Stitch

BEGINNER

3. Finishing Off Your Piece With A Clasp Assembly

BEGINNER

4. Creating Simple Surface Embellishment

INTERMEDIATE

5. Creating a Simple Edging or Fringe

INTERMEDIATE

6. Working Stitch in Flat Form

INTERMEDIATE

7. Increasing and Decreasing

8. Working Stitch in Tubular Form

9. Working Stitch To Create Open (Negative Spaces), and




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Split Forms

10. Elaborately Embellishing the Stitch, including Fringes, Edge Treatments, Bails, Straps and Connectors

INTERMEDIATE

11. Working Stitch in Circular Form

12. Working Stitch in Spiral Form

13. Working Stitch in Diagonal Form

14. Working Stitch in 3-Dimensions (sculptural)

UNDERSTANDING ART & DESIGN BASIS OF STITCH

1. Learning Implications When Choosing Different Sizes/Shapes of Beads, or Using Different Stringing Materials

BEGINNER

2. Understanding Relationship of this Stitch in Comparison to Other Types of Bead Weaving Stitches

BEGINNER

3. Understanding How Bead Asserts Its

INTERMEDIATE




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Need For Color, Using This Stitch

4. Creating Your Own Design with This Stitch, in Reference to Design Elements and Jewelry Design Principles of Composition

5. Creating Shapes, Components and Forms with This Stitch, and Establishing Themes

6. Building in Structural Supports, and Other Support Elements, into the Design

BECOMING BEAD WEAVING ARTIST

1. Developing A Personal Style

2. Valuing or Pricing Your Work

3. Teaching Others The Stitch

4. Promoting Yourself and Your Work

5. Advocating for Jewelry as "Art" and as "Design"




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IV. Next Steps

IVA. Suggested Readings: Creative Bead Weaving, (Carol Wilcox-Wells), Lark Books, 1996 Introduction to Beadwork - Bracelets, (The Beadworkers Guild of England) Beyond Beading Basics, (Carole Rodgers) The Complete Guide to Beading Techniques, (Jane Davis), Krause Publications, 2001 Embellished Beadweaving, (Laura McCabe), Lark Books, 2010 ColorWorks, (Deb Menz), Interweave Press, 2004 The Complete Book of Color, (Suzy Chiazzari), Element Books, 1998 The Beader's Color Mixing Directory, (Sandra Wallace), Krause Publications, 2007 Exploring Color, (Nita Leland), North Light Books, 1998 The Beader's Color Palette, (Margie Deeb), Watson-Guptill Publications, 2008 Mastering Beadwork: A Comprehensive Guide to Off-Loom Techniques, (Carol Huber Cypher) Teach Yourself Visually: Beadwork, (Chris Franchetti Michaels) Beadwork: Herringbone Stitch: Basics and Beyond, (a DVD by Melinda Barta) Beading With Herringbone Stitch, (Vicki Star)


Contemporized Etruscan Collar with Warren Feld

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